A "Roll The Dice" Question

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TrainLoverJoy

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
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280
Location
Kalamazoo, Mi.
How many people who are familiar with Cardinal 50 from Chicago....would say the scenery would be worth the risk of not making a 71-minute connection with the Silver Meteor to Miami? (as opposed to taking the Capitol Limited)
 
I would take the CL, the view along the Youghiogheny, Casselman Rivers in Pennsylvania, through the Allegheny Mountains into WV is great. I have taken the CL in all seasons, plus you can see a lot more in the SSL that the Cardinal doesn't have.
 
The Cardinal is my home route and I love the train, but that is a tighter connection than I would be comfortable with. I would save the Cardinal for a future trip.
 
For almost all of my trips, the risk of missing the connection would drive me to the Capitol Limited. How critical is your arrival time at your final destination? If you missed the connection and were put in coach the next day (I'm assuming you have a sleeper), how long would the coach trip be? These are questions I would ask myself if I were in your position.
 
We just did the 50 connecting to the Meteor. They put us on a bus in Charlottesville for a 90 minute ride to Richmond. I too was thinking about chancing it and buying a coach ticket to Alexandria. If I was alone, I might have done it, but my wife would have been rather upset if we would have missed that days' Meteor...
 
willem said:
For almost all of my trips, the risk of missing the connection would drive me to the Capitol Limited. How critical is your arrival time at your final destination? If you missed the connection and were put in coach the next day (I'm assuming you have a sleeper), how long would the coach trip be? These are questions I would ask myself if I were in your position.
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The train ride itself is always more important than the destination. If coach to Miami was the only option after missing connection, I would turn around and go back to Chicago. (I guess that means I probably shouldn't take the chance....)
 
I would agree with the majority here who would take the Capitol Limited. The scenery is also great on #30 as mentioned above and my stress level would be greatly reduced by knowing I had plenty of time to make any 97 connection. Plus there is always something interesting to see in DC on the layover.
 
I believe if it gets tight they take care of you like slasharoo,, bus you over,,,,

which in my mind if you are making connections is better than messing with DC

by the time you get to Charlottesville you have seen all the good stuff, as Mother used to say

I would take the Cardinal

but as always show my prejudice to WV
 
Having taken the Cardinal the other way, WAS to CHI, I was looking forward to the scenery, but was not over impressed.

I have taken the Capitol Limited several times, and always found interesting stuff to look at.

My choice would be the Capitol Ltd.

Ed :cool:
 
I took the Cardinal the Was-Chi way too in January....and was told by many on the train that the great scenery is missed because it's night when passing through the best parts. Is that right?
 
Definitely. I took it WAS-CHI in April, and it was getting dark at the good part. Eastbound is definitely the way to go for year round viewing.

Summertime, both ways can work as long as you're on time.
 
I have taken the CL many, many times both ways and the Cardinal a couple times. Though the West Virginia scenery is great, I preferred the CL with its schedule over the Cardinal. Being in the Sleeper I had use of the Acela Lounge in Union Station waiting on a number of trains south. If traveling alone, the Viewliner Roomette is fine, but with family awkward because of the toilet.
 
TrainLoverJoy said:
I took the Cardinal the Was-Chi way too in January....and was told by many on the train that the great scenery is missed because it's night when passing through the best parts. Is that right?
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Yep. I slept through the New River Gorge going west one fall (went to sleep early because it was dark already). I just took the eastbound and got to see it. It was nice, but the CL also has many nice views too. The OTP for 50/51 has been good lately, so it might be worth the risk if they do indeed offer the bus connection for a late train.
 
I did the bus connection from CVS to RVR. It was a nice bus & driver.

Mostly interstate highway and plenty of time to transit to the Meteor.

I would do it again.
 
Shanghai said:
I did the bus connection from CVS to RVR. It was a nice bus & driver.

Mostly interstate highway and plenty of time to transit to the Meteor.

I would do it again.
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I did it also a few years ago. It was a nice bus ride, but I found the layover in RVR very uncomfortable. I likely will not do it again.
 
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