Passenger Trains > A Trip on the Cardinal Wednesday May 18 2022

I had a banked week of vacation time that was going to expire at the end of this month so I took it this week. Although my main goal was to get things done on, in and around the house I thought if things were going along really good I would enjoy a mid-week day trip. If things were going badly a mid-week day trip would be good to break things up a bit. Yesterday early morning I rode our relatively new Owl buses to W Eighth Street to walk to Cincinnati Union Terminal to catch the Cardinal to Charleston WV. I walked and did quick ride on KRT to Tudor's Biscuit World on Lee Street in Charleston. I then rode the Baron's Bus I-77 route to Cleveland. I walked to Prospect and Superior and caught an Akron Metro back to Akron. After riding Metro to where S Main crosses the CSX for a bit I rode a Baron's Bus back to Cincinnati and another go-Metro Night Owl Bus back home early this morning. All of this was little less than 26 hours from the time I left the house until I returned. 

The Cardinal of course stops at my favorite train station. the Art Deco Cincinnati Union Terminal. Union Terminal has been recently renovated and looks great. The Amtrak station is still in the same place, the former Men's Lounge. The veneer graphics have been carefully reapplied to the walls and the station waiting room looks cleaned up a bit. Two new (to me) station agents were working last night and both seamed friendly. The younger guy made a couple announcements close to train time without using the PA but he could clearly be heard from the back of the room where I was sitting. We got down to the platform and only had to wait around ten minutes or less for it to show up. The Conductor scanned tickets and assigned us seats outside on the platform. Because Amtrak is still only running two coaches on the Cardinal it was quite full when we got on and more people boarded in Huntington and Charleston where I got off. I attempted to go to the Cafe car after the stop in Huntington but something was wrong so I went back to my seat. It turned out the credit card reader Tablet had failed so everything was cash only after that. We left Cincinnati only 17 minutes late and made up the time by Huntington, even with several speed restrictions due to track work projects. Unfortunately we lost fifteen minutes between St Albans and Charleston due to a large production gang who had a turnout removed in one of the CPs around St Albans.

Overall the trip was what Amtrak is supposed to be.

Pictures, all are from Cincinnati Union Terminal. I set the camera to 1/20 sec exposure at 3.2f and 200 ISO for some surprisingly good night shots. None of these have altered with Photoshop or anything.
1) Cincinnati Union Terminal 1301 Western Ave Cincinnati Ohio 45203. 
2) That's Amtrak's Number Two...
3) Train Time at Cincinnati Union Station.

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/22 20:38 by tq-07fan.

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Thanks for sharing! My favorite train at my favorite station.

Posted from Android

You named  bus  firms  I  havve never  heard of!!  But  will be looking  up!! I am in Cinci.  also.

^^^^
I made it easy and added the links to Baron's, KRT, and Akron Metro if you put your arrow over them in the text. 

My employer go-Metro for Cincinnati.

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/22 14:12 by tq-07fan.

For some reason, This station reminds me of the Hall of Justice building.
That was used in the Superfriends Cartoon series.
That ran from the 70s to the early 80s.

Maybe someone from Hanna Barbara was a rail fan?

 

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

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Interesting shots!! I rode the Cardinal back in 2010 from NYP-CHI. I would love to take it again someday but who knows when. Next time I take it, I hope to do the reverse trip. I hope that someday, Cincy will get corridor rail service. It would be nice if CHI-IND-Cincy was a dedicated corridor but all of the speed issues must be fixed between Dyer and CHI-this is what killed the Hoosier State.

I have always had the same thought. I was just never brave enough to mention it. Thanks for helping me overcome my fears.

Randy in PHX

GP25 Wrote:
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> For some reason, This station reminds me of the
> Hall of Justice building.
> That was used in the Superfriends Cartoon series.
> That ran from the 70s to the early 80s.
>
> Maybe someone from Hanna Barbara was a rail fan?
>
>

When that cartoon was created, Hanna Barbera was a subsidiary of Cincinnati based Taft Broadcasting. The lead animator has said in several interviews over the years that his visits to Cincinnati to visit Taft where in fact what inspired the Hall of Justice.

Posted from iPhone

That means the cartoon Hall of Justice is actually The Cincinnati Station.

scraphauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GP25 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > For some reason, This station reminds me of the
> > Hall of Justice building.
> > That was used in the Superfriends Cartoon
> series.
> > That ran from the 70s to the early 80s.
> >
> > Maybe someone from Hanna Barbara was a rail
> fan?
> >
> >
>
> When that cartoon was created, Hanna Barbera was a
> subsidiary of Cincinnati based Taft Broadcasting.
> The lead animator has said in several interviews
> over the years that his visits to Cincinnati to
> visit Taft where in fact what inspired the Hall of
> Justice.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival