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I'm on a short trip to the DC area using Amtrak's 'Cardinal', the long-distance train which I have been away from for the longest time. Offhand I can't remember my last 'Cardinal' trip BUT I do recall that the train was still Superliner equipped at the time......perhaps it was 2000 0r 2001.
I boarded number 50 at Prince, WV having made the three and a half hour drive from home this morning. The Prince station is a perfect example of 1940's C&O 'modernism'. It's a small, rural station shaped like a rectangle with walls of windows on either side......almost Art Deco but too cube-like for that. I most like the portrait of Chessie, the C&O kitten mascot inlaid in the floor of this depot.
This has got to be the most-out-of-the way Amtrak depot with a ticket agent anywhere and the station could use some paint and a general sprucing up......it's worn but not derelict....yet.
The 'Cardinal' rolled in about 15-20 minutes late and managed to maintain about that level of lateness.....more-or-less.....throughout the entire day. Consist was one locomotive, 3 amfleet coaches, an amcafe, and a Viewliner sleeper. The sleeper end of the cafe car was set up for table service for 1st class passengers but the other end functioned as a lounge car even during meal times. (I had heard stories of coach passengers being shooed out of the cafe in the past while first class passengers had their sit-down meal service.)
The attendant in the lounge car was efficient and business-like.......borderline rude with passengers who had trouble deciding what they wanted to order and seeming a little overanxious to move on to the next customer in line. I say border-line rude because I don't think it was his intention to come across that way......just the way someone accustomed to dealing with southerners (myself) perceives someone (the Amtrak guy) who probably lives in New Jersey and has a different approach to dealing with a line of people. Bottom-line, I've been treated worse by Amtrak folks in the past who were either indifferent or outright rude.......but on the other hand this fellow seemed to have missed the sensitivity training which has positively affected other Amtrak personnel I've encountered the last two or three years.
The coaches stayed about 85-90% full for the entire trip. I was surprised to be the only passenger on (vs. 3 off) the train at Prince today. (Note however that in the 20 minutes I waited in the station, the agent served three customers and ticketed 5 future trips between West Virginia and Chicago). Every other station had at least a few passengers on our off with the loadings at Clifton Forge and Charlottesville both in double digits.
The scenery was fine and I caught it just before the leaves start coming in for the warm months. Actually, spring was more fully evident coming down the eastern slope of Afton Mountain.....another couple weeks and visibility on this route will be poorer until November! It's still a great ride but the train definately moves slower and the ride is a bit bumpier between Clifton Forge and Charlottesville where CSX has spun the old C&O trackage off to a shortline operator.
Tonight I am spending the first of two nights at the Red Roof Inn on West Main Street in Charlottesville. It's an adequate hotel about a five block walk from the Amtrak station. Those who may spend a night or two here in the future will note that I walked past both a Hampton Inn and a Marriot en route from the train station. Tomorrow I will shoot up to DC on the newly extended regional train from Lynchburg and back on the Crescent before catching the Cardinal back to Prince on Friday.
sojourner Member # 3134
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Sounds like a very interesting trip, David. Thanks for the report.
I stayed in the very same Red Roof Inn in Charlottesville the one & only time I took the Cardinal. I could not take it all the way to NYP (it was Viewliner, and going there, by then) because it got in too late for me to make Empire Service connection and I did not want to wake up my friend in NY and stay there (if the train were late, which it often was). As I recall, it was you who recommended I stay in Charlottesville!
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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Those were good passenger loadings. Is that typical?
Anyway, good trip report about one of my favorite Amtrak trains.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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David, Chessie is my all-time favorite railroad mascot. You didn't, by any chance, get a picture of that station floor at Prince, did you?
MDRR Member # 2992
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In reference to ridership, it has been my work experience on 50/51 that the ridership remains relatively consistent throughout the year. I think it reflects the fact that it is used as mode of transportation by folks along the route and this clientele is a good portion of the regular ridership as opposed to tourist traffic.
palmland Member # 4344
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Interesting report, David. I have been over this route many times in Chessie days, but never seen the Prince depot. It's now on my list of places to go.
I did see recently that Amtrak's Rosenwald said that the Cardinal was on the list this year for their performance improvement review. One of the ideas they will examine is having the Cardinal go to St. Louis from Indianapolis rather than Chicago.
MDRR Member # 2992
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Interesting about a potential reroute from Ind to STL. Did the old National Ltd (ATK) go between those two cities?
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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MDRR, I rode the National Limited, NYP to STL round-trip in the early 70's. We made Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN, and STL.
MDRR Member # 2992
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Thanks, I knew it went thru the midwest, avoiding Chi, but was not sure where...
notelvis Member # 3071
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Hi Mike and all.....
I'm travelling light with no camera on this trip and did not get Chessie's picture......
Maybe over the summer I'll make a trip to the Cass Scenic Railroad and make a stopover in Prince to collect the photo. Chessie is a favorite at my house too. We even have a female grey tabby named 'Chessie' as a pet.
I'll add that the Prince depot is about 10 miles from Beckley, WV on state highway 41. 'Highway' is an oxymoron though......it's a winding 2-lane mountain road which, in places, is narrowed to one lane....there have been some washout issues with the harsh winter we're coming off of. That's a rural 10 miles too.....after the first couple of miles there are no gas stations or any other active places of business. There is even a sign in the Prince station more-or-less saying that you are not going to receive your cell phone signal there!
If you go, the depot is only open on 'train days'....Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Yes, Sojourner..... I did suggest Charlottesville as a stopover knowing that you would not like a late night arrival in New York. I also thought that you would enjoy a chance to explore the campus at the University of Virginia which is only a couple of blocks away. I grew up the son of a college professor and am pretty comfortable on most college campuses....
I'll add that when I was undergoing 6 months of training as a Military Bandsman at nearby Norfolk, I spent a number of weekends railfanning in the Charlottesville area. The C&O route over Afton Mountain just west of Charlottesville was of particular interest to me. Then, as now, the east and westbound Cardinals if near on-time would meet on a siding between Charlottesville and Crozet, VA. Many railfan weekends ended watching the Cardinals meet on a Sunday afternoon then I would hop on I-64 and be back in Norfolk for dinner......
That would have been January through June 1990..... I cannot believe it's been 20 years already.....
Checking out of the Red Roof shortly and taking the Cardinal back to Prince. Found ridership HEAVY on both the new Regional train from Lynchburg (about 75 boarded in Charlottesville) and Crescent (sold out both directions in and out of DC) yesterday. The state of Virginia might hit another homerun if they looked into subsidizing daily service from New York as far as Charlottesville on the Cardinal's schedule.
RRRICH Member # 1418
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What route would the Cardinal take from Indianapolis to St. Louis? The National Ltd did operate between IND and STL back in the 1970's, but most of that track has since been abandoned, hasn't it?
notelvis Member # 3071
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The C&O had a route from Cincinnati to St. Louis which is still active.
I really can't imagine Amtrak doing anything radically different with the Cardinal unless someone else is paying for it.
palmland Member # 4344
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RRRich I too would be surprised if Amtrak made significant changes in the route - they have a hard time making small changes.
But, the route from Indianapolis to St. Louis is in good shape. It is mostly the former PRR route now operated by CSX. At one time there were at least 5 NY-St. Louis trains on it.
The C&O/B&O (initially B&O) route to St. Louis from Cinci has been downgraded over the years and doubt that will see any new trains. However that is the route of the original National Limited, operated by B&O from NY to St. Louis with connections to the southwest.
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