Cardinal and Hoosier State

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Hoosier State redirects here. For the state, see Indiana.

The Cardinal is a 1,146-mile (1,844 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak, connecting New York Penn Station with Chicago Union Station three days a week via Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Virginia, Cincinnati, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. The Hoosier State provides service the other four days on the 196-mile (315 km) part from Chicago to Indianapolis.

In addition to the Cardinal, one other train (Lake Shore Limited) connects Chicago and New York, and one other (Capitol Limited) connects Chicago and Washington. Until early 2005, the Three Rivers also connected New York and Chicago.

Cardinal and Hoosier State passengers may ride in reserved coach seating. Cardinal passengers may also choose to reserve first class Viewliner sleeping car accommodations.

1 Route details
2 History
3 Station stops
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Route details

The tracks used were originally part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, New York Central Railroad, Monon Railroad, Grand Trunk Railway, Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway and Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad systems, and are now owned by Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern, the Canadian National Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. The following lines are used:

New York, New York to Washington, D.C.: Amtrak (see Northeast Corridor)
Washington, D.C. to Alexandria, Virginia: CSX
Alexandria, Virginia to Orange, Virginia: Norfolk Southern
Orange, Virginia to Maynard, Indiana: CSX
Maynard, Indiana to Thornton, Indiana: CN
Thornton, Indiana to 81st Street, Chicago:UP
81st Street to Union Station, Chicago: NS

[edit] History

Prior to Amtrak's first day on May 1, 1971, Penn Central operated the James Whitcomb Riley (trains 303 and 304, named after poet James Whitcomb Riley) between Chicago and Cincinnati, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway operated the George Washington (trains 1 and 2, named after first U.S. President George Washington) between Cincinnati and Washington, with a section (trains 41 and 42) splitting at Charlottesville and running to Newport News.

Amtrak, upon its 1971 commencement of operations, kept service identical at first. Through Washington-Chicago and Newport-Chicago coaches began operating July 12, and a through sleeping car began September 8. With the November 14, 1971 schedule, the routes were merged, with the George Washington name being applied eastbound and the James Whitcomb Riley westbound. At the same time the route was extended from Washington to Boston, and was assigned train numbers 50 eastbound and 51 westbound.

On March 6, 1972 the train was rerouted from Chicago's Central Station into Union Station. On April 30 the service was truncated back to Washington from Boston. On May 19, 1974 the George Washington was renamed the James Whitcomb Riley, giving it the same name in both directions. The Newport News section was discontinued June 14, 1976 and the Colonial began running over its former route east of Richmond.

The James Whitcomb Riley was renamed the Cardinal on October 30, 1977, as the cardinal was the state bird of all six states through which it ran. It was discontinued September 30, 1981 (by then having been extended to New York from Washington) and brought back January 8, 1982.

The Hoosier State began October 1, 1980, running over a different route than the Cardinal. On April 27, 1986 the Cardinal was rerouted to use the same tracks as the Hoosier State from Chicago to Indianapolis.

From December 17, 1999 to July 4, 2003, the Hoosier State was extended south from Indianapolis to Louisville, Kentucky and renamed the Kentucky Cardinal.

[edit] Station stops

The Cardinal runs as train 50 eastbound and train 51 westbound. The Hoosier State runs as train 850 eastbound and 851 westbound.

For service east of Washington, see Northeast Corridor. Cardinal trains stop only at these stations:

This line is also served by Crescent trains north of Charlottesville.

In the table below, CD is Cardinal service, CS is Crescent, and HS is Hoosier State. VRE Manassas Line service is also shown.

State	Milepost	City	Station	Amtrak	Other	Connections
DC	0	Washington	Union Station	CD CS	VRE	MARC Brunswick Line, Camden Line and Penn Line, WMATA Red Line, Amtrak Northeast Corridor continues north Thruway Motorcoach service (Greyhound Lines) to Dulles Airport, Warrenton and Charlottesville
	1.2 QL136.7		CP Virginia
	QL137.1		L'Enfant		VRE	WMATA Blue Line, Green Line, Orange Line and Yellow Line
	QL138.5	state line
VA			Crystal City		VRE	WMATA Blue Line and Yellow Line
	QL138.9 CFP110.1		RO
	CFP104.6		Alexandria	CD CS	VRE	WMATA Blue Line and Yellow Line VRE Fredericksburg Line splits, along with Amtrak Carolinian, Palmetto, Regional, Silver Meteor and Silver Star
			Backlick Road		VRE
			Rolling Road		VRE
			Burke Centre		VRE
			Manassas Park		VRE
			Manassas	CD CS	VRE
			Broad Run Airport		VRE
			Culpeper	CD CS
			Charlottesville	CD CS		Amtrak Crescent splits Thruway Motorcoach (James River Bus Lines) to Richmond Staples Mill Road Station
			Staunton	CD
			Clifton Forge	CD
WV			White Sulphur Springs	CD
			Alderson	CD
			Hinton	CD
			Prince	CD
			Thurmond	CD
			Montgomery	CD
			Charleston	CD
			Huntington	CD
KY			Ashland	CD
			South Portsmouth-South Shore	CD
			Maysville	CD
OH		Cincinnati	Union Terminal	CD		Thruway Motorcoach (Greyhound Lines) to Chicago Union Station on days the Cardinal doesn't run
OH			Hamilton	CD
IN			Connersville	CD
			Indianapolis	CD HS		Thruway Motorcoach (Greyhound Lines) to Louisville Thruway Motorcoach (Burlington Trailways) to Crawfordsville, Danville, Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Peoria Airport, Galesburg, Moline and Davenport
			Crawfordsville	CD HS		Thruway Motorcoach (Burlington Trailways) to Danville, Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Peoria Airport, Galesburg, Moline and Davenport
			Lafayette	CD HS
			Rensselaer	CD HS
			Dyer	CD HS
IL		Chicago	Union Station	CD HS		Thruway Motorcoach (Van Galder Bus Lines) to Rockford, South Beloit, Janesville, and two stops in Madison Thruway Motorcoach (Greyhound Lines) to Cincinnati on days the Cardinal doesn't run Thruway Motorcoach (Greyhound Lines) to Indianapolis and Louisville

Amtrak routes
Northeast Acela Express - Adirondack - Auto Train - Capitol Limited - Cardinal - Carolinian - Crescent - Downeaster - Empire Service - Ethan Allen Express - Keystone Service - Lake Shore Limited - Maple Leaf - Metroliner - Palmetto - Pennsylvanian - Regional - Silver Meteor - Silver Star - Vermonter
Midwest Ann Rutledge - Blue Water - California Zephyr - Capitol Limited - Cardinal - Carl Sandburg - City of New Orleans - Empire Builder - Hiawatha - Hoosier State - Illini - Illinois Zephyr - Lake Shore Limited - Lincoln Service - Mules - Pere Marquette - Saluki - Southwest Chief - Texas Eagle - Wolverine