Cardinal discussion

Does anybody know if the baggage car will be on the front or the rear? I'm assuming the rear as they have to set out the Hoosier coach in IND, but I would like to know if my "railfan tax" (aka sleeper fare) is going to be wasted.

Jersey_Mike wrote:Does anybody know if the baggage car will be on the front or the rear? I'm assuming the rear as they have to set out the Hoosier coach in IND, but I would like to know if my "railfan tax" (aka sleeper fare) is going to be wasted.

Mike, the bagagge car is always on the front of the Cardinal. I run the train to DC and have to cut my motor off and all they do is just add the diesel so I know they arent rearranging that car. I do have bad news concerning the sleeper being on the back. I just posted on another thread that I witnessed 2 LD trains with the sleeper directly behing the bagagge car .

That's good news for riding Coach.

Jersey_Mike wrote:That's good news for riding Coach.

Thats good to hear. I figured you would be upset you cant ride the sleeper on the rear end. When are you going to be riding this train?

He likes taking videos and pics from the back (which IMHO are quite nice and extensive). I am assuming he didn't want that viewpoint compromised by a baggage car blocking his rear view.

Davis

I'm riding in September, and am somewhat disheartened to learn my roomette will be only 180 feet from that KL5A instead of 450 feet. I guess some Benadryl will be in order. Adding the baggage back is nice, though. Viewliners are short on baggage storage.

I believe its fairly safe to assume that the Cardinal will maintain the rear position of its sleeper. It had its sleeper on the rear before it became standard Amtrak single level LD policy and while it is possible for the trainset to turn around the smart money is to expect the sleeper to be on the rear. First time I rode the sleeper on the Card it was behind the engine so I just went to the last coach.

Mike, I found out that this is an operational change and that the sleepers will no longer be on the rear. This took effect this week.

Although it's noisy for the sleeper passengers having it in the front, it makes it nicer for adding the 2 coaches at Indy. Now the coaches will be together and people won't have to walk through the sleeper to get to the cafe car.

Well that's good news for anyone wanting good pics from the Cardinal without having the shell out the $400 bux for a sleeper. I got a reasonable C&O survey with a front positioned sleeper in 2006 and from the back of the Indy coaches last year. My only regret is that I won't get a do-over of my 09 trip employing my discovery of how to clean the exterior of the rear Viewliner door window from inside the coach.

INDConductor wrote:Although it's noisy for the sleeper passengers having it in the front, it makes it nicer for adding the 2 coaches at Indy. Now the coaches will be together and people won't have to walk through the sleeper to get to the cafe car.

Quite a valid point, thanks for pointing that out..

INDConductor wrote:Although it's noisy for the sleeper passengers having it in the front, it makes it nicer for adding the 2 coaches at Indy. Now the coaches will be together and people won't have to walk through the sleeper to get to the cafe car.

I made a late July 2008 trip with MOUNT VERNON on train 51 ... at Indianapolis, two Horizon coaches were added behind MOUNT VERNON and the other PVs in the consist for the trip to CHI ... that arrangement precludes additional switching moves at IND, but eliminates the opportunity for any short haul passengeres in those two rear coaches to pass thru the PV(s) to access the Cardinal's lounge car ... although Amtrak allows coach pasengers to walk thru a sleeper to access the Cardinal's lounge car, they do not allow them to walk thru any private cars in the consist to access the Cardinal's lounge car ... I suspect in those situations where there are CHi-IND short haul coaches behind one or more PVs in a Cardinal consist, the Conductor and AC try to accomodate the short haul passengers in one of the Amfleet I coaches at the head end of the train ... the alternative is to allow them to walk forward/back between the rear short haul coaches and lounge car on the platform only at station stops.

jhdeasy wrote:

INDConductor wrote:Although it's noisy for the sleeper passengers having it in the front, it makes it nicer for adding the 2 coaches at Indy. Now the coaches will be together and people won't have to walk through the sleeper to get to the cafe car.

I made a late July 2008 trip with MOUNT VERNON on train 51 ... at Indianapolis, two Horizon coaches were added behind MOUNT VERNON and the other PVs in the consist for the trip to CHI ... that arrangement precludes additional switching moves at IND, but eliminates the opportunity for any short haul passengeres in those two rear coaches to pass thru the PV(s) to access the Cardinal's lounge car ... although Amtrak allows coach pasengers to walk thru a sleeper to access the Cardinal's lounge car, they do not allow them to walk thru any private cars in the consist to access the Cardinal's lounge car ... I suspect in those situations where there are CHi-IND short haul coaches behind one or more PVs in a Cardinal consist, the Conductor and AC try to accomodate the short haul passengers in one of the Amfleet I coaches at the head end of the train ... the alternative is to allow them to walk forward/back between the rear short haul coaches and lounge car on the platform only at station stops.

In situations like that, the 2 coaches are considered deadhead cars and not used for revenue. Reservations will consider the train sold out once the three Amfleet coaches are filled up. If for some reason reservations sell more seats, it would require a double switch move at Indy.

INDConductor wrote:

jhdeasy wrote:

INDConductor wrote:Although it's noisy for the sleeper passengers having it in the front, it makes it nicer for adding the 2 coaches at Indy. Now the coaches will be together and people won't have to walk through the sleeper to get to the cafe car.

I made a late July 2008 trip with MOUNT VERNON on train 51 ... at Indianapolis, two Horizon coaches were added behind MOUNT VERNON and the other PVs in the consist for the trip to CHI ... that arrangement precludes additional switching moves at IND, but eliminates the opportunity for any short haul passengeres in those two rear coaches to pass thru the PV(s) to access the Cardinal's lounge car ... although Amtrak allows coach pasengers to walk thru a sleeper to access the Cardinal's lounge car, they do not allow them to walk thru any private cars in the consist to access the Cardinal's lounge car ... I suspect in those situations where there are CHi-IND short haul coaches behind one or more PVs in a Cardinal consist, the Conductor and AC try to accomodate the short haul passengers in one of the Amfleet I coaches at the head end of the train ... the alternative is to allow them to walk forward/back between the rear short haul coaches and lounge car on the platform only at station stops.

In situations like that, the 2 coaches are considered deadhead cars and not used for revenue. Reservations will consider the train sold out once the three Amfleet coaches are filled up. If for some reason reservations sell more seats, it would require a double switch move at Indy.

Just out of curiosity, at what stops on the Cardinal route can PVs be switched into or out of the train consist?

From what I know, PV's can be added at New York, DC, Huntington, Cincy, Indy and Chicago.