Cardinal (passenger train)

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Cardinal
Westbound Cardinal stopped in Charlottesville, VA
Info
Type	Inter-city rail
System	Amtrak
Termini	Chicago, Illinois New York City
Operation
Opened	May 1, 1971
Operator(s)	Amtrak
Technical
Line length	1,147 miles (1,846 km)
Gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
Route map Chicago IL/IN border Dyer Rensselaer Lafayette Crawfordsville Indianapolis Connersville IN/OH border Cincinnati OH/KY border Maysville South Portsmouth-South Shore Ashland KY/WV border Huntington Charleston Montgomery Thurmond Prince Hinton Alderson White Sulphur Springs WV/VA border Clifton Forge Staunton Crescent (Amtrak) to New Orleans Charlottesville Culpeper Manassas Alexandria VA/DC border Washington, D.C. DC/MD border Baltimore MD/DE border Wilmington DE/PA border Philadelphia PA/NJ border Trenton Newark NJ/NY border New York v • d • e

The Cardinal is a 1,147-mile (1,844 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak, connecting New York Penn Station with Chicago Union Station three days a week via Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Virginia, Cincinnati, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Philadelphia, and Wilmington, Delaware. Travel time, end-to-end, is about 26½ hours. The Hoosier State provides service the other four days on the 196-mile (315 km) section from Chicago to Indianapolis.

Contents 1 History 2 Train consist 3 Route details 4 Station stops 5 References 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] History

The Cardinal is the successor of several previous trains.

The James Whitcomb Riley was introduced by the New York Central on April 28, 1941 as a daytime, all-coach train between Chicago and Cincinnati by way of Indianapolis. It was named after the Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, known for his celebration of Americana. The Riley was retained by the Penn Central (as trains 303 and 304) after its formation from the ruins of the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad. Independently, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway operated the George Washington as its flagship service (C&O trains 1 and 2), running between Cincinnati and Washington, with a section (trains 41 and 42) splitting at Charlottesville and running to Newport News.

Amtrak, upon its 1971 commencement of operations, kept service identical at first. Through Washington-Chicago and Newport News-Chicago coaches began operating July 12, and a through sleeping car began September 8. With the November 14, 1971 schedule, the routes were merged, with the George Washington name being applied eastbound and the James Whitcomb Riley westbound. At the same time the route was extended from Washington to Boston, and was assigned train numbers 50 eastbound and 51 westbound.

On March 6, 1972 the train was rerouted from Chicago's Central Station into Union Station. On April 30 the service was truncated back to Washington from Boston. On May 19, 1974 the George Washington was renamed the James Whitcomb Riley, giving it the same name in both directions. The Newport News section was discontinued June 14, 1976 and the Colonial began running over its former route east of Richmond.

The James Whitcomb Riley was renamed the Cardinal on October 30, 1977, as the cardinal was the state bird of all six states through which it ran. It was discontinued September 30, 1981 (by then having been extended to New York from Washington) and brought back by Congressional mandate on January 8, 1982.

[edit] Train consist

In the early 1990s, the Cardinal ran with the usual Amtrak long-distance consist of 2 F40s/E60 plus several MHC and material handling baggage cars, followed by several Amfleet coaches, an Amfleet lounge, a Heritage diner, 2 or 3 Heritage 10-6 sleepers, a slumbercoach, and finally, a baggage dormitory. Following the delivery of the Superliner II fleet, however, the Cardinal went Superliner, in the mid-nineties. This resulted in it being truncated to Washington D.C. due to the inability for the train to fit into New York. During these years, the consist would usually be 2 Superliner II sleeping cars, a diner, a Sightseer Lounge, a baggage coach, and a coach.

In 2002, 2 derailments on other routes took numerous Superliner cars out of service. Because of these accidents, the Cardinal could no longer be sustained as a Superliner train. The Cardinal was then given a normal long distance single level consist, including diner, lounge, sleeper, and dormitory cars. Fleet shortages since then have shortened the Cardinal further, and at one point, the train was running with 2-3 Amfleet II coaches and a lounge. While the sleeper car has been restored, the Cardinal has not had a dorm or a diner since. The Cardinal presently contains a single engine, three or four Amfleet II long-distance coaches, a single car used as both a diner and a lounge, and a single Viewliner, used as both a dorm and a sleeper.

[edit] Route details

The Cardinal operates over Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, Buckingham Branch Railroad, Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, and Metra trackage:

• Amtrak Northeast Corridor, New York to Washington
• CSX Landover Subdivision, RF&P Subdivision, Washington to Alexandria
• NS Washington District, Alexandria to Orange
• BB Washington Subdivision and North Mountain Subdivision, Orange to Clifton Forge
• CSX Alleghany Subdivision, New River Subdivision, Kanawha Subdivision, Russell Subdivision, Northern Subdivision, Cincinnati Subdivision, and Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision, Clifton Forge to Cincinnati
• CSX Cincinnati to Indianapolis
• CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision, Indianapolis Subdivision, Indianapolis Terminal Subdivision, Crawfordsville Branch Subdivision, Lafayette Subdivision, and Monon Subdivision, Indianapolis to Munster
• CN Elsdon Subdivision, Munster to Thornton
• UP Villa Grove Subdivision, Thornton to 81st Street
• Metra SouthWest Service, 81st Street to Chicago

[edit] Station stops

State/Province	Town/City	Station	Connections
New York	New York City	Penn Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Adirondack, Carolinian, Crescent, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Keystone Service, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter LIRR: Main Line, Port Washington Branch NJ Transit: North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, Gladstone Branch, Montclair-Boonton Line, Morristown Line NYC Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E NYC Transit buses: M10, M16, M20, M34, Q32
New Jersey	Newark	Newark Penn Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crsecent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter NJ Transit: Newark City Subway, Newark Light Rail, North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, Raritan Valley Line, 5, 21, 62, 67, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 308, 978 PATH: NWK-WTC
	Trenton	Trenton Rail Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Vermonter NJ Transit: Northeast Corridor Line, River Line, 409, 600, 604 SEPTA Regional Rail: R7
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	30th Street Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter NJ Transit: Atlantic City Line SEPTA City Transit Division: Market-Frankford Line, Route 10, Route 11, Route 13, Route 34, Route 36, 9, 10, 11, 13, 30, 31, 34, 36, 44, 62, 121, 124, 125, 316 SEPTA Regional Rail: R1, R2, R3, R5, R6, R7, R8
Delaware	Wilmington	Wilmington Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter DART First State: 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 28, 32, 301 SEPTA Regional Rail: R2
Maryland	Baltimore	Baltimore Penn Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter MARC Train: Penn Line MTA Maryland: Light Rail, 3, 11, 61, 64
District of Columbia	Washington	Washington Union Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Capitol Limited, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter, Thruway Motorcoach to Charlottesville, Virginia MARC Train: Brunswick Line, Camden Line, Penn Line Metro: Red Line Metrobus: Loudoun, OmniRide VRE: Manassas Line, Fredericksburg Line
Virginia	Alexandria	Alexandria Union Station	Amtrak: Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star VRE: Fredericksburg Line, Manassas Line
	Manassas	Manassas	Amtrak: Crescent VRE: Manassas Line
	Culpeper	Culpeper	Amtrak: Crescent
	Charlottesville	Charlottesville	Amtrak: Crescent, Thruway Motorcoach to Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
	Staunton	Staunton	none
	Clifton Forge	Clifton Forge
West Virginia	White Sulphur Springs	White Sulphur Station
	Alderson	Alderson
	Hinton	Hinton
	Prince	Prince
	Thurmond	Thurmond
	Montgomery	Montgomery
	Charleston	Charleston
	Huntington	Huntington
Kentucky	Ashland	Ashland
	South Shore	South Portsmouth-South Shore
	Maysville	Maysville
Ohio	Cincinnati	Cincinnati Union Station
Indiana	Connersville	Connersville
	Hoosier State service begins
	Indianapolis	Indianapolis	Amtrak: Thruway Motorcoach to Champaign, Illinois, Danville, Illinois, Davenport, Iowa, Galesburg, Illinois, Greater Peoria Regional Airport in Peoria, Illinois, Louisville, Kentucky, Moline, Illinois and Normal, Illinois
	Crawfordsville	Crawfordsville	Amtrak: Thruway Motorcoach to Danville, Illinois
	Lafayette	Lafayette	none
	Rensselaer	Rensselaer
	Dyer	Dyer
Illinois	Chicago	Chicago Union Station	Amtrak: Ann Rutledge, Blue Water, California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, Carl Sandburg, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Hiawatha, Illini, Illinois Zephyr, Lake Shore Limited, Lincoln Service, Pera Marquette, Saluki, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, Wolverine, Thruway Motorcoach to Louisville, Kentucky, Madison, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois CTA: 14, 19, 20, X20, 38, 56, 60, 120, 122, 124, 127, 129, 157 Metra: BNSF Railway, HC, MD-N, MD-W, NCS, SWS

[edit] References

• Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, Trains June 1991
• Routes and Trains on the Eve of Amtrak
• Amtrak's First Trains and Routes
• PRR Chronology

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Amtrak - Cardinal / Hoosier State

v • d • e Amtrak routes California California Zephyr · Capitol Corridor · Coast Starlight · Pacific Surfliner · San Joaquins · Southwest Chief · Sunset Limited · Texas Eagle Midwest Ann Rutledge · Blue Water · California Zephyr · Capitol Limited · Cardinal · Carl Sandburg · City of New Orleans · Empire Builder · Hiawatha · Hoosier State · Illini · Illinois Zephyr · Lake Shore Limited · Lincoln Service · Mules · Pere Marquette · Saluki · Southwest Chief · Texas Eagle · Wolverine Northeast Acela Express · Adirondack · Auto Train · Capitol Limited · Cardinal · Shuttle · Carolinian · Crescent · Downeaster · Empire Service · Ethan Allen Express · Keystone Service · Lake Shore Limited · Maple Leaf · Palmetto · Pennsylvanian · Northeast Regional · Silver Meteor · Silver Star · Vermonter Northwest Amtrak Cascades · Coast Starlight · Empire Builder South Auto Train · Carolinian · City of New Orleans · Crescent · Palmetto · Piedmont · Heartland Flyer · Silver Meteor · Silver Star · Sunset Limited · Texas Eagle West California Zephyr · Empire Builder · Southwest Chief · Sunset Limited · Texas Eagle