Cardinal (train)

*Cardinal*
Cardinal
Overview
Termini	Chicago, Illinois; New York City;
Service
Type	Inter-city rail
System	Amtrak
Operator(s)	Amtrak
History
Opened	May 1, 1971
Technical
Line length	1,147 miles (1,846 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	Northeast Corridor
	to Boston South
	North River Tunnels
	under Hudson River
	NY
	NJ
	10 mi
	16 km
	58 mi
	93 km
	NJ
	PA
	across
	Delaware River
	91 mi
	146 km
	PA
	DE
	116 mi
	187 km
	DE
	MD
	185 mi
	298 km
	MD
	DC
	225 mi
	362 km
	DC
	VA
	233 mi
	375 km
	258 mi
	415 km
	293 mi
	472 km
	340 mi
	547 km
	379 mi
	610 km
	437 mi
	703 km
	VA
	WV
	472 mi
	760 km
	496 mi
	798 km
	517 mi
	832 km
	540 mi
	869 km
	551 mi
	887 km
	592 mi
	953 km
	619 mi
	996 km
	668 mi
	1075 km
	WV
	KY
	closed
	1998
	683 mi
	1099 km
	712 mi
	1146 km
	South Portsmouth–
	South Shore
	766 mi
	1233 km
	KY
	OH
	828 mi
	1333 km
	851 mi
	1370 km
	closed
	2005
	864 mi
	1390 km
	OH
	IN
	893 mi
	1437 km
	951 mi
	1530 km
	998 mi
	1606 km
	1025 mi
	1650 km
	Eastern Time
	Central Time
	1072 mi
	1725 km
	1118 mi
	1799 km
Richmond
	Eastern Time
	Central Time
	IN
	IL
	1147 mi
	1846 km
	Empire Builder, Borealis, and
	Hiawatha
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

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.

File:CardinalAEM.jpg

The AEM-7 locomotive that pulled the Cardinal from New York to D.C. on April 2, 2008

History

Prior to Amtrak's first day on May 1, 1971, Penn Central operated the James Whitcomb Riley (trains 303 and 304, named after poet James Whitcomb Riley) between Chicago and Cincinnati, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway operated the George Washington (trains 1 and 2, named after first U.S. President George Washington) 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.

File:CardinalLineLogo.png

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 January 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 2 Superliner II sleeping cars, a diner, a Sightseer Lounge, a baggage coach, and a coach.

In 2002, 2 derailments 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.

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, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Regional, 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, Pennsylvanian, Regional, 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
New Jersey	Trenton	Trenton Rail Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Pennsylvanian, Regional, 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, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Regional, 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, 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, Palmetto, Regional, 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, Palmetto, Regional, 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, 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

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

External links

Amtrak - Cardinal / Hoosier State

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