# Amtrak Hoosier State: Lafayette, IN to Chicago (Video included)



## Danielator36 (Jul 3, 2019)

*Basic Info:*
Amtrak Hoosier State 851 (No longer operating)
May 29, 2019
LAF - CHI
Departure from LAF at 7:36 AM
Video: 

_Background:_
A group of friends and I all purchased tickets about a month in advance, as we were planning on taking a day trip to Chicago the day after the school year was over. We chose to go by Amtrak, as it was only $44 round trip, the schedule worked for us, and seemed like something exciting, as most of us had never been on Amtrak. 
The Hoosier State last ran between Indianapolis and Chicago on June 30, 2019, due to state budget cuts, which leaves Lafayette with the Cardinal stopping there 3 times a week. We were fortunate enough to go on the Hoosier State while it was still in service.

_Before the train arrived:_
We all met up across the Wabash River at a Panera where we ate breakfast, and then shortly crossed on the pedestrian bridge which feeds directly into the Lafayette train station. Greater Lafayette is a pretty nice area, with plentiful bike paths and good sidewalks, but the Lafayette station is one place where the maintenance is really lacking. It's clear that not much has been done to improve, or even maintain it since it's completion in the 90s. 

_Train:_
At 7:29 AM, just on time, the train arrived from the south (Crawfordsville being the previous stop). It had three cars, one of which included a dining car and two regular, coach seating cars. We decided to sit on the last of the cars, where it was nearly empty. 
At 7:36, again as scheduled, we left Lafayette headed north. We passed by various freight trains, as well as the old abandoned Monon rail shop. The train crossed the Wabash before heading through various small towns including Battle Ground, Brookston, and Reynolds before reaching Monon. At Monon, although there isn't a stop, the train does turn to the East. This switch enables the train to reach Rensselaer just under 20 minutes later. Although small, Rennselaer's station looked quite new and well-kept. Not many people, probably around 10, boarded here.
After Rennselaer, the view was mostly of fields and the occasional small town. Eventually, we reached the outskirts of Chicago, where we made a quick stop in Dyer. Like Rennselaer, Dyer's station also seemed pretty nice.
As we left Dyer and neared Chicago, we realized that our train was running slightly early, likely due to it not having been stopped at any point, as often happens. By 10:42, we were pulling into Chicago's Union Station. Pretty quickly, our train stopped and the doors open for the passengers to get on. Chicago's Union Station did not seem very nice nor did it seem particularly well maintained. The platform was what you'd expect from any large American station, but the seating and ticketing areas of the station seemed really cramped. We left the station, and then began our day in Chicago!

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions or comments feel free to reply!


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## Barb Stout (Jul 4, 2019)

Chicago Union Station waiting area was cramped!? When we were there last summer, it was very spacious and in my opinion beautiful. They were and I think still are doing renovations there, so maybe they're working on the railroad, no... I mean waiting room.


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## AmtrakBlue (Jul 4, 2019)

Barb Stout said:


> Chicago Union Station waiting area was cramped!? When we were there last summer, it was very spacious and in my opinion beautiful. They were and I think still are doing renovations there, so maybe they're working on the railroad, no... I mean waiting room.


They most likely did not see the Great Hall, only the area near the platforms. That side does seem cramped, but should "open up" with the new construction.


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## Danielator36 (Jul 4, 2019)

AmtrakBlue said:


> They most likely did not see the Great Hall, only the area near the platforms. That side does seem cramped, but should "open up" with the new construction.


Yeah, we only saw the waiting area by the platforms. It was dirty, really cramped, and had an uncomfortably low ceiling. I was looking through my camera roll to see if I had taken any pictures while in there; all I had was a video, which upon closer inspection I noticed there was a bird flying around the waiting area.


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## Dakota 400 (Jul 5, 2019)

OP, Nice video! Thanks for making the effort of producing and posting it.


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## Danielator36 (Jul 6, 2019)

Dakota 400 said:


> OP, Nice video! Thanks for making the effort of producing and posting it.



Thanks!


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## dogbert617 (Jul 7, 2019)

Danielator36 said:


> *Basic Info:*
> Amtrak Hoosier State 851 (No longer operating)
> May 29, 2019
> LAF - CHI
> ...




Nice video, since I wondered what the towns between Rensselaer, IN and Lafayette, IN looked like. And since when I took the 50 Cardinal going east in late May to Culpeper, VA(had a ride going back to Chicago w/family), I hadn't yet had an opportunity to ride this Amtrak line going west. Too bad with Amtrak service cutbacks, that now riders between Indy-Chicago are only left with the thrice a week Cardinal, and bus service(for those in Indy, Lafayette, and Chicago more so).  I am right that when it operated till June 30th, that the Hoosier State did have a cafe car?

The Lafayette, IN station looks pretty nice, I have to say. And I got that feeling when I rode east and saw it from Cardinal #50, that this station likely would be a nice station to board a train at. Too bad now it doesn't have train service, 7 days a week due to the Hoosier State being stupidly axed from the budget. You'd think that Indiana would want to fund this train, since Missouri(with 2 runs each direction, and 4 trains a day overall) and Oklahoma(2 trains overall) still find a way to fund a state supported train to this day. Sigh....


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## Seaboard92 (Jul 7, 2019)

I’ve always found the route of the Cardinal across Indiana and Ohio to be quite scenic in its own way. I’ve been lucky enough to ride the entire Cardinal route in daylight. And there really are no dull points.


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## Danielator36 (Jul 7, 2019)

dogbert617 said:


> I am right that when it operated till June 30th, that the Hoosier State did have a cafe car?
> 
> The Lafayette, IN station looks pretty nice, I have to say. And I got that feeling when I rode east and saw it from Cardinal #50, that this station likely would be a nice station to board a train at.



Yeah, it did have a cafe car (the video I posted has a quick clip from it).

From a glance, the Lafayette station does look pretty nice, but when you get up close is when you realize the problems.
When they built it in the 90s, it was a nice, new station with a great view of the Wabash River.
Unfortunately, poor maintenance has led to
-Trees, plants, and weeds overgrowing so you can't see the Wabash at all from the station
-Old signs getting rusted and dirty, for example; the "Lafayette" Amtrak sign has brown stains on it, and all the posts for signs are completely rusted
- On the side opposite to the platform, there's a big "Lafayette," but the L has fallen off and hasn't been replaced, so now it just says "afayette"
-About 75% of the actual Station building isn't accessible to the public, it's unmarked and if you look through windows it's just completely empty. The only part passengers can actually access is a little waiting area on the lower part of the building which then feeds out to an outdoor area.

The Lafayette Station has huge huge potential. You can really clearly see the difference on TrainWeb's page for LAF (http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/lafayettein.htm) If you look at their 2001 visit, you can see the (at the time) fairly new station, which was still being well maintained. However, if you look at the 2015 visit, you can see the rusted Lafayette, IN sign, all the weeds around the fence, all the overgrown plants covering the view to the Wabash, and on the 'Entrance' picture you can see rust on the side of the building.

By no means is the Lafayette Station a bad overall station, I'd always thought it was pretty nice. However, when I saw the old pictures of the station from a couple of decades back, I started seeing it differently. It's one of those things that with just a little more effort from the city could go from nice to really really great. Hopefully, soon enough someone comes around and points it out, honestly, with a fresh coat of paint, a cleaning, and occasional landscaping, it would turn out great.


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## dogbert617 (Jul 9, 2019)

Danielator36 said:


> Yeah, it did have a cafe car (the video I posted has a quick clip from it).
> 
> From a glance, the Lafayette station does look pretty nice, but when you get up close is when you realize the problems.
> When they built it in the 90s, it was a nice, new station with a great view of the Wabash River.
> ...



Ah, that's too bad more maintenance is not being done on that station. Hopefully the city of Lafayette, IN, does more to improve that station in the future.



Seaboard92 said:


> I’ve always found the route of the Cardinal across Indiana and Ohio to be quite scenic in its own way. I’ve been lucky enough to ride the entire Cardinal route in daylight. And there really are no dull points.



By Ohio, I presume you mean Kentucky as it runs on that side east of Cincinnati? Yep, from what I could see of the Cardinal's route in daylight or a hint of sun when the sunrise was starting to occur(east of Portsmouth, OH/South Shore), it looked nice. I'd still say for sure the highlight of the Card's route is the portion between Charleston, WV and Staunton, VA, but of course without a doubt there are some interesting parts of scenery through Indiana and Ohio. I wish you passed through Hamilton, OH in daylight, since I would've loved to have seen what that town looked like not in darkness, and not just hints of light at night. FYI I did my Card trip going east, but haven't yet taken this route going west(due to returning back to Chicago w/family in the car). Ah well....


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## Seaboard92 (Jul 9, 2019)

I did pass thru Hamilton in daylight. Around one pm. By Ohio I really meant from the middle of the Ohio River bridge in Cincinnati to the state line with Indiana.

Now the area Huntington west to Cincinnati is also fairly awesome in the Ohio River Valley. See my “Working New River” trip report for pictures from the trip. We left Huntington around 730 in the morning and arrived into Chicago just after midnight. The area east of Indy is nice. If I recall there is one high bridge near Collinsville.


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## dogbert617 (Jul 9, 2019)

Seaboard92 said:


> I did pass thru Hamilton in daylight. Around one pm. By Ohio I really meant from the middle of the Ohio River bridge in Cincinnati to the state line with Indiana.
> 
> Now the area Huntington west to Cincinnati is also fairly awesome in the Ohio River Valley. See my “Working New River” trip report for pictures from the trip. We left Huntington around 730 in the morning and arrived into Chicago just after midnight. The area east of Indy is nice. If I recall there is one high bridge near Collinsville.



Was your train going west late, going through Hamilton, OH? That's the only way I can imagine(and with luck, a la how I rode a 3 hours late westbound Cap. Limited through Cleveland to Toledo, allowing me a rare chance of seeing that part in daytime hours) one would see Hamilton, in daylight. Too bad Amtrak no longer stops in Hamilton, vs. years ago for the Card. And by Collinsville, did you mean Connersville, IN? The area of southeast Indiana, and the closer you get to Cincinnati is less flat, and you sometimes do pass through hilly areas down there. Now I wonder if there is one high trestle bridge in Indiana, just before you cross into Ohio? I remember when somehow I rewoke up from my sleep going through Hamilton, that you pass over a bridge that allows for some limited views at night of Hamilton. Would've been so much better, if we were passing through Hamilton in the daytime. 

I will look over your thread, of Working New River. I'd love to look at your pics, of that area the Card passes through.


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## Seaboard92 (Jul 9, 2019)

It wasn’t a scheduled train I was on  your right it’s Connersville. I’m not from the area and I knew it was something with a Co and a Ville.


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