Cincinnati River Road station

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, OH
Cincinnati River Road station in December 1976
Location	1901 River Road, Cincinnati, Ohio
Coordinates	39°6′6.52″N 84°32′54.66″W
Line(s)	Central Railroad of Indiana (ex-NYC)
History
Opened	October 29, 1972[1]
Closed	July 29, 1991[2]
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Hamilton [note 1] toward Chicago Cardinal 1977–1991 Maysville toward New York Terminus Shenandoah 1976–1981 Loveland toward Washington, D.C. Richmond toward Chicago Mountaineer 1975–1977 South Portsmouth–South Shore [note 2] toward Norfolk Richmond [note 3] toward Chicago James Whitcomb Riley 1974–1977 Maysville [note 4] toward Washington, D.C. Indianapolis toward Chicago James Whitcomb Riley and George Washington 1972–1974 Ashland toward Washington, D.C. or Newport News

History

The Cardinal at the station in 1989

The abandoned station in 2005

Cincinnati Union Terminal, opened in 1933, was among the newest big-city stations in the United States.[3]^:254 Once serving 216 trains per day, it was reduced to just two routes–the James Whitcomb Riley to Chicago and the George Washington to Washington and Newport News–when Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail service on May 1, 1971.[4][3]^:38 The underused station cost Amtrak $4 million per year to run.[3]^:254 Additionally, on July 12, 1971, 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. However, 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 Railroad (C&O). This forced a half-hour delay to use a balloon loop north of Union Terminal to face the train in the correct direction.[3]^:39 The two total trains, which between them saw fewer than 30 boardings and alightings per day, were nowhere near enough to justify such a large station.[5]

On October 29, 1972, Amtrak opened a new, smaller station 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. The first station custom-built for Amtrak, it cost $270,000 but was expected to save the company $500,000 in 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 deteriorating ex-NYC track in Indiana, moving it instead to 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 via 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 as 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 Union Terminal was remodeled as the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in 1990. The remodel enabled Amtrak to return to Union Terminal on July 29, 1991, eliminating the backup move to River Road station.[3]^:256 River Road station was ultimately demolished in 2010 when the adjacent Waldvogel Viaduct was realigned.[4]

Attributes

The station had a modern design and 1,500 square feet. It was small, with a 25-seat air conditioned waiting room. It also included 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]

References

1. "In With the New". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 30, 1972. p. 55. Retrieved October 24, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Train Station Moving". The Cincinnati Enquirer. July 13, 1991. p. 12. Retrieved October 24, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.
4. "Cincinnati, Ohio (CIN)". Great American Stations. Amtrak.
5. "Notes: In Cincinnati, Whisper 'All Aboard'". The New York Times. November 19, 1972. Retrieved July 8, 2019.

Notes

1. The preceding station was Richmond until August 3, 1980.[3]^:53
2. The following station was Tri-State until June 15, 1976.[3]^:53
3. The preceding station was Indianapolis until August 1, 1974; from August 1 until September 25, the Riley did not make any stops between Cincinnati and Chicago.[3]^:53
4. The following station was Ashland until March 24, 1975; then Tri-State until June 15, 1976; then South Portsmouth–South Shore until June 12, 1977.[3]^:53

External links

Media related to Cincinnati River Road station at Wikimedia Commons