I've taken the Cardinal three times, both in coach and in sleeper (an older Viewliner 1). This is one of my favorite trains. It doesn't get as much love as the western trains, but I think the scenery through the Appalachians is truly gorgeous.
Having seen it in winter, I can only imagine what it would look like in Spring, Summer or Fall. The Appalachian's must look beautiful in the green of spring or gold of fall, and I absolutely plan on taking the Cardinal again in the coming years just to see that.
I would defiantly want to ride Amtrak through the Appalachian mountains. Yeah I don’t like the head thing on the lower bed for 6ft long. I would do 7ft bed for me. Nice video.
@@LonestarTrips I love train travel especially riding Amtrak, I hope the food was ok, let me know how was your food, in the past I brought snacks and I rode coach.
@@SuperDave30 The food was fine tbh. The meals I had on my surrounding journeys on the SWC and Silver Star were MUCH better, but the flex meals were serviceable.
The Cardinal is definitely on my list of long-distance trips to take in the future. The views going through the Virginias are absolutely stunning! Awesome video, and thanks for the shoutout!
I enjoyed this video, thanks for the effort to put together such a professional presentation. I'll be riding the westbound Cardinal in early April, and I look forward to the trip. Although the palette is greys and browns, I like being able to see through the leafless trees. I'm one of those who really miss the ensuite toilet in the Viewliner II. I'm old enough (71) that I don't want to be stumbling around the hallway looking for a public bathroom in the wee hours of the morning. I therefore bring a disposable urinal with me and dump its contents into the sink that is still in the room. I buy a bedroom whenever I can, but with just 1 sleeper with 2 bedrooms 3 days a week means that the bedrooms are frequently sold out months ahead of time. In my view, the removal of the ensuite toilet from the roomette is a major downgrade. I also just want to mention that flexible dining meals can also be taken in the cafe car. I enjoy the opportunity to meet and talk with other passengers during my meals. Amtrak has said that during 2024, diners and traditional dining will be restored to the Cardinal and the Lakeshore. I eagerly await that upgrade and hope it actually happens. Thanks again for a very nicely done presentation.
I did the Cardinal in 2005 from Indianapolis to DC. It was summer but my Viewliner I roomette was too cold because the thermostat for the AC was broken, and I didn't even think to bring a sweater. Stupid me. Other than that, It was a fun ride! The views are spectacular, especially between Kentucky, WVA, and Virginia. People wave to you when the train goes by. I shared a table in the dining car with people I never met, and it helped make the experience much more fun and special.
The flex dining hate is very understandable. For me it's a pickle - it's actually more gluten friendly than the dining car menu! But anything's better than the City of New Orleans last summer where you just got the cafe car as 'replacement'.
I rode that route between Cincinnati, OH, and Philadelphia, PA. November 1, 2023, was my first time riding the Cardinal. But the problem is that I have to ask someone for a ride from Bowling Green, KY to Cincinnati, OH, to catch the train at Cincinnati, OH
@@teambandicoottransit0824 Dang, that’s awful. It looks like Amtrak will be expanding to Louisville sometime in the next couple years, so hopefully it’ll be a shorter drive to get on the rails.
All Amtrak routes are shared with freight trains afaik, even in the few places where Amtrak owns the line. (Most of the Cardinal's route is over freight-owned lines, except on the Northeast Corridor from Washington up to NYC)
The roomette cost me $654.00 from Chicago to NYC. It may seem like a lot, but it includes travel, a private room, and meals, plus some truly fantastic scenery.
The difference between the Lake Shore limited and the Cardinal is that Lake Shore limited goes between New York City / Boston to Chicago via the Empire Corridor and Massachusetts making stops such as Worcester, Springfield MA, (Boston bound) Croton Harmon, Poughkeepsie, (New York City bound) Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, then merging with the Capitol limited at Cleveland. Cardinal on the other hand goes between New York City and Chicago via Washington DC and the Northeast Corridor making stops at Newark NJ, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and Washington DC (within the Northeast Corridor) then down south towards Alexandria, Huntington, Charleston, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis right before coming to the Midwest hub.
Other than during the peak pandemic there is absolutely no excuse for the microwaved store bought meals for fare paying passengers. You were generous in your praise
Where did you get that Amtrak jacket? Hopefully we get real dining on the eastern routes again someday, eating microwaved meals for the prices Amtrak charges for sleepers is not a great value proposition.
I got the jacket from Amtrak's online store! It's the black softshell jacket. Absolutely love it. And I agree, we really need traditional dining back soon. It's a shame that not every route has it back, as the flex meals aren't nearly as good.
I took the Cardinal just under a year ago and it was pretty good. My only complaint is that they need to get an observation lounge/cafe car on the train (there are some pictures of model Viewliner observation cars similar to the Superliner) since Amfleet windows are a joke and having the opportunity to leave your seat/room is nice. Also, on my eastbound trip, we passed under the New River Gorge Bridge on the south side of the river (left hand side of the train.) It's interesting that they seem to route on either side of the river. Also, also, glad to see Thurmond station got a new platform and coat of paint. It looks pretty nice now.
A single level sightseeing lounge would be amazing. I see the models you're talking about, and they look really nice. I also noticed the north/south change under the New River Gorge bridge. The route on Amtrak's map has the Cardinal stay on the south side until well past the bridge, but as I mentioned in the video, we crossed to the north just after the Hawk's Nest dam. Not sure why that is, maybe westbound freight traffic, but it's definitely interesting.
I'm glad you published this video before my trip coming up in mid-April. My wife and I will be in the Accessible Bedroom so it will be interesting to see that bedroom and to compare it to the Accessible Bedroom we will be in for our journey from LAX to CHI the prior week on the Southwest Chief (our 2nd time on the Chief). Assuming Amtrak still has no traditional dining in April, and the flex menu matches the one you had, I would try the same 3 meals you ate. The beef dish and the enchiladas looked pretty good. Since April should have a later sunset than your December journey, I expect to see a little more of the landscape in the daylight and, like you, I'll have my action-cam suctioned to the window to capture our beautiful country! Thank you for your time filming, editing, and uploading this wonderful video!
In January ‘24, the crew did let us eat dinner in the cafe car shortly after leaving Chicago. But most ate (or didn’t) in their rooms. The staff were nice!
The Cardinal is on my bucket list. I’ve visited the New River Gorge a good many times including rafting the Lower New. The Cardinal would be a different way to see it.
Worth noting that Thurmond is now only the THIRD least used Amtrak station in the state of West Virginia - Alderson and Montgomery get fewer people! Also there's nothing better than being on an on-time long distance Amtrak trip where you get a ton of random fresh air breaks you wouldn't have gotten otherwise!
Hey Miles! Thanks for stopping by and dropping off an excellent correction! I really should have double checked the numbers before adding it. And yeah, getting bonus smoke stops is always awesome. It's a shame more trains don't run on time (or early for that matter), but that's what you get when freight is king.
@@LonestarTrips In fairness, Thurmond is still the most noteworthy one to mention because of how legendary it is! My guess is that its ridership has increased since New River Gorge only recently became a national park and Thurmond is right in the center of it, but even so, its ridership is still very low!
I rode the Cardinal the opposite way in 1992 when it was still run with Heritage Fleet equipment. Some kind of disruption (I think it might have been a CSX strike) made us have to take the Broadway Limited back. The Cardinal had better views but I’m glad I got to check off another legendary route before it disappeared.
I wanted to ride on the Cardinal for a long time and finally got to do so a few months ago. It was a nice trip but I wasn't feeling too well so couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have otherwise.
It's definitely worth it. The Cardinal is such a beautiful route, though winter is certainly not the months to take it in. I plan on revisiting the Cardinal in another time of year to show everyone what it could look like.
I've heard other flexible dining reviews where the passengers had very high praise for the Butter Cake, which sounds a bit like the "St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake" I can occasionally get from the local supermarket's bakery. Those other reviews seemed to agree with you about the quality of the rest of the Flexible Dining meals, though. (The next Amtrak trip I'm likely to take will probably be the Texas Eagle, which also features Flexible Dining before it links with the Sunset Limited, so I won't trash-talk Flexible Dining any further until I've actually tried it myself.)
Enjoyable piece and shots of the,m aincourses made me salivate.The food has always been Amtrak's strength but a pity about the cramped beds-rough on anyone over 6 foot!
Enjoyed the video. Very nicely done. My wife and I live in southern West Virginia. We occasionally will board the Cardinal at the Hinton WV station and go to DC for a weekend getaway. We're thinking about taking a trip westward on the Cardinal and SW Chief to Albuquerque or Flagstaff and tour some of the desert SW including the Grand Canyon Railway. We have ridden the Alaska Rail Road passenger service from Anchorage to Fairbanks. That route has spoiled us from all other rail excursions as far as scenery and service. Anyway, great video 👍
One of the few long distance trains I have NOT ridden. ITs on my bucket list! Nice vid and commentary---as usual!! I don't think that you mentioned that the New River Bridge is in the midst of one of the country's newest national parks: the New River Gorge National Park. I have visited a few times and the drive or hie through the park is amazing. And its close enough to Thurmond (now basically a ghost town) to drive over for a visit.
Great Video - Thanks I'm SUBSCRIBED. The Cardinal is definitely on my list. I have travelled much on both the Superliner I and II equipment, but not on any Viewliners yet. I'm looking forward to it. Been riding on Amtrak since it's inception. I still miss the independent railroads though 😢 Thanks again for the video 👍 Papa Geoff - UP Spring Subdivision / Houston Texas - Here we go on a clear 🚦🚦
I'd think that all the stunning views on the Cardinal would be diminished by trying to look out the Dirty windows!! Car washers broken in chicago and Sunnyside? That said, along with the lack of a traditional diner car on this train gets two big thumbs down. Recently, close friends took Silver service ( Silver Meteor) from West Palm Beach, Fl to NYC with the same outside dirty cars/ window conditions. We'll pass on traveling Amshack any time soon, shameful.
Thurmond, WV has some amazing history to it. Other channels have covered it but a Hotel there had a record for the longest continuous poker game which lasted 14 years and if I remember right ended because the hotel burnt down.
I can’t see why they haven’t added an additional service between Chicago and Cincinnati (Like the Lincoln Service which complements the Texas Eagle between Chicago and St. Louis, the Illini & Saluki which complement the City of New Orleans between Chicago and Carbondale, the Hiawatha Service which complements the Empire Builder between Chicago and Milwaukee and the Borealis which complements the Empire Builder between Chicago and St. Paul, with a light rail connection to Minneapolis). Both Indianapolis and Cincinnati are major cities and the Lafayette Metropolitan Area also has over 200 000 citizens. All of those see train service only 3 times a week. The segment limiting service to 3 times a week is between Clifton Forge and Orange, in Virginia, so it should be possible if they have the crew and rolling stock for it. This would also allow for the Cardinal to skip the smaller stations of Dyer, Rensselaer, Crawfordsville and Connersville, making for a faster trip between Chicago and NYC.
Amtrak food looks disgusting! No wonder long haul rail is dead and needs a huge taxpayer subsidy to survive. The government should just buy rail passengers a 1.5 hour plane ticket. Stop bleeding the Northeast Corridor for crazy routes like this!
Whem I traveled on the Cardinal in Sept. 2023, We had the Viewliner 2 sleepers. I still prefer the Vuewliner 1 sleeper. I would rather sleep by the toilet than jave ONLY 1 TOILET available for all the roomettes. This was because the 2nd toilet was locked off for Amtrak employee use only!!! What a joke. This should NEVER be allowed!!!
Did this as the longest segment of my $299 rail pass from Chicago to Washington DC. Probably my favorite train ride thus far. Amazing views, friendly crew, and a really interesting group of passengers make this trip truly special. the second engine on your hospital train from Chicago to Indy #204 did the honors hauling us to DC where we picked up #624. I recommend doing coach overnight someday, you meet more interesting people than just a bunch of old retirees. my seatmate was returning home to Cincinnati after taking the southwest chief from Kansas and behind me was a mennonite family and a college student going home for break. the winter time is probably one of the best times to ride the Cardinal (eastbound) outside the fall because the lack of tree leaves provide a relatively unobstructed view of the river. don't bank on riding the Cardinal westbound though as any lengthy delays could mean passing through the new river gorge after dark.
Reheated is a very creative way to not say “microwaved” 😂 dont beat around the bush criticism is warranted there is no excuse especially from Chicago to DC there should be better meals
I took the Cardinal from Chicago to NYC many years ago, in winter and also in a roomette. Back then I'm pretty sure that they served real hot meals in the dining car so it's a pity that they're still serving these reheated flex meals. But you take this route for the sights and journey, not the meals. Very scenic route and I hope to take it again someday, in summer, hopefully with a dining car.
Much appreciated! While I took it in winter, I wholly recommend taking in in spring, summer or fall. The leaves on the trees add so much to the landscape that it's really not worth taking it in winter.
27:00 you should have mentioned that when the view is mostly brown and gray it is also the only time you get a lot to see. as soon as the trees start getting leaves 90% of your trip is seeing the trees that are 15 feet away and nothing else.
Not sure what's with the low ratings for the food despite your seeming content with them. I'd wonder what you expect for a 10/10, considering you knew they were reheated rather than fresh from the start. It seems only fair to judge a product for what it is, not what you'd like it to be. And that food looks amazing compared to what you get on most domestic airlines these days!
It’s judged relative to other Amtrak meals. I may have been content with what I got, but knowing that other long distance routes have full cooked, proper meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner means I can’t really give them a high score out of principle.
Ok, I guess that makes sense. I've never had a fresh Amtrak meal so I guess my expectations should be much higher for those! Will take a look at your other videos soon! New to the channel and great job on this one!
Great video. As a casual Cardinal rider, I was shocked to see a baggage/sleeper connected. In October of 2023, the train had both a Genesis & Seimans Locomotive. (I think I made a spelling error) between Chicago & Indianapolis. That's when the Genesis came off & the Seimans took the train to Washington, D.C.
I'm very familiar with NY Penn Station. I live in New Brunswick, NJ, so the train is a convenient way to go to NYC. Rather than taking the train from New Brunswick, though, I drive to Edison and park at the station there.
21:47 I like the public restrooms in the Viewliner II sleepers. However, I really like the private toilet in the room as I normally travel on my own in a roomette (actually, I think that roomettes are honestly too tight for people.
One correction and a 'curiosity': The New River Gorge bridge was not completed until 1977. In fact, I was at the north end in the spring of 1978 and it still was not in use. Curiously, the New River is thought by many to be the second oldest river in the world. Surveyors, not fully aware of the river, simply indicated it, temporarily [a] "new" river. Later it was interpreted as the actually name of the river. Too bad this trip had to be at the ugliest time of the year as any other season, most especially the fall, would provide the West Virginia and Virginia landscapes in their true beauty.
The cars and windows are dirty leaving Chicago. Indianapolis platform area also looks seedy and dirty. It amazes me that the "Cardinal" is still running.
Trains shouldn't leave initial terminal covered in dirt if the car wash is working. Amtrak has stopped cleaning the exteriors for the most part and I hope passengers complain until something is done.@@LonestarTrips
As much as the Cardinal is a "tourist's train", it is treated more as an afterthought. It used to run Superliners, but those were pulled when Amtrak started facing equipment shortages and the eastern terminus was changed from DC to NYC. It really does need to be fitted with a proper dining/lounge car. Oh, and congratulations for at least pronouncing Kanawah correctly.
Great vid! Just want to add that the Thurmond depot is inside New River Gorge National Park and is owned by the NPS. It is a park visitor center and gift shop. Hopefully the depot will see an increase of tourist passenger traffic as the park becomes more well known.
I was just reading about Amtrak Cardinal on Wikipedia, ridership on this line tanked big time during COVID pandemic, wow, Amtrak Cardinal doesn't run on Mondays!!
Great video and coverage of the Cardinal. One reason that there are not more people riding the Cardinal is the equipment itself. back in the early 1980s, the train was configured much as it is today. It had a baggage car, sleeper, amdinette, and 2-3 amcoaches. When Amtrak reequipped the train with heritage rebuilt heritage cars the train swelled to 9-10 most days. It had a baggage care, 2 sleepers, Diner, lounge, and 4-5 coaches. Then as they started pulling the heritage cars the train was again reequipped with Superliners ( it only went to DC then). The trains had a baggage, 2 Sleepers, Diner, Sightseer lounge and eventually grew back up to 4-5 coaches. After an Auto-Train wreck in the late 90s, Amtrak need the Superliners else where so again reequipped the train to baggage, 2 heritage sleeper, diner, and coaches, but the ridership dropped afterwards and hasn't recovered. If the train was full service like it used to be the people will ride it.
@@LonestarTrips There are 2 stops after Laffayette, but there probably was no one getting off at them. That is my part of Indiana. Wish they would add more trains there.
Great video, thanks. I have taken the Cardinal in the past and loved it. I am really dissappointed that it does not seem to have a dining car. I actually am part of a minortiy who prefers flexible dining in one of the Amfleet dining cars. I have done this on the Silver Service Florida trains before they went back to traditional dining. With traditional dining you have no access to the dining cars except for meals. With flexible dining, the car is like a dedicated lounge for sleeping car passengers. Almost all of the posts on other sites praise the return of traditional dining so I recognize that I am in the minority. I prefer having the freedom to view the scenery in a relatively open space. I am really not looking forward to having meals in my room. The roomettes are great but you need a little more space at times.
I have ridden this route several times and love the views. I do wish it had a full service dining car like in the early Amtrak days and a better arrival time to Cincinnati since this is the station I used several times to rent a car and go to Louisville to get to the Kentucky derby. If you are not in a hurry tomorrow from Chicago the views beat both the Capital Ltd. or the Lake Shore Ltd. Except for t.he views on the Lake Shore Ltd along the Hutson river.
@LonestarTrips i might need tobtake the Cardinal for Nostalgia. I recall taking the train from NYC to Cincinnati in the late 60's and Union Terminal is a fantastic structure.
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I've taken the Cardinal three times, both in coach and in sleeper (an older Viewliner 1). This is one of my favorite trains. It doesn't get as much love as the western trains, but I think the scenery through the Appalachians is truly gorgeous.
Having seen it in winter, I can only imagine what it would look like in Spring, Summer or Fall. The Appalachian's must look beautiful in the green of spring or gold of fall, and I absolutely plan on taking the Cardinal again in the coming years just to see that.
Did you have the viewliner 1 roommate, if yes what did you think about the toilet next to the bed
1 cup of coffee is great, but 2 is always better! I couldn't agree more! Great shots of Penn Station at the end of the trip!
As an engineer, caffeine is what keeps me going! And those shots of Penn Station are only half of what's to come in my video on the Silver Star.
An overnight trip in a roomette on the Cardinal is on the future list of train trips for me! Love the reports.
Thanks a lot! The roomette is such an amazing accommodation, especially for cheap.
Fantastic Chicago shot Miles! Thanks
I would defiantly want to ride Amtrak through the Appalachian mountains.
Yeah I don’t like the head thing on the lower bed for 6ft long. I would do 7ft bed for me. Nice video.
I definitely love this train ride blog it’s absolutely amazing!
So glad you enjoy it! I do my best to bring everyone along for the ride, and it's always great to have another traveler by my side!
@@LonestarTrips I love train travel especially riding Amtrak, I hope the food was ok, let me know how was your food, in the past I brought snacks and I rode coach.
@@SuperDave30 The food was fine tbh. The meals I had on my surrounding journeys on the SWC and Silver Star were MUCH better, but the flex meals were serviceable.
@@LonestarTrips that’s cool.
The Cardinal is definitely on my list of long-distance trips to take in the future. The views going through the Virginias are absolutely stunning! Awesome video, and thanks for the shoutout!
Thank you for the spot! The footage looks amazing.
Ayooo @MilesJajich! Nice shot of the Cardinal and SWC!
I love this video. I live ten minutes from the New River Gorge Bridge. Construction began in 1974 and was completed in October of 1977.
I enjoyed this video, thanks for the effort to put together such a professional presentation. I'll be riding the westbound Cardinal in early April, and I look forward to the trip. Although the palette is greys and browns, I like being able to see through the leafless trees.
I'm one of those who really miss the ensuite toilet in the Viewliner II. I'm old enough (71) that I don't want to be stumbling around the hallway looking for a public bathroom in the wee hours of the morning. I therefore bring a disposable urinal with me and dump its contents into the sink that is still in the room. I buy a bedroom whenever I can, but with just 1 sleeper with 2 bedrooms 3 days a week means that the bedrooms are frequently sold out months ahead of time. In my view, the removal of the ensuite toilet from the roomette is a major downgrade.
I also just want to mention that flexible dining meals can also be taken in the cafe car. I enjoy the opportunity to meet and talk with other passengers during my meals. Amtrak has said that during 2024, diners and traditional dining will be restored to the Cardinal and the Lakeshore. I eagerly await that upgrade and hope it actually happens.
Thanks again for a very nicely done presentation.
36:22 I had ALC-42 335 lead my Cardinal 51 on May 31, 2024.
I did the Cardinal in 2005 from Indianapolis to DC. It was summer but my Viewliner I roomette was too cold because the thermostat for the AC was broken, and I didn't even think to bring a sweater. Stupid me. Other than that, It was a fun ride! The views are spectacular, especially between Kentucky, WVA, and Virginia. People wave to you when the train goes by. I shared a table in the dining car with people I never met, and it helped make the experience much more fun and special.
Enjoyed this report, I really like your meal reviews.
Thank you so much!
Excellent
Thank you!
Thank you! Very interesting!
The flex dining hate is very understandable. For me it's a pickle - it's actually more gluten friendly than the dining car menu! But anything's better than the City of New Orleans last summer where you just got the cafe car as 'replacement'.
28 hours without a bar car?
What is the best speed app to measure train speed?
I rode that route between Cincinnati, OH, and Philadelphia, PA. November 1, 2023, was my first time riding the Cardinal. But the problem is that I have to ask someone for a ride from Bowling Green, KY to Cincinnati, OH, to catch the train at Cincinnati, OH
Jeez that’s quite the drive to Cincinnati.
@LonestarTrips yeah Bowling Green, KY used to have Greyhound Bus station, but they shut down that station since April of 2020
@@teambandicoottransit0824 Dang, that’s awful. It looks like Amtrak will be expanding to Louisville sometime in the next couple years, so hopefully it’ll be a shorter drive to get on the rails.
Is this route shared with freight trains?
From Chicago to DC, yes. From DC to NYC, no.
All Amtrak routes are shared with freight trains afaik, even in the few places where Amtrak owns the line. (Most of the Cardinal's route is over freight-owned lines, except on the Northeast Corridor from Washington up to NYC)
@@LonestarTrips Over the old Baltimore and Ohio.
What was the fare?
The roomette cost me $654.00 from Chicago to NYC. It may seem like a lot, but it includes travel, a private room, and meals, plus some truly fantastic scenery.
Unbelievably inefficient. I appreciate the scenery, but the trip is at least 12 hours to0 long. Too may splits and engine changes.
It's definitely not the greatest time wise. It's a fun journey for sure, but I agree it's a bit long.
The difference between the Lake Shore limited and the Cardinal is that Lake Shore limited goes between New York City / Boston to Chicago via the Empire Corridor and Massachusetts making stops such as Worcester, Springfield MA, (Boston bound) Croton Harmon, Poughkeepsie, (New York City bound) Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, then merging with the Capitol limited at Cleveland. Cardinal on the other hand goes between New York City and Chicago via Washington DC and the Northeast Corridor making stops at Newark NJ, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and Washington DC (within the Northeast Corridor) then down south towards Alexandria, Huntington, Charleston, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis right before coming to the Midwest hub.
I got a rail pass Im ready
Heck yeah! Enjoy the ride and safe travels!
I would absolutely love to take the Cardinal if I ever go to NYC from Chicago
It’s 110% worth it.
Other than during the peak pandemic there is absolutely no excuse for the microwaved store bought meals for fare paying passengers. You were generous in your praise
Yep, generous I was. I always enjoy Amtrak travel, regardless of the dining experience, though traditional dining would have certainly helped.
@@LonestarTrips it was famed for its freshly cooked great quality. I totally get why you love the experience having said all that 👍
@@hoof2001 Fortunately the silver services have their traditional dining back, so I’m hopeful that the LSL and Cardinal will follow shortly.
Great food is a must on any very long trip. Thanks for both the adventure and responses 😃
Of course. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Where did you get that Amtrak jacket?
Hopefully we get real dining on the eastern routes again someday, eating microwaved meals for the prices Amtrak charges for sleepers is not a great value proposition.
I got the jacket from Amtrak's online store! It's the black softshell jacket. Absolutely love it. And I agree, we really need traditional dining back soon. It's a shame that not every route has it back, as the flex meals aren't nearly as good.
Amtrak should replace the superliners and viewliners with double decker siemens trains when they get old
I took the Cardinal just under a year ago and it was pretty good. My only complaint is that they need to get an observation lounge/cafe car on the train (there are some pictures of model Viewliner observation cars similar to the Superliner) since Amfleet windows are a joke and having the opportunity to leave your seat/room is nice.
Also, on my eastbound trip, we passed under the New River Gorge Bridge on the south side of the river (left hand side of the train.) It's interesting that they seem to route on either side of the river.
Also, also, glad to see Thurmond station got a new platform and coat of paint. It looks pretty nice now.
A single level sightseeing lounge would be amazing. I see the models you're talking about, and they look really nice. I also noticed the north/south change under the New River Gorge bridge. The route on Amtrak's map has the Cardinal stay on the south side until well past the bridge, but as I mentioned in the video, we crossed to the north just after the Hawk's Nest dam. Not sure why that is, maybe westbound freight traffic, but it's definitely interesting.
I'm glad you published this video before my trip coming up in mid-April. My wife and I will be in the Accessible Bedroom so it will be interesting to see that bedroom and to compare it to the Accessible Bedroom we will be in for our journey from LAX to CHI the prior week on the Southwest Chief (our 2nd time on the Chief). Assuming Amtrak still has no traditional dining in April, and the flex menu matches the one you had, I would try the same 3 meals you ate. The beef dish and the enchiladas looked pretty good. Since April should have a later sunset than your December journey, I expect to see a little more of the landscape in the daylight and, like you, I'll have my action-cam suctioned to the window to capture our beautiful country! Thank you for your time filming, editing, and uploading this wonderful video!
Apparently Amtrak wants to run the Cardinal daily but the Buckingham Branch won't let them.
Nice video, I like that Amtrak jacket, how do get that?
It’s for sale on Amtrak’s online store
@@LonestarTripsThanks!
I was going to ask about the jacket also!@@LonestarTrips
In January ‘24, the crew did let us eat dinner in the cafe car shortly after leaving Chicago. But most ate (or didn’t) in their rooms. The staff were nice!
The Cardinal is on my bucket list. I’ve visited the New River Gorge a good many times including rafting the Lower New. The Cardinal would be a different way to see it.
It’s absolutely worth it. Though I recommend not taking it in winter so the weather is better and there’s some leaves to add color along the route.
@@LonestarTrips I imagine fall colors would be best!
This brings me back memories. Great video
Glad you enjoyed. It was such a fantastic ride (aside from the hour delay into NYC).
Worth noting that Thurmond is now only the THIRD least used Amtrak station in the state of West Virginia - Alderson and Montgomery get fewer people! Also there's nothing better than being on an on-time long distance Amtrak trip where you get a ton of random fresh air breaks you wouldn't have gotten otherwise!
Hey Miles! Thanks for stopping by and dropping off an excellent correction! I really should have double checked the numbers before adding it. And yeah, getting bonus smoke stops is always awesome. It's a shame more trains don't run on time (or early for that matter), but that's what you get when freight is king.
@@LonestarTrips In fairness, Thurmond is still the most noteworthy one to mention because of how legendary it is! My guess is that its ridership has increased since New River Gorge only recently became a national park and Thurmond is right in the center of it, but even so, its ridership is still very low!
@@MilesinTransitThat's my guess as well. A legendary station in a beautiful national park is bound to get some traffic!
I rode the Cardinal the opposite way in 1992 when it was still run with Heritage Fleet equipment. Some kind of disruption (I think it might have been a CSX strike) made us have to take the Broadway Limited back. The Cardinal had better views but I’m glad I got to check off another legendary route before it disappeared.
I wanted to ride on the Cardinal for a long time and finally got to do so a few months ago. It was a nice trip but I wasn't feeling too well so couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have otherwise.
sorry about your luck
@@billyfromphilly511 It was still a lot better than a bus!
Electric trains are more efficient than diesels and steamies
I one day hope to ride this route. Looks like the views would be epic outside of winter
It's definitely worth it. The Cardinal is such a beautiful route, though winter is certainly not the months to take it in. I plan on revisiting the Cardinal in another time of year to show everyone what it could look like.
I've heard other flexible dining reviews where the passengers had very high praise for the Butter Cake, which sounds a bit like the "St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake" I can occasionally get from the local supermarket's bakery. Those other reviews seemed to agree with you about the quality of the rest of the Flexible Dining meals, though.
(The next Amtrak trip I'm likely to take will probably be the Texas Eagle, which also features Flexible Dining before it links with the Sunset Limited, so I won't trash-talk Flexible Dining any further until I've actually tried it myself.)
Amusingly that's not just a flex thing - lunchtime on the California Zephyr last month it was one of the lunch options.
Enjoyable piece and shots of the,m aincourses made me salivate.The food has always been Amtrak's strength but a pity about the cramped beds-rough on anyone over 6 foot!
Enjoyed the video. Very nicely done. My wife and I live in southern West Virginia. We occasionally will board the Cardinal at the Hinton WV station and go to DC for a weekend getaway. We're thinking about taking a trip westward on the Cardinal and SW Chief to Albuquerque or Flagstaff and tour some of the desert SW including the Grand Canyon Railway. We have ridden the Alaska Rail Road passenger service from Anchorage to Fairbanks. That route has spoiled us from all other rail excursions as far as scenery and service. Anyway, great video 👍
One of the few long distance trains I have NOT ridden. ITs on my bucket list! Nice vid and commentary---as usual!! I don't think that you mentioned that the New River Bridge is in the midst of one of the country's newest national parks: the New River Gorge National Park. I have visited a few times and the drive or hie through the park is amazing. And its close enough to Thurmond (now basically a ghost town) to drive over for a visit.
Great Video - Thanks
I'm SUBSCRIBED. The Cardinal is definitely on my list. I have travelled much on both the Superliner I and II equipment, but not on any Viewliners yet. I'm looking forward to it. Been riding on Amtrak since it's inception. I still miss the independent railroads though 😢 Thanks again for the video 👍
Papa Geoff - UP Spring Subdivision / Houston Texas - Here we go on a clear 🚦🚦
Amazing content! So informative!
I'd think that all the stunning views on the Cardinal would be diminished by trying to look out the Dirty windows!!
Car washers broken in chicago and Sunnyside? That said, along with the lack of a traditional diner car on this train gets two big thumbs down. Recently, close friends took Silver service ( Silver Meteor) from West Palm Beach, Fl to NYC with the same outside dirty cars/ window conditions. We'll pass on traveling Amshack any time soon, shameful.
I'm sure a thousand things would explain why a train is LATE.
But what explanation is there for a train to be significantly ahead of schedule?
Thurmond, WV has some amazing history to it. Other channels have covered it but a Hotel there had a record for the longest continuous poker game which lasted 14 years and if I remember right ended because the hotel burnt down.
I can’t see why they haven’t added an additional service between Chicago and Cincinnati (Like the Lincoln Service which complements the Texas Eagle between Chicago and St. Louis, the Illini & Saluki which complement the City of New Orleans between Chicago and Carbondale, the Hiawatha Service which complements the Empire Builder between Chicago and Milwaukee and the Borealis which complements the Empire Builder between Chicago and St. Paul, with a light rail connection to Minneapolis).
Both Indianapolis and Cincinnati are major cities and the Lafayette Metropolitan Area also has over 200 000 citizens. All of those see train service only 3 times a week. The segment limiting service to 3 times a week is between Clifton Forge and Orange, in Virginia, so it should be possible if they have the crew and rolling stock for it. This would also allow for the Cardinal to skip the smaller stations of Dyer, Rensselaer, Crawfordsville and Connersville, making for a faster trip between Chicago and NYC.
Amtrak food looks disgusting! No wonder long haul rail is dead and needs a huge taxpayer subsidy to survive.
The government should just buy rail passengers a 1.5 hour plane ticket. Stop bleeding the Northeast Corridor for crazy routes like this!
Whem I traveled on the Cardinal in Sept. 2023, We had the Viewliner 2 sleepers. I still prefer the Vuewliner 1 sleeper. I would rather sleep by the toilet than jave ONLY 1 TOILET available for all the roomettes. This was because the 2nd toilet was locked off for Amtrak employee use only!!! What a joke. This should NEVER be allowed!!!
Did this as the longest segment of my $299 rail pass from Chicago to Washington DC. Probably my favorite train ride thus far. Amazing views, friendly crew, and a really interesting group of passengers make this trip truly special. the second engine on your hospital train from Chicago to Indy #204 did the honors hauling us to DC where we picked up #624. I recommend doing coach overnight someday, you meet more interesting people than just a bunch of old retirees. my seatmate was returning home to Cincinnati after taking the southwest chief from Kansas and behind me was a mennonite family and a college student going home for break. the winter time is probably one of the best times to ride the Cardinal (eastbound) outside the fall because the lack of tree leaves provide a relatively unobstructed view of the river. don't bank on riding the Cardinal westbound though as any lengthy delays could mean passing through the new river gorge after dark.
Bud, not everyone wants to make friends when on a Train
@@coastaku1954 I didn't make any friends, I just overheard interesting conversations
That Christmas tree is very nice!
hey, that food is still better than school lunch...
Your narration is fantastic on this video
Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it.
Where are you traveling on the day that the Michigan Wolverines won the Big Ten champions?
I’m going on the Cardinal this Saturday with my dad from Chicago to Washington DC
Reheated is a very creative way to not say “microwaved” 😂 dont beat around the bush criticism is warranted there is no excuse especially from Chicago to DC there should be better meals
I took the Cardinal from Chicago to NYC many years ago, in winter and also in a roomette. Back then I'm pretty sure that they served real hot meals in the dining car so it's a pity that they're still serving these reheated flex meals. But you take this route for the sights and journey, not the meals. Very scenic route and I hope to take it again someday, in summer, hopefully with a dining car.
Definitely will add the Cardinal to my Amtrak wish list.
The lounge is only for sleeper car passengers. Now you got business people gotta pay $35 now.
Do you ever plan to use the shower at Chicago metropolitan lounge.
Rail Pass is definitely on my bucket list. So many routes i want to travel!
Ooh! I couldn’t wait for this video. My next reccomandation: Silver Star!
😂 Can you read my mind or something???? That’s literally the train I took the next day down to Miami!
@@LonestarTrips LOL!!!!! I mind read you when I asked for the Cardinal. No, I don’t have ESP.
Looking forward to your next banger video
Much appreciated 👊
Thank you for this great video ! I thoroughly enjoyed your description, and I will now have to ride The Cardinal !
Much appreciated! While I took it in winter, I wholly recommend taking in in spring, summer or fall. The leaves on the trees add so much to the landscape that it's really not worth taking it in winter.
9:03 it sounded like the train made a fart
10:59 he’s hiding from us…….
All these Christmas jumpers!
I’m VERY tempted to buy the Amtrak one listed on their website…
tell us about the equipment latch up at 5:00
Great trip. Thanks for sharing.
27:00 you should have mentioned that when the view is mostly brown and gray it is also the only time you get a lot to see. as soon as the trees start getting leaves 90% of your trip is seeing the trees that are 15 feet away and nothing else.
Very true.
AMTRAK SEEMS to IGNORE FOOD
Great ride and history
Thanks a lot!
Too many commercials. I quit watching.
Get an ad blocker?
Not sure what's with the low ratings for the food despite your seeming content with them. I'd wonder what you expect for a 10/10, considering you knew they were reheated rather than fresh from the start. It seems only fair to judge a product for what it is, not what you'd like it to be. And that food looks amazing compared to what you get on most domestic airlines these days!
It’s judged relative to other Amtrak meals. I may have been content with what I got, but knowing that other long distance routes have full cooked, proper meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner means I can’t really give them a high score out of principle.
Ok, I guess that makes sense. I've never had a fresh Amtrak meal so I guess my expectations should be much higher for those! Will take a look at your other videos soon! New to the channel and great job on this one!
Great video. As a casual Cardinal rider, I was shocked to see a baggage/sleeper connected. In October of 2023, the train had both a Genesis & Seimans Locomotive. (I think I made a spelling error) between Chicago & Indianapolis. That's when the Genesis came off & the Seimans took the train to Washington, D.C.
Nice video 👋
Thanks! Always happy to see you in the comments 😊
I'm very familiar with NY Penn Station. I live in New Brunswick, NJ, so the train is a convenient way to go to NYC. Rather than taking the train from New Brunswick, though, I drive to Edison and park at the station there.
21:47 I like the public restrooms in the Viewliner II sleepers. However, I really like the private toilet in the room as I normally travel on my own in a roomette (actually, I think that roomettes are honestly too tight for people.
One correction and a 'curiosity': The New River Gorge bridge was not completed until 1977. In fact, I was at the north end in the spring of 1978 and it still was not in use. Curiously, the New River is thought by many to be the second oldest river in the world. Surveyors, not fully aware of the river, simply indicated it, temporarily [a] "new" river. Later it was interpreted as the actually name of the river. Too bad this trip had to be at the ugliest time of the year as any other season, most especially the fall, would provide the West Virginia and Virginia landscapes in their true beauty.
The cars and windows are dirty leaving Chicago. Indianapolis platform area also looks seedy and dirty. It amazes me that the "Cardinal" is still running.
Yeah, the winter rain didn’t do the windows any favors.
Trains shouldn't leave initial terminal covered in dirt if the car wash is working. Amtrak has stopped cleaning the exteriors for the most part and I hope passengers complain until something is done.@@LonestarTrips
As much as the Cardinal is a "tourist's train", it is treated more as an afterthought. It used to run Superliners, but those were pulled when Amtrak started facing equipment shortages and the eastern terminus was changed from DC to NYC. It really does need to be fitted with a proper dining/lounge car.
Oh, and congratulations for at least pronouncing Kanawah correctly.
Great vid! Just want to add that the Thurmond depot is inside New River Gorge National Park and is owned by the NPS. It is a park visitor center and gift shop. Hopefully the depot will see an increase of tourist passenger traffic as the park becomes more well known.
I was just reading about Amtrak Cardinal on Wikipedia, ridership on this line tanked big time during COVID pandemic, wow, Amtrak Cardinal doesn't run on Mondays!!
I have ridden the Cardinal a few times and had a Cafe Car each time. Odd that yours did not.
Are you referring to the cafe car or the dining car? We had a cafe car on our train, but no dining car.
Great video and coverage of the Cardinal. One reason that there are not more people riding the Cardinal is the equipment itself. back in the early 1980s, the train was configured much as it is today. It had a baggage car, sleeper, amdinette, and 2-3 amcoaches. When Amtrak reequipped the train with heritage rebuilt heritage cars the train swelled to 9-10 most days. It had a baggage care, 2 sleepers, Diner, lounge, and 4-5 coaches. Then as they started pulling the heritage cars the train was again reequipped with Superliners ( it only went to DC then). The trains had a baggage, 2 Sleepers, Diner, Sightseer lounge and eventually grew back up to 4-5 coaches. After an Auto-Train wreck in the late 90s, Amtrak need the Superliners else where so again reequipped the train to baggage, 2 heritage sleeper, diner, and coaches, but the ridership dropped afterwards and hasn't recovered. If the train was full service like it used to be the people will ride it.
This "comercial" for the Cardonal trip mskes it look shabby and drab. I guess they are being honest, and they deserve our gratitude for that.
Inadequate coverage for Indiana. both the video and the Cardinal
It was dark and late, so I was asleep for most of the state. Plus footage doesn’t turn out well at night so not sure what I’m supposed to do about it.
@@LonestarTrips There are 2 stops after Laffayette, but there probably was no one getting off at them. That is my part of Indiana. Wish they would add more trains there.
Ruined by the sing-song narration.
No one’s forcing you to watch it lol.
Great video, thanks. I have taken the Cardinal in the past and loved it. I am really dissappointed that it does not seem to have a dining car. I actually am part of a minortiy who prefers flexible dining in one of the Amfleet dining cars. I have done this on the Silver Service Florida trains before they went back to traditional dining. With traditional dining you have no access to the dining cars except for meals. With flexible dining, the car is like a dedicated lounge for sleeping car passengers. Almost all of the posts on other sites praise the return of traditional dining so I recognize that I am in the minority. I prefer having the freedom to view the scenery in a relatively open space. I am really not looking forward to having meals in my room. The roomettes are great but you need a little more space at times.
Looking at the possibility of going westbound on this route in June. Can't wait and appreciate the small preview.
I have ridden this route several times and love the views. I do wish it had a full service dining car like in the early Amtrak days and a better arrival time to Cincinnati since this is the station I used several times to rent a car and go to Louisville to get to the Kentucky derby. If you are not in a hurry tomorrow from Chicago the views beat both the Capital Ltd. or the Lake Shore Ltd. Except for t.he views on the Lake Shore Ltd along the Hutson river.
Honestly, the Viewliner IIs not having Toilets in the roomettes kinda sucks because it looked so cool and efficient!
Is Union Terminal used in Cincinnati or still the small station near the Ohio River?
Union terminal is used in Cincinnati.
@LonestarTrips i might need tobtake the Cardinal for Nostalgia. I recall taking the train from NYC to Cincinnati in the late 60's and Union Terminal is a fantastic structure.
We were at the Chicago Great Hall around Christmas.
We were in Coach so no Metropolitan Lounge.
this was about 20 minutes too long
Watch it on double speed and it’ll be ~20 minutes 😉
When was this filmed??? I was in Chicago in early December for a convention, not sure if that’s when you were there
I filmed this on the 16th and 17th of December
@12:38, I have that locomotive in N Scale 🙂