- Cardinal (passenger train)
Infobox rail line
name = "Cardinal"
color =
logo_width = 158px
image_width = 250px
caption = Westbound Cardinal stopped in Charlottesville, VA
type =Inter-city rail
system =Amtrak
status =
locale =
start =Chicago, Illinois
end =New York City
stations =
routes =
ridership =
open =May 1 ,1971
close =
owner =
operator =Amtrak
character =
stock =
linelength = convert|1147|mi|km
tracklength =
notrack =
gauge = RailGauge|ussg
el =
speed =
elevation =
infobox rdt|Amtrak Cardinal
map_state = showThe "Cardinal" is a 1,147-mile (1,844 km)passenger train route operated byAmtrak , connectingNew York Penn Station withChicago Union Station three days a week viaWashington, D.C. ,Charlottesville, Virginia ,Cincinnati, Ohio ,Indianapolis, Indiana ,Philadelphia , andWilmington, 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.History
The "Cardinal" is the successor of several previous trains.
The "James Whitcomb Riley" was introduced by the
New York Central onApril 28 1941 as a daytime, all-coach train betweenChicago and Cincinnati by way ofIndianapolis . It was named after theHoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley , known for his celebration ofAmericana . The "Riley" was retained by thePenn Central (as trains 303 and 304) after its formation from the ruins of the New York Central andPennsylvania Railroad . Independently, theChesapeake 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 throughsleeping car beganSeptember 8 . With theNovember 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. OnApril 30 the service was truncated back to Washington from Boston. OnMay 19 ,1974 the "George Washington" was renamed the "James Whitcomb Riley", giving it the same name in both directions. The Newport News section was discontinuedJune 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 discontinuedSeptember 30 ,1981 (by then having been extended to New York from Washington) and brought back by Congressional mandate onJanuary 8 ,1982 .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 2Superliner 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 fourAmfleet II long-distance coaches, a single car used as both a diner and a lounge, and a singleViewliner , used as both a dorm and a sleeper.Route details
The "Cardinal" operates over Amtrak,
CSX Transportation ,Norfolk Southern Railway ,Buckingham Branch Railroad ,Canadian National Railway ,Union Pacific Railroad , andMetra trackage:
*AmtrakNortheast Corridor , New York to Washington
*CSXLandover Subdivision ,RF&P Subdivision , Washington to Alexandria
*NSWashington District , Alexandria to Orange
*BBWashington Subdivision andNorth Mountain Subdivision , Orange to Clifton Forge
*CSXAlleghany Subdivision ,New River Subdivision ,Kanawha Subdivision ,Russell Subdivision ,Northern Subdivision ,Cincinnati Subdivision , andCincinnati Terminal Subdivision , Clifton Forge to Cincinnati
* CSX Cincinnati to Indianapolis
*CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision,Indianapolis Subdivision ,Indianapolis Terminal Subdivision ,Crawfordsville Branch Subdivision ,Lafayette Subdivision , andMonon Subdivision , Indianapolis to Munster
*CNElsdon Subdivision , Munster to Thornton
*UPVilla Grove Subdivision , Thornton to 81st Street
*MetraSouthWest Service , 81st Street to Chicagotation stops
References
*Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, "Trains" June 1991
* [http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Amtk/routes_pre1971.html Routes and Trains on the Eve of Amtrak]
* [http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Amtk/routes_1971.html Amtrak's First Trains and Routes]
* [http://www.prrths.com/PRR_hagley_intro.htm PRR Chronology]Notes
External links
* [http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Horizontal_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081256321680&ssid=134 Amtrak - "Cardinal / Hoosier State"]
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