Cincinnati, OH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | 1901 River Road, Cincinnati, Ohio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 39°6′6.52″N84°32′54.66″W / 39.1018111°N 84.5485167°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Central Railroad of Indiana (ex-NYC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | October 29, 1972 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | July 29, 1991 [2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cincinnati River Road station was an Amtrak intercity rail station located south of River Road (U.S. Route 50) west of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. It opened in October 1972 to replace the underused Cincinnati Union Terminal, and closed in July 1991 when Amtrak moved service back to the restored Union Terminal.
Cincinnati Union Terminal, opened in 1933, was among the last grand big-city stations built in the United States. [3] : 254 In its heyday, it served up to 216 trains per day. On May 1, 1971, when Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail service, the station's service was reduced to just two routes: the James Whitcomb Riley to Chicago and the George Washington to Washington and Newport News. [4] [3] : 38 Less than three months later, on July 12, the Riley and George Washington merged into a single long-distance Chicago-Washington train, with the eastbound train known as the George Washington and the westbound train known as the James Whitcomb Riley. The two trains had been inherited from different railroads — the Riley from Penn Central (formerly New York Central), the George from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) — and turning the train to the proper direction required a half-hour trip around a balloon loop north of Union Terminal. [3] : 39 These two daily trains, which between them saw fewer than 30 boardings and alightings per day, were nowhere near enough to justify the station's annual $4 million operating cost. [3] : 254 [5]
In 1972, construction began on a new, smaller station building. It sat on the south side of the River Road highway viaduct, about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) southwest of Union Terminal and 2 miles (3.2 km) west of downtown Cincinnati. At 1,500 square feet, it was a tiny fraction of the size of the 504,000-square-foot Union Terminal. The new station had a modern design, a 25-seat air conditioned waiting room, a ticket counter, restrooms, a crew room, and a parking lot for 30 cars. The building itself cost $90,000. The station and its parking lot were designed so that both could be enlarged if traffic increased. [5]
The new Cincinnati River Road station opened on October 29, 1972, having cost a total of $270,000. It was expected to save the company $500,000 in annual operating costs. [3] : 254 It was located on the ex-New York Central line between Cincinnati and Indianapolis used by the Riley/George, and thus avoided the need for the slow loop turnaround. [3] : 39
However, on October 6, 1973, Amtrak rerouted the Riley/George off of deteriorating ex-NYC track in Indiana and onto ex-Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) trackage between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. [3] : 39 Because the PRR approached Cincinnati from the east rather than the west, a long and complex backup move was necessary for trains to reach River Road station. [3] : 256
On May 19, 1974, the George Washington name was dropped, and the James Whitcomb Riley name was applied in both directions. [3] : 41 On August 1, 1974, Amtrak rerouted the Riley off Penn Central trackage altogether, switching it to C&O trackage between Chicago and Cincinnati. However, the C&O approached Cincinnati from the north and a backup move was still required. [3] : 39
The Chicago-Norfolk Mountaineer began service through Cincinnati on March 24, 1975, followed by the Cincinnati-Washington, D.C. Shenandoah on October 31, 1976. [3] : 68, 71 On October 30, 1977, the Riley was renamed the Cardinal . [3] : 41 Yet another reroute of the Cardinal — this one between Cincinnati and Cottage Grove, Indiana, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, on July 17, 1978 — still required a backup move to serve River Road station. [3] : 41
The Mountaineer was discontinued on June 1, 1977. [3] : 72 The Shenandoah and Cardinal were both discontinued on September 30, 1981, amid budget cuts, briefly ending rail service to Cincinnati. However, the Cardinal was restored on January 8, 1982. [3] : 43 In 1990, Union Terminal was remodeled and renamed the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. The remodel enabled Amtrak to return to Union Terminal on July 29, 1991, at last eliminating the backup moves required for River Road service. [3] : 256 The River Road station was demolished in 2010 when the adjacent Waldvogel Viaduct was realigned. [4]
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest, along with the intermediate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Rochester and Syracuse. New York Central was headquartered in New York City's New York Central Building, adjacent to its largest station, Grand Central Terminal.
The Broadway Limited was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central Railroad's 20th Century Limited. The Broadway Limited continued operating after the formation of Penn Central (PC) in February 1968, one of the few long-distance trains to do so. PC conveyed the train to Amtrak in 1971, who operated it until 1995. The train's name referred not to Broadway in Manhattan, but rather to the "broad way" of PRR's four-track right-of-way along the majority of its route.
The Cardinal is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York Penn Station and Chicago Union Station via Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Charleston, Huntington, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. Along with the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited, it is one of three trains linking the Northeast and Chicago. The 1,146-mile (1,844 km) trip between New York and Chicago is scheduled for 281⁄4 hours.
Central Station was an intercity passenger terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, at the southern end of Grant Park near Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue. Owned by the Illinois Central Railroad, it also served other companies via trackage rights. It opened in 1893, replacing Great Central Station, and closed in 1972 when Amtrak rerouted services to Union Station. The station building was demolished in 1974. It is now the site of a redevelopment called Central Station, Chicago.
The Kentucky Cardinal was a nightly 312-mile (502 km) passenger train operated by Amtrak from 1999 to 2003 between Chicago, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky, via Indianapolis, Indiana. On the three days that the Cardinal ran, the Kentucky Cardinal operated as a section, splitting at Indianapolis. On the other four days, it ran on its own to Chicago.
The Floridian was a train operated by Amtrak from 1971 to 1979 that ran between Chicago and Florida, with two branches south of Jacksonville terminating at Miami and St. Petersburg. For its Nashville to Montgomery segment, its route followed that of several former Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) passenger trains, including the Pan-American and the Humming Bird. Originating in Chicago, the train served Lafayette and Bloomington, Indiana; Louisville and Bowling Green, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Decatur, Birmingham, Montgomery and Dothan, Alabama; and Thomasville, Valdosta and Waycross, Georgia.
The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway was a major part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, extending the PRR west from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, via Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Chicago, Illinois. It included the current Norfolk Southern-owned Fort Wayne Line east of Crestline, Ohio, to Pittsburgh, and the Fort Wayne Secondary, owned by CSX, from Crestline west to Tolleston in Gary, Indiana. CSX leased its entire portion in 2004 to the Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad (CFE). The remaining portion of the line from Tolleston into Chicago is now part of the Norfolk Southern's Chicago District, with a small portion of the original PFW&C trackage abandoned in favor of the parallel lines of former competitors which are now part of the modern NS system.
The Union Station of Louisville, Kentucky is a historic railroad station that serves as offices for the Transit Authority of River City (TARC), as it has since mid-April 1980 after receiving a year-long restoration costing approximately $2 million. It was one of at least five union stations in Kentucky, amongst others located in Lexington, Covington, Paducah and Owensboro. It was one of three stations serving Louisville, the others being Central Station and Southern Railway Station. It superseded previous, smaller, railroad depots located in Louisville, most notably one located at Tenth and Maple in 1868–1869, and another L&N station built in 1858. The station was formally opened on September 7, 1891, by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. There was a claim made at the time that it was the largest railroad station in the Southern United States, covering forty acres. The other major station in Louisville was Central Station, serving the Baltimore and Ohio, the Illinois Central and other railroads.
The Calumet, also commonly called the Valpo Local, was a 43.6-mile (70.2 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Chicago and Valparaiso, Indiana. Despite Amtrak's mandate to provide only intercity service, the Calumet was a commuter train. Transferred from Conrail in 1979, the full route was shared with Amtrak's Broadway Limited until 1990; the Calumet was discontinued the next year.
The George Washington was a named passenger train of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway running between Cincinnati, Ohio and Washington, D.C. that operated from 1932, the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, to 1974. A section divided from the main train at Gordonsville, Virginia and operated through Richmond to Phoebus, Virginia. From the west, a section originated in Louisville and joined at Ashland.
The Indianapolis Union Station is an intercity train station in the Wholesale District of Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently, Amtrak's Cardinal line serves the terminal, passing through Indianapolis three times a week.
The Fort Wayne Line and Fort Wayne Secondary is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad (CFE), and CSX Transportation in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. The line runs from Pittsburgh, west via Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Gary, Indiana, along what was once the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pittsburgh to Chicago main line.
The Central Railroad Company of Indiana is a Class III short-line railroad that owns 92 miles (148 km) of track between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Shelbyville, Indiana, with trackage rights on CSX to Indianapolis, Indiana. CIND interchanges with CSX, Indiana & Ohio Railway, and Norfolk Southern in Cincinnati, and in North Bend, Ohio, with CSX; an Indiana & Ohio branchline splits from the CIND line at Valley Junction, a railroad location near Hooven, Ohio.
The Cincinnati, Richmond & Muncie Depot is a restored train station in Muncie, Indiana, United States. Built in 1901, it was acquired by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1910. The station was used for passenger train service throughout the 20th century and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. It is currently used as a visitor center and office for the adjacent Cardinal Greenway.
The Hoosier State was a 196-mile (315 km) passenger train service operated by Amtrak between Chicago and Indianapolis. It ran on the four days each week that the Cardinal did not run, giving daily rail service to the Chicago–Indianapolis corridor.
The James Whitcomb Riley was a passenger train that operated between Chicago, Illinois, and Cincinnati, Ohio, via Indianapolis, Indiana. Originally operated by the New York Central Railroad, it was taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Under Amtrak, it merged with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway's George Washington to become a Chicago-Washington/Newport News train. In 1977, it was renamed the Cardinal, which remains in operation.
The National Limited was a passenger train that ran between Kansas City, Missouri, and both New York City and Washington, D.C., splitting in Pennsylvania. Amtrak operated the train from 1971 to 1979.
Cincinnati Union Terminal is an intercity train station and museum center in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It opened in 1933 as a union station to replace five train stations serving seven railroads in the city. Passenger service ceased in 1972, and the station concourse was demolished. From 1980 to 1985, the building housed a shopping mall. In 1991, the terminal saw the opening of the Cincinnati Museum Center and the return of Amtrak service.
Peru station was a railway station in Peru, Indiana.
Marion station was a train station in Marion, Indiana.
Media related to Cincinnati River Road station at Wikimedia Commons