Westbound Overnight

The Cardinal has been on my ride-list for years. I've visited about two-thirds of its station stops in my many travels in the region, but the ride itself has remained elusive. So when my stepdaughter's graduation in Chicago appeared on the horizon, I knew exactly how we would get there. On a Monday, we took my much-loved Palmetto from Savannah to DC. Tuesday we took in some sights on the National Mall. Wednesday we landed at Washington Union for boarding, only to discover that a fire in the tunnels in New York City had today's Cardinal running more than 3 hours behind. No worries: We had the Metropolitan Lounge to keep us comfortable while we waited. This was my first time in the Washington lounge, and I was impressed. Just when I thought I had photographed every corner of Union, in my roaming around I found a wonderful collection of architectural art dedicated to the building's front façade. And I can never get enough of Union's Main Hall — what a wonder.

Finally, the Cardinal made it to town, and we boarded through gate G. As our reservation had us in the one standard sleeper in the consist, but at the steps, the conductor relocated us to a roomette in the baggage/dormitory combination immediately after the locomotive. No matter; same setup. Per my custom at DC, I detrained long enough to watch the southbound electric decouple and a Genesis motor put on for the run west. (A peculiar fixture of Washington Union: hundreds of discarded white plastic zip ties between the rails at the location where locomotives are swapped. Apparently, Amtrak doesn't want HEP cables coming loose at high speed on the Corridor!)

Back onboard, I was pleased by the Viewliner II roomette — this being my first trip in one. Almost identical in size to the Superliner roomettes, these berths have better features: more lights, more electrical outlets, newer fabrics, etc. The Cardinal made quick work of the Norfolk Southern main from Alexandria down through Culpeper. Smooth sailing on that great NS welded rail. At Orange, we took the switch onto the Buckingham Branch. Although I was excited to be on BB rails, there was an immediate difference in the ride. The section between Orange and Charlottesville was a rough ride. Things got a little better after Charlottesville, but it was still not smooth running. At Clifton Forge, we landed on the CSX mainline and everything quieted down and smoothed out significantly. Nevertheless, I was so pleased to ride the BB in this region: As far as I know, they are the only shortline in the country to host an Amtrak train. And it was fun to see from the train the section from Staunton to Goshen we have chased several times from the roads during the Norfolk & Western #611 excursions.

As today's westbound was running nearly 4 hours behind, darkness fell in West Virginia earlier than normal. Still, I enjoyed the meandering ride along the New River under moonlight. Most of the stations in this region are flag stops, so all through the night we pulled up on a platform, waiting only a moment, then were quickly on our way again. Home of our Beloved Big Ben Wells, naturally I was glad for a middle-of-the-night smoke break at Huntington, so I could stretch my legs with the smokers and snap some platform pics. The literal platform at Huntington is being rebuilt, so the train had to make two stops. Since I got off up front at the sleepers, the conductor was nice enough to let me stay on the ground while he moved the consist west to get the coaches. Later, I set my alarm to get up and off again at Cincinnati. Here it was much colder (for April), so all the smokers huddled in a corner outside while I walked to the end of the train to see the final coach from the rear. It was a chilly enough that when a woman put her tiny emotional support dog on in the nearby grass to pee, the dog looked at her like she had lost her mind. Boarding again, I remarked to the Assistant Conductor that I was his only "Non-smoker Smoker" getting off for the breaks. He seemed to like that.

The lost smoke stop was in daylight, at Indianapolis. Although the Indy platform is the pits, it was good fun watching the crew add a big consist of locomotives and rolling stock coming out of Beech Grove shops. Added to the front end, this made today's Cardinal twice as long and put our sleeper in the middle of the train. Breakfast in the "Cafe Lite" conversion car was nothing to write home about; dinner the night before was only a little better. But we rolled across flat Indiana at a good clip and made good work on the small stops southeast of Chicago. Despite grave warnings from a new Assistant Conductor about the frequent congestion on Chicagoland rails, we glided through maze of diamonds with little problems. Our consist being so long, the Cardinal filled up our designated track in the bowels of Chicago Union. I enjoyed getting a close look at the trio of locomotives added to the front — included a new Cab Car unit converted from a Genesis motor.

All in all, it was a good flight on the westbound Cardinal. Cons: delayed start, mediocre food offerings, and coaches that smelled of a bus station by the end of the run. Pros: friendly crews, interesting and varied scenery, and excellent Viewliner equipment that still feels modern and clean. Now to ride the Lake Shore Limited, and I will have taken all three Washington to Chicago routes. Thanks, Number Fifty-one. Delighted to check you off my Ride-every-route-before-I-die list!