Hello everyone and welcome to Train Talk. Amtrak, America’s National Passenger Rail
Corporation operates many different intercity and long distance passenger train services
all across the continental United States. In a previous episode of Train Talk, we looked
at the Western half of Amtrak’s Long Distance train system. These are trains that generally
travel over 750 miles and connect larger cities with smaller towns in rural areas. In many
cases, these towns do not have easy access to other modes of public transpiration. In
this episode of Train Talk, we will finish our look at Long Distance Amtrak trains, examining
every route east of the Mississippi River. Like last time, I will briefly talk about
the geography of each route as well as some scenic highlights. We’ll also discuss typical
train consist information. For those of you who don’t already know, a consist is a list
of cars and locomotives that make up a train. For the long distance routes in the western
part of the country, trains usually consist of two P42DC locomotives and several double
decker “Superliner” passenger cars in the form of coaches, sleepers, dining cars,
and sightseer lounge cars. In the eastern half of the country however, only 3 of the
long distance trains have Superliner cars. The rest have a mix of Viewliner dining, sleeping,
and baggage cars and Amfleet coach and cafe cars. Alright. With that out of the way, let’s
dive right in.
Traveling in between New Orleans, Louisiana and New York City, New York, Amtrak’s Crescent
passes right though the heart of the Southern USA. The Crescent operates daily as train
19 southbound and 20 northbound. It was previously operated by the Southern Railway over much
of the same route. This train connects the major cities of New Orleans, Louisiana, Birmingham,
Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Charlotte, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Maryland,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City. On its journey, the train passes through the
forests of the southeastern coastal plain and along the eastern edge of the Appalachia
mountains, traveling through the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,
South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
and New York. The train consist is typically one view liner baggage car, two viewliner
sleeping cars, a viewliner dining car, an Amfleet Cafe car, and several Amfleet coach
cars. Two P42DC locomotives typically pull the train from New Orleans to Washington DC.
Between Washington and New York City, the Crescent travels along Amtrak’s electrified
Northeast Corridor and is pulled by an ACS-64 electric locomotive. The route is 1,377 miles
in length and the trip takes about 30 hours.
From Washington DC to Chicago, Illinois, the Capitol Limited crosses the Appalachia Mountains
and along the southern edge of the Great Lakes. This train operates daily in each direction
as train 29 westbound and train 30 eastbound. The Capitol Limited takes its name and a large
portion of its route from a train that was once operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
Major cities served by this train include Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio,
and Toledo, Ohio. The train passes through some places that are rich in American history
including the town of Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia and the fall line town of Cumberland,
Maryland. Along the way, the train passes through the states of Maryland, West Virginia,Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Unlike most other eastern long distance trains, the Capitol
Limited utilizes Amtrak’s bi-level “Superliner” passenger cars and consists typically include
a baggage car, a few sleeping cars, a diner, a sightseer lounge, and a couple of coaches.
P42DC locomotives pull the train. The route is 780 miles in length and the scheduled trip
time is 18 hours.
The Lake Shore Limited is another train that connects the midwest to the northeast. Trains
travel along the southern shore of the Great Lakes from Chicago to New York, passing through
Toledo, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, Buffalo, New York, and Albany. At Albany, the train breaks
into 2 sections with the majority of the train continuing south right along the Hudson River
to New York City. A smaller section continues east to Boston, Massachusetts. From New York
to Chicago, the train runs daily with train numbers 49 westbound and 48 eastbound. From
Boston to Albany, the train operates as 449 westbound and 448 eastbound. The original
“Lake Shore Limited” was operated by the New York Central railroad over much of the
same route. Train consists include a baggage car, amfleet coach cars, an Amfleet Cafe,
a viewliner dining car, and three Viewliner sleepers. Two P42’s pull the train over
the entire route with the exception of Albany to New York City, which is handled by a single
dual mode P32ACDM locomotive. The route is 141 miles long from New York to Albany, 818
miles from Albany to Chicago and 200 miles long from Boston to Albany. Trip times are
3 hours form New York to Albany, 16 from Albany to Chicago, and 5 hours from Boston to Albany.
Amtrak’s Cardinal cuts right through the middle of Appalachia as it travels from Chicago
to New York City. Other major cities served by this train are Indianapolis, Indiana, Cincinnati,
Ohio, Charleston, West Virginia, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Maryland, and Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. During its journey, the Cardinal passes through the states of Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia along with several North Eastern states on
the way to New York. The train runs 3 days a week in each direction as train 50 eastbound
and 51 westbound. This train was given the name “Cardinal” because the Cardinal is
the state bird of the 6 major states the train passes through. Previous railroads to operate
passenger trains along this route were the Chesapeake and Ohio and the New York Central.
The scenic highlight of this trip is the beautiful New River Gorge in West Virginia. Trains consist
of a P42 locomotive, Amfleet coaches, an Amfleet cafe, a Viewliner sleeper, and a viewliner
baggage car. From Washington DC to New York City, the train is pulled by an ACS-64 locomotive.
The route is 1,147 miles long and the trip takes about 26 hours.
One of the most unique trains in Amtrak’s entire system is the Auto Train, traveling
from Sanford, Florida on the northern outskirts of Orlando to Lorton Virginia, a short 15
miles from Washington D.C. Auto Train is the only major non stop train currently running
in Amtrak’s system and it allows riders the unique ability to bring a personal vehicle
on board with them on their journey. The train runs daily in each direction as train 52 northbound
and 53 southbound. Amtrak took over this service in the 1980s from a privately run company
called “Auto Train Corporation.” On its journey, the Auto Train passes through northern
Florida and straight along the east coast of the United States through Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. Like the Capitol Limited, the Auto Train also uses
bilevel “Superliner” equipment. Consist size can vary by time of year, but the train
can include as many as 18 Superliner sleepers, coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars and
sometimes over 30 vehicle carrying “Auto Rack” cars, making Auto Train one of the
world’s longest passenger trains. The train is usually pulled by two P40DC locomotives.
From end to end, the trip is 855 miles long with a travel time of 17 hours. For a more
in depth look, be sure to check out my video about the Auto Train that I made in the Spring
of 2019.
The City of New Orleans travels right along the Mississippi River from Chicago, Illinois
to New Orleans, Louisiana, passing by the farmland of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee,
and Mississippi and through the bayous of Louisiana. It operates daily in each direction,
running as train number 58 northbound and 59 southbound. The train takes its name and
most of its route from the original City Of New Orleans train that was operated by the
Illinois Central Railroad. Major cities served by this train besides the endpoints include
Champaign, Illinois, Carbondale, Illinois, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi.
This is the third and final train in the eastern United States to use Superliner double deck
passenger cars. The consist for this train is usually one P42DC locomotive, two sleeping
cars, a dining car, a lounge car, and 3 more coaches. Total route length is 934 miles and
travel time from end to end is 19 hours.
Our last two long distance Amtrak trains in the Eastern United States travel between Miami,
Florida and New York City and are branded as Amtrak’s Silver Service. They are the
Silver Star and the Silver Meteor. Both of these trains trace their names and routes
back to the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The Silver Star operates as train 91 southbound
and 92 northbound while the Silver Meteor operates as train 97 southbound and train
98 northbound. Major cities served by one or both of these trains include Miami, West
Palm Beach, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Orlando, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, Savannah,
Georgia, Columba, South Carolina, Florence, South Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, Richmond,
Virginia, Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. as well as several major cities along
Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor between Washington and New York. For most of the trip, these
trains run along the same rail line with just two exceptions. The first, when traveling
northbound out of Miami occurs just north of Winter Haven, Florida, where the Silver
Star makes a side trip across to Florida’s west coast for a station stop at Tampa while
the Silver Meteor continues on north to Orlando. The next divergence occurs at Savanah, Georgia.
Here, the Silver Meteor continues to the northeast closer to the coast on the same route taken
by the Auto Train. The Silver Star, on the other hand, heads due north as it passes right
through the middle of South Carolina before turning to the northeast and heading for Raleigh,
North Carolina. The routes come back together in Selma, North Carolina, continuing through
the rest of North Carolina, Virginia, and into Washington, DC before traveling up Amtrak’s
Northeast Corridor to New York City. Consists for these two trains are quite similar. They
both use single level Viewliner and Amfleet cars. The Silver Star typically has one P42DC
locomotive, 4 Amfleet coaches, an Amfleet cafe, two viewliner sleepers, and a viewliner
baggage car while the Silver Meteor has two P42 locomotives, 4 Amfleet Coach cars, an
Amfleet Cafe, a viewliner diner, 3 viewliner sleepers, and a viewliner baggage car. From
Washington DC to New York City, both trains are pulled by an ACS-64 electric locomotive.
The Silver Star travels a total of 1,522 miles on its journey from Miami to New York while
the Silver Meteor travels a total of 1,389 miles. Travel times from end to end are 31
hours for the Silver Star and 27 hours for the Silver Meteor.
Well, that completes our look at Amtrak’s long distance passenger train system. Thanks
for joining me! If you haven’t seen my Train Talk on the Western long distance trains,
be sure to take a look at that as well. Stop by the first Friday of most months for a brand
new episode of Train Talk. If you haven’t already, you are welcome to subscribe to the
channel and click on the bell icon to receive all notifications of my latest posts and videos
to the youtube channel. And remember, you can always stop by every Friday at 9 AM Pacific
time for a brand new railroading adventure. Until next time, I’m Mike Armstrong. I’ll
see you down the line! Thanks for watching.