# New York to Indianapolis on the Cardinal



## Shanghai (Nov 13, 2010)

*Trip Report: New York to Indianapolis, November 12, 2010 *

Late on Wednesday evening, I received a telephone call from my sister that my cousin in Indiana had died. She didn’t know any of the particulars but told me she would let me know as soon as she knew. I knew that my brother who lives in Indiana was out of town visiting his son and their new baby, so it would be up to me to represent our family at the funeral.

On Thursday, I telephoned the local funeral home and was told the funeral would be on Saturday morning. I got online to Amtrak to book a trip on the Cardinal to Indianapolis departing New York on Friday morning arriving Indianapolis on Saturday morning. I was only able to get a coach seat as all the accommodations were sold out.

I packed my bag and decided to go to bed early as I had to take the 4:46am New Jersey Transit train from my town to New York Penn to connect with the Cardinal. As I was packing, I called my sister who lives in Wisconsin to see if she was going to be at home and perhaps visit her while I was in the Midwest. She was happy that I was coming for a visit as it has been two years since I have seen her. She suggested I meet at her vacation condo at Wisconsin Dells which was fine with me. I booked the Hoosier State from Indianapolis to Chicago and the Empire Builder from Chicago to Wisconsin Dells.

On Friday morning, I awoke at 3:30am and was off to my train station at 4:15am. The NJ Transit train was on time and I arrived NYP at 5:43am. I went to the Acela Lounge for coffee and a pastry until 6:35am when the Cardinal was called.

The Cardinal departed NYP a few minutes late and sped southward to Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore and Washington DC. At Washington, several passengers boarded. Shortly after we departed Washington, I heard an announcement that the Dome Car was at the end of the train and was now open for anyone who wished to occupy it. About one minute later, I saw *Rob Tabern *rushing through the aisle of my car heading for the Dome. I shouted to Rob as he passed by but her did not hear me. I left my seat and walked to the Dome car and found Rob and *Robert Madison* at the head of the car. We met other railfans in the Dome as well and enjoyed the scenery from above.

Rob and Robert brought their lunch to the Dome and stayed in the car for more than three hours. Rob explained that he had flown to Washington the weekend before to travel in the Dome but due to problems, the Dome was not part of the Cardinal consist. There was an Amtrak employee in the car giving each person entering the car a Cardinal lapel pin marking the trip.

I returned to my seat to have some lunch and later returned to the Dome. The Dome was about one-half occupied with passengers and offered some terrific views of the Virginia and West Virginia countryside. I returned to my seat at approximately 5:00pm and then returned to the Dome in the darkness. It was a great experience. The Amtrak person told us that this was the final trip of the Dome Car on the Cardinal this year.

The coach cars were about 70% occupied throughout the trip with many people detraining and boarding in Charlottesville, VA.

When I returned to the Dome Car in the dark, there were only five of us in the car. We enjoyed seeing the city lights reflecting in the Ohio River as we traveled along in northern Kentucky. The lights approaching Cincinnati were beautiful.

I didn’t get much sleep in the coach car, but the passengers were quiet and considerate. The restrooms were reasonably clean and did not smell. The assistant conductor came by my seat about one hour out of Cincinnati. I went to the restroom and put on clean clothes and shaved and was ready to detrain upon arrival in Indianapolis. We arrived about 20 minutes off schedule. I took a taxi to the airport to get my rental car.

The funeral was fine and I was able to see several of my relatives that I have not seen in several years. After lunch, I drove back to Indianapolis, returned my rental car and took a taxi to my hotel. I wanted to get some sleep and be at the train station at 5:30am for the 6:00am Hoosier State train to Chicago and the Empire Builder to Wisconsin Dells.


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## Shawn Ryu (Nov 13, 2010)

Condolences to your family.

Great trip report. I took Cardinal in the reverse direction, from Chicago to New York. didnt have a dome car there. Shame.


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## pennyk (Nov 13, 2010)

Good report Dick. It is not fun going to a funeral, but traveling by train makes it a bit more bearable. Having the dome car on the Cardinal was a lucky break - unfortunately the best scenery was in the dark.

I hope the rest of your trip goes well and that you are able to get sleepers.


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