Cardinal 50 roomettes and 29 Capitol superliner bedrooms

[flying_babyb]

Don't order the "French Toast Sticks" or the rubbery " Omelette". The Egg McMuffin type Breakfast Sandwich is only OK, but since you don't like eggs order the Continental Breakfast.

The best meal on the Cardinal IMO is the Lunch Sandwich, where the lone attendant makes them with fresh produce, I've found them excellent!

On the other hand I've found the fish to be OK ( used to be Salmon but that's now gone)but the pasta dishes are nasty! ( Disclaimer: its been a year since I rode the Cardinal.)

you just saved me! I love pasta (which means I woulda made a mistake) and would have probably tried the french toast

 

[chakk]

The DC Metro Yellow Line also goes under the Potomac River, thru a tunnel very close to the Long Bridge over which Amtrak crosses the river (which is near the spot where George Washington threw a silver dollar across the river).

 

[Ryan]

Nope. The Yellow line goes over the Potomac right next to the Long Bridge.

The Blue/YellowORANGE(!)/Silver line use a tunnel further north.

 

[jis]

Nope. The Yellow line goes over the Potomac right next to the Long Bridge.

The Blue/Yellow/Silver line use a tunnel further north.

Surely you meant to say that the "Blue/Orange/Silver Line"? I suppose you are talking of the tunnel between Foggy Bottom and Rosslyn?

 

[Ryan]

I got two out of three colors right!

 

[jis]

I got two out of three colors right!

The color you got wrong was ironical considering you were correcting someone else's mistake about the Yellow Line to start with.

Frankly I was more surprised with the original Yellow Line mistake like you were, since anyone who has actually ridden the yellow Line across the Potomac could not possibly be confused about that. But then again, who knows? Lapse of memory can happen.

 

[PVD]

I agree that it is important to be considerate of your neighbors when travelling, but it may not be easy to be quiet enough for someone who wants to keep their door open. Yelling across the aisle is not appropriate, but if I was engaged in regular or quiet conversation during non overnight hours I wouldn't be too concerned if someone wanted to keep their door open. Respect is important, always use headphones or keep sound down if group watching, but it isn't a library.

 

[Reno89502]

I had a real bad experience one time on the LSL. A family of six, 2 adults, 2 teen boys, and 2 pre-teen boys decided that it would be OK to play ball in the hallways and yell back and forth across the hall between the 3 rooms that they had. Not only did the car attendant have to say something, but she had to get the conductor to back her up. The parents thought that since they paid a lot of money for the rooms that the kids had the right to play ball in the hallway AND converse very loudly for the entire trip. The conductor had to remind them that the people in the other 7 roomettes and 2 bedrooms paid a lot of money for a peaceful and relaxing journey.

 

[niemi24s]

A family of six, 2 adults, 2 teen boys, and 2 pre-teen boys decided that it would be OK to play ball in the hallways and yell back and forth across the hall between the 3 rooms that they had.

That's the sort of thing that sees three or four pairs of disposable foam earplugs in my travel shaving kit.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I had a real bad experience one time on the LSL. A family of six, 2 adults, 2 teen boys, and 2 pre-teen boys decided that it would be OK to play ball in the hallways and yell back and forth across the hall between the 3 rooms that they had. Not only did the car attendant have to say something, but she had to get the conductor to back her up. The parents thought that since they paid a lot of money for the rooms that the kids had the right to play ball in the hallway AND converse very loudly for the entire trip. The conductor had to remind them that the people in the other 7 roomettes and 2 bedrooms paid a lot of money for a peaceful and relaxing journey.

This is how it should have been handled:

and daddy too!!!

 

[HARHBG]

Does anyone have an idea of how many Heritage Sleepers are in use on the Cardinal? Is one more likely to get a Heritage Sleeper or a Viewliner?

Never ridden the Cardinal OR any other route utilizing Viewliner equipment.

Would like to ride one of the routes that use this equipment to see how it compares with the Superliner Sleepers.

There was a lot of threads about new Viewliner II equipment recently.

Anyone know if there is any new Viewliner II equipment in service now? and what routes are getting the new equipment??

THANKS!! in advance for any info anyone care to post.

My best to all.

 

[Thirdrail7]

There are no heritage sleepers in revenue service. The only Viewliner II equipment in service are the baggage cars and they are almost completely deployed.

 

[HARHBG]

Thanks for that info. I was looking at the coach charts posted earlier in this tread.

So if I book on the Cardinal or Lake Shore Limited I'll be in a Viewliner I, correct?

And since these cars only have the two regular bedrooms is that why they are so much more expensive?

I'm looking at the cost of a bedroom from WAS to CHI on CL vrs Cardinal.

 

[jis]

Yes. If you book Sleeper on Cardinal or lake Shore Limited you will be in a Viewliner I car. They are expensive because there is high demand and low supply. Cardinal normally has only one Sleeper, and during the busy season it has two. Lake Shore Limited has three between Albany and Chicago two originating in new York and one originating in Boston.

 

[niemi24s]

During the next 30 day period, there is no difference between the highest price Bedrooms on the Capitol Limited and the Cardinal. And while the highest price Roomettes are about $100 less on the Capitol Limited, remember that a Roomette on the Capitol Limited does not have its own toilet. Get the whole picture using AmSnag: http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php

 

[jis]

During the next 30 day period, there is no difference between the highest price Bedrooms on the Capitol Limited and the Cardinal. And while the highest price Roomettes are about $100 less on the Capitol Limited, remember that a Roomette on the Capitol Limited does not have its own toilet. Get the whole picture using AmSnag: http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php

Nor the nice second window for the upper berth, which IMHO is even more important than the toilet, at least for me. That is the reason I always pick the Cardinal or the Lake Shore Limited and not the Capitol Limited when traveling from the NEC to Chicago, even though they generally cost more. When I travel by Sleeper, I seldom venture to the Lounge, so what kind of lounge the train has is of little consequence to me.

 

[HARHBG]

Looking at "amsnag" several days ago I noticed the bedrooms on the Cardinal were consistently priced at $700, no matter if I was looking at the month of Jan or Feb or Mar '16, bedrooms throughout the month(s) were always $700.

 

[Seaboard92]

There should be route guides available online for the route. Or you can buy USA by Rail book. I have an old copy and it's really good.