WAYCROSS, GA (Railfan Journal) – CSX has today continued its heritage program with the release of CSXT 1897 from the paint shop in Waycross, Georgia. The locomotive, an ES44AH, honors the Monon Railroad and as all CSX heritage units, features a cab much like any other CSX unit before the paint fades in to the honored road.
The Monon, the nickname until 1956 of the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway, was a road of less than 1,000 miles that connected its namesake cities. It gained the nickname Monon for the fact that its primary lines intersected in the small town of Monon, Indiana. In 1956 the road officially adopted the Monon name and kept it until it merged with the Louisville and Nashville in 1971.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Monon is their paint schemes in the diesel era. With a substantial part of their passenger business tied to students going to and from the various colleges and universities the road served, Monon decided to pay homage to two of the biggest along the route, Indiana and Purdue, with locomotives being painted crimson and cream for the Hoosiers and black and gold for the Boilermakers.
Today the Monon still sees passenger service in the form of Amtrak’s Cardinal and CSX still runs freight trains over the old Monon route.