# Joyride on the Cardinal - Baltimore-Charlottesville



## MARC Rider (Oct 25, 2016)

Over Labor Day Weekend, I decided to take a daytrip joyride to Charlottesville VA to ride the train, check out the Cardinal Business class, earn some TQP, and get a 200 point bonus from AGR to ride Cardinal Business class.

You would have thought that the Sunday during Labor Day weekend would be kind of dead, but there was quite a nice little line for the ticket office at Baltimore Penn, considering it was about 9 AM on Sunday.




Even though the focus was off, you can see that the Cardinal, #51, was running on time. Well it should e, seeing as it was coming down the NEC from New York, and there's no excuse of interference from freight trains.




However, it looks like the gate displays are having some IT issues. (They were fixed later in the week.)




Here comes the Cardinal! There were 2 Viewliner sleepers, the business class car, the diner-lite, and 4 coaches, with a new Viewliner 2 baggage car in front.




Our business class car was one of the 2 x 1 club cars. We had 18 seats in one end, and table seating in the other. The cafe sales area was open to us, and the free business class drinks were placed there for us to take at our convenience. Interesting view from behind the counter. 







The business class was about 2/3 full. I had a seat pair to myself. There didn't seem to be any people taking it overnight; the hat checks were mostly for Charlottesville, White Sulpher Springs, Charleston, etc. I can see why that would be the case. the 2x1 seating isn't much better than the Amfleet 2 coach seating. If you are able to have a pair of seats during your sleep period, there's a non-removable armrest that will keep you from spreading out. Of course, if you have to share the seat pair, the nice wide armrest separate you from the other stranger with whom you're forced the spend the night. You might also be able to snag one of the 6 single seats, but one has no window to speak of, and they are all set a couple of inches from the side of the car, making it a little difficult to lean against the window, which is something I like to do when sleeping in coach (or during my morning commute on MARC.) I did enjoy the general atmosphere in the BC car, it was definitely quieter than coach, and we certainly had room to spread around. We also has our own toilet, which was a lot less busy and cleaner than those in coach.

At Washington, the Southbound 51 waits for a hour, it seemed like they were letting the Carolinian cross into Virginia before they let us on. Well, there was some interesting train watching. And also baggage car watching.




They can turn those strings of baggage carts in a nice tight u-turn right on the platform!

Well, on into Virginia. They finally called for lunch on the Diner-Lite, so I thought I'd try it out. Got the Italian sandwich, it was OK, nothing to write home about. The waiter was friendly and efficient (and I got my 3X AGR points for paying with the AGR credit card.) I decided, though to buy some chow in Charlottesville for the trip home, and I'm glad I did, as there was only one dinner seating called.







The run through the Vriginia Piedmont was nice and scenic. We were running about 75-80 mph on the Norfolk southern tracks between Manassas and Orange, then on the Buckingham Branch we ran at ~30 mph between Orange and Gordonsville, and at about 60 mph between Gordonsville and Charlottesville, Soon I arrived at Charlottesville, where I was met by City of Miami, who took me on a quick tour of the town, courtesy of the free circulator bus. We got off at the center of the University and admired Mr. Jefferson's academic architecture, and then walked back to the station, looking for suitable carry-out food for my return trip.







We didn't find anything that interested me, so I decided to try the Wild Wings that was located in the station building. While I was waiting for my order, eastbound #50 arrived, early! I will say that my wings were packed very nicely and securely for carry-out. I had no trouble finding my car, and boarded. We left on time, which is a big difference from my last trip on #51 in the winter of 2015. Accommodations were similar except that, alas, this particular club car had a toilet that didn't work, so I had to go back to the coaches when I needed to use the restroom. This car, too, was about 2/3 full and I had a seat pair to myself.

I enjoyed my wings watching the Virgina countryside roll by, and soon we were back in Washington for a much shorter layover and engine change. We arrived back in Baltimore on time, which is a bit unusual for this train.










It was a fun trip. Thanks to City of Miami for showing me around Charlottesville. Now, if only we could get the Cardinal to run daily, and also see about getting some higher speeds on the Buckingham Brnach between Orange and Gordonsville.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Oct 27, 2016)

What a terrific day trip!  Thanks for sharing it, and also for the information on business class on the Cardinal.


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## Metra Electric Rider (Oct 27, 2016)

Great photos, the countryside there is gorgeous.


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## Bob Dylan (Oct 27, 2016)

Mystic River Dragon said:


> What a terrific day trip!  Thanks for sharing it, and also for the information on business class on the Cardinal.


Ditto!


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## Railroad Bill (Oct 28, 2016)

Enjoyed your trip report. I envy you all who can take a day trip on Amtrak through some nice territory in the daytime.

We can do a CL day-trip to Chicago and back or a quick CL to WAS and back the same day but to get up and back to CLE at 1:30 am takes dedication


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## AKA (Nov 7, 2016)

Railroad Bill said:


> Enjoyed your trip report. I envy you all who can take a day trip on Amtrak through some nice territory in the daytime.
> 
> We can do a CL day-trip to Chicago and back or a quick CL to WAS and back the same day but to get up and back to CLE at 1:30 am takes dedication


Amen


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## MrEd (Nov 8, 2016)

thanks for the trip report


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## dogbert617 (May 28, 2017)

Nice report, and pics! I hope someday, the Cardinal and Sunset Limited are upgraded to daily train service. Really want to ride the Cardinal east from Chicago at some point, to see what the Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Virginia segments are like.


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