posted
I just spent 2 hours writing up a complete trip report of my Cardinal/Indianapolis trip for you all. I put it in a word file to transfer here, somehow hit the wrong buttons, and erased it all! So forgive me, but I just don't have time and energy to do the whole thing again! I am instead doing a quickie report here:
The Cardinal eastbound was lovely, even in October. Though I went coach both ways, I had the seat overnight to myself in both directions-—on my westbound trip I had someone next to me from Charlottesville into W Virginia but they were gone by the time I went to sleep, and a similar situation occurred eastbound. Indianapolis was also lovely, except for the portion of the station used by Amtrak, which I have to say is the scuzziest ickiest Amtrak station I've ever been in--and it seems esp bizarre for it to be such a dump when so much of the city's Union Station is gorgeous and refurbished. I took a wonderful architecture-cum-history tour of the city that included Union Station (not the icky part!) and got to see one of the Pullman car rooms at the Crown Plaza, as well as the old waiting room converted into a gorgeous ballroom. I also took a bus to the Indianapolis art museum (which had a special exhibit of those Gee's Bend quilts on the postage stamps, among other things) and walked around the lovely grounds there (by the Lilly's house) and walked all around downtown, seeing, among other things, the State Capitol (great free tour), James Whitcomb Riley's house (another tour) and Lockerbie area, Benjamin Harrison's house (another tour), the monuments and Scottish Rites (Masonic) temple (from the outside only because it wasn't open to the publlic when I was there), the western art museum, the Indianapolis state museum (the least interesting place I went, for me--it seemd more for kids, and I got a little tired of the word Hoosiers!), the lovely canal and river area past them (by the botanic gardens and zoo, though I did not visit the latter), walked around the new hotels and their skyway, saw the sports arenas from the outside, etc etc.
My train was 6 hours late getting in, which was fine for me, since I got in for lunchtime and my hotel room was ready. And it was only 1/2 hour late getting to Indianapolis on the return trip, which was great, because sitting in that disgusting station in the middle of the night was not pleasant. I minimized my time there--even though I had checked out of my hotel that morning, I had checked my luggage with the hotel concierge and returned there in the evening, sitting in the lobby and reading and not taking a taxi over to El Disgusto Station until after midnight.
After we departed, we lost more time as we continued, so that I think I got into Charlottesville about 3 hours late--what a great idea it was stopping there, David! I would not have wanted to arrive in NYC at 2:30AM! And the overnight hotel there was nice and reasonable enough. And in the morning I had booked to take a bus to DC (so I'd have time to see the U of VA Jefferson dome etc!) but when I got to Charlottesville station the Crescent was late, so I was able to switch to that, which I'm sure was more comfortable!
The scenery on the westbound Cardinal was simply splendiforous, even if the leaves did block my view sometimes. I esp loved that New River Gorge Bridge (and was startled to see it in a tragic accident on the news not too long afterward).
So overall, a great trip, and no problem going coach. In fact, the sleepers were booked, because the Cardinal has only one! so I couldn't have gotten one had I tried! And considering the bizarre food situation on the Cardinal, I am glad I didn't waste money on a sleeper.
One thing I noticed:; because the food is pre-prepared, they apparently discourage coach passengers from eating in the dining-car by having higher prices for the food than do on the other trains. I couldn't believe what they were charging for the breakfasts, $10 for RR French toast! (I checked and it was not so high on the Crescent, just the $7 it had gone up to this summer) So I had to make do with the snack car service, and was glad I brought some bananas and graham crackers and dried fruit with me too.
Next time I go, I'd either take the Cardinal straight through from Chicago or try Cincinnati; it looked quite nice at night, and I hear the station is a lot nicer to wait in that Indianapolis!!! Some of the W Virginia stops seemed interesting too, esp Charleston. . . . But I'd still have to stay in Charlottesville (or Manassas, which also looks lovely), which is a pain--or get in to Penn Station in NYC in the middle of the night and hang around there until the Empire service begins!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
It's a shame you lost your report. You might want to try an undelete tool if you're desperate. It's good to read the mini-report though.
I've wondered - briefly, before falling asleep again - what the Indy station was like. Now I know to avoid it. Cincinnati I have experienced. Yes, the building is nice, but the waiting room is a small room off to one side. At least you can look at the architecture in the main hall while you wait. Pre-book a taxi if you arrive there as they don't come to the station to wait for trains.
Sad to hear the Cardinal is merely a shadow of its former self. I've been on that one three times now but perhaps I'll pick another train next time.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Sojourner, sorry we could only get the Readers Digest version of your trip.
I'm sorry that more care was not put in to the train area at the Union Station. To me Train Stations are America's castles and alas some, Buffalo and Detroit could be called America's Ruins. It is so hard to imagine when there was a time when America needed these large structures. While we appreciate citys like Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Cinncinatti have revived these stations for new uses, we just which a little more care (respect?) had been put into the small nodd to the stations former industry.
I've never had a problem sleeping in a coach seat leggier then airlines, also if your lucky to find a coach that is a old business class coach you have twice as much leg room.
Posts: 516 | From: New Haven, CT USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Thanks for your report - I'm sorry to hear that the Indianapolis station is such an unpleasant place now. I would imagine that this is due to 'indifference' on the part of whoever is responsible for keeping it clean. My previous experience (now 4 years ago) with that station was that it was adequate although the ticket agent at that time wasn't much help with anything.
You'll just have to work Greensboro, NC in now and have a much nicer station for comparison!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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