Cardinal discussion

The Metropolitan wrote:AFAIK, it's...

NYC-Washington
Washington-Charlottesville
Charlottesville-Huntington
Huntington-Indy
Indy-Chicago

With that in mind ...
NYC-Washington ... about four hours. Plenty of time to bring another train back.
Washington-Charlottesville ... about three hours. The same DC based crew could take 51 out and bring 50 back unless 51 was an hour late.
Charlottesville-Huntington ... about eight hours.
The 51 crew arrives in Huntington WeFrSu with the next 50 being (a minimum) 30h34m later.
The 50 crew arrives in Charlottsville with the next 51 being (a minimum) 47h08m later.
Unless they are working other trains these crews are available for a daily.
Huntington-Indy ... about eight hours.
The 51 crew arrives in Indy ThSaMo with the next 50 being (a minimum) 19h16m later.
The 50 crew arrives in Huntington with the next 51 being (a minimum) 14h26m later.
This pair of crews could keep circling. Adding a daily would add two crews.
Indy-Chicago ... about five hours.
The 51/851 crew arrives in Chicago with the next 50/850 being 5h10m later.
The 50/850 crew arrives in Indy with the next 51/851 being 6h30m later.
This is already a daily run. No new crews would be needed.

The Huntington-Indy segment seems to be the biggest problem with starting a daily Cardinal, with extra crews needed between NY and Charlottsville as well.
Extending the Hoosier State to Cincinnati would create a 22 hour layover for the crew in Cincy. No extra crew needed but facilities would need to be upgraded.

Hmmmm....

Hello everyone, tomorrow the jobs change for us Amtrak employees, and I found out that trains 50-51 The cardinal will be just a tad bit longer with the addition of a baggage car.Apparently there was a memo about this, which I didnt see but because this train carries alot of bags from the passengers, Amtrak decided to add a baggage car. I will let you know Wednesday if it does indeed have a bag attached. OOOOO Wow it will know be 6 cars.Haha

This is a good development, as i've known people to turn away from this train specifically because of luggage space issues. Families going on vacation before school ends coming home w/ their family member who is in school etc especially.

- A

Any train with Sleeper service really requires a baggage car, although given the rural nature of many Cardinal stops, it's hard to justify checked baggage service, especially a less than daily service. Hopefully, with the return of a baggage car, the Cardinal will eventually move to a daily service, with the patronage to justify such a service.

If you make it available, they will use.

- A

I would have thought a "rural" service would be more likely to need a baggage service , due to lack of alternative means of transporting people and baggage to such locations . ???

During the 90's this train had a baggage car with checked baggage at certain stops. After DC, I believe Charlottesville Va.(not sure its spelled correct) Charleston, Hinton, Prince, Huntington had this service. Those are the ones I know about since I always took this train from Montogomery WV to NY for school. In addition to three coaches, lougne, diner, and maybe two sleepers.

This train has always seemed somewhat of a joke to me. 3 times a week, short and often overlooked. But with them adding a car maybe it deserves more respect, now that Amtrak's paying the route more attention.

BTW are there just extra baggage cars out there they can use for this? They have to get one from somewhere, maybe they've always had a surplus at Sunnyside Yards... idk?

Davis

There is nothing like being awoken at 2am (or whenever it is) in Cincy as all the passengers tried to load their luggage overhead. I am SO pleased to read this bit of news!

One sleeping car doesn't create many bed spaces after taking rooms out for the crew. I'm looking forward to replacing that baggage car with a baggage/dorm someday when the Viewliner order comes in.

Putting an extra Viewliner on this train for the summer would actually be a good thing to go along with the baggage car. I would imagine this train actually may get some extra spotlight since it is featured on the summer/fall Amtrak timetable to take affect in a week or so.

But then of course I supposed the single Diner-Lite Car would be "overwhelmed" if it were to carry two Viewliners. Course they could leave the present Amfleet Diner-Lite car in place and also add a regular Amfleet cafe car. Where to get the Amfleet cafe car you ask? Well, the Empire Corridor trains that run solely between Albany and NYP still have them in the consist even though there's no "food service offered!" Instead of two LSA's in the Diner Lite car, put one in the Amfleet Cafe to be added and then perhaps another LSA in the Amfleet Diner-Lite when two Viewliners are in the consist. Would give those in the Viewliner sleepers more "viewing" from either their bedroom or the Amfleet Diner-Lite and Amfleet Cafe Car!

Why are you suggesting transforming the cardinal into the same consist as the lsl? What a great idea! Even better idea, use the current diner-lites as the lounge and use the diner-lites coming off the lsl to service the additional sleeper! (which could be achieved by adjusting #97's departure time!)But I'm not amtrak management...

Well I can verify that 50-51 does indeed have a bag attached to the train.51 will be the train for yours truly on Wednesday and Sundays . Its nice to see and some other employees thought so as someone from "upstairs" came down in Philly to take a pic and commented that its been 15 years since this train had a bag. Even the young lady who handled the baggage in Wilmington was excited..

The same one that slammed that sticker on you? Seems like she just gets happy when you're around, hahahaha.

Why hasn't the Cardinal had a baggage car in so long? Would I be correct in guessing that there weren't enough cars in stock until now?