Amtrak Cardinal 50 Cincinnati to Washington DC

On 11 Oct, 2012 By a_sablan With 22 Comments

My First Trip via Amtrak

I decided to take the Amtrak for my vacation about two months before I left, just to be able to say I have done it. My trip from Cincinnati to DC was to be about fourteen and a half hours long, yet I was excited to maybe get some nice pictures of the changing trees. But as my luck had it, the weather was dreary and the trees were as green as Emerald City.

Union Station Cincinnati, Ohio – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

My Amtrak train was scheduled to arrive at 3:15am the next morning. My wife, Amy, had to work the next morning so I worked out a deal with a friend of mine to hang out then drop me off at the train station, Amy drove me to Cincinnati around five pm to meet our friend, Brandon, who lives in Cincy for dinner. Amy also invited one of her friends, Chrissie, to join us down at the Banks. We met Brandon and Chrissie at Moerlein Lager House right next to the Great American Ballpark. We had dinner and I said adieu to Amy and Chrissie, then Brandon and I headed to a sports bar to watch the Thursday night football game to pass time until I got dropped off at Union Station for my Amtrak.

Union Station

Information Booth at Union Station – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

Union Terminal is a National Historic Landmark and also a working museum. It was originally built in 1933 to be used as a train station, but in 1990 it was converted to the Cincinnati Museum Center. It is a wonderful piece of art deco architecture and the building itself is beautiful. Unfortunately, it is not the most exciting place to hang out for three hours waiting on a train. But I did take a lot of images from this beautiful piece of history before I boarded the train.

I checked in my large bag back in the depths of the station, where the Amtrak waiting area was located. I then proceeded to meander around the inside of the station. It is amazing how pristine an 80 year old building can hold up after all this time. When you first walk into the station you are blown away by the 360 degree mosaics that graces the high walls of the concourse area. I particularly enjoyed the art deco information booth.

Union Station Relief – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

Union Station Mural – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

Union Station Windows – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

Union Station Art Deco Feature – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

Entry Area to the Amtrak – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

Duke Energy Children’s Museum – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

The Journey Begins

Amtrak Dining Car – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan (click image to see full photo)

I got on the train at about 3:45am and immediately went to sleep. When I woke up, the train was at the Huntington WV station. I got up, brushed my teeth, put in my contacts and headed to the diner car to grab some breakfast. The diner car is probably the best place to shoot if are not in a sleeper car with your own private space. The windows are big and there isn’t someone 3 feet in front and in back of you to complain about the shutter sound.

You can see the route I took at this link. All of these shots were shot out of the diner car window. The next post will be shots from DC.