Riding the Amtrak Cardinal from Ashland, Kentucky to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Riding the Amtrak Cardinal from Ashland, Kentucky to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

in this video I travel on the Amtrak Cardinal from ashin Kentucky through the state of West Virginia to White Sulfur Springs home to The Greenbrier resort [Music] I’m in Ashlin Kentucky getting ready to board the Amtrak Cardinal on the way to White Sulfur Springs West Virginia to go visit the Green [Music] Brier well the Train’s getting ready to pull up are you guys excited yeah sound excited anyhow the Amtrak Cardinal was over an hour late arriving to Ashland and we didn’t know it at the time but it would be a sign of things to come for the rest of the [Music] [Music] day well we got on the train we got our seats together and uh we’re getting ready to head to White Sal for Springs so it should be about about a 4 and 1/2 hour ride or so so we’re all right [Music] here the Cardinal went right through the middle of several towns including Hurricane West [Music] Virginia although not everyone was quite so excited [Music] we even passed the street my Aunt Janet lives on in ta Valley we crossed over the Cole River into St Albin West Virginia the town that I was born and raised in [Music] I had driven on these roads thousands of times but had never taken the train through my hometown there’s the back of the old Kmart where I got my first job in high school years and years ago [Music] Cody [Music] [Music] Street and there’s the cemetery up there see it up up past the high school straight up our train stopped right in the middle of St Albin as we’ve waited on some Freight traffic to pass this would be the first of many many stops like this over the next several [Music] hours when our train stopped in Charleston a volunteer got on board and narrated Our ride this was fantastic the river you see on your left is the canal River we followed this River all the way to gly Bridge West Virginia some 20 1 ft taller than that of the dome in the US capital in Washington DC Charleston West Virginia folks Department we passed many waterfalls as the train went along the New River through the New River Gorge National Park good one they wanted to preserve the area for the benefit of and enjoyment of future and present present and future Generations The Gorge is approximately 1 mile across uh from Peak to Peak there and ranges from 700 to 1,800 ft deep it is considered to be the most rugged Canyon in the Eastern portion of the United States also on the left and up the top of that mountain is the haul n state park that’s one of the most spectacular points uh in the canyon some 585 ft up J parachuting and repelling off of the bridge this is probably the largest crowd for any single one day uh yearly event here in West Virginia and it Sports somewhere between 100 and 200,000 uh folks the New River Gorge [Music] Bridge the Cardinal stopped to pick up a few passengers at the least used Amtrak station in West Virginia Thurman [Music] [Music] that so I’m still on the amtr Cardinal and uh our train is about 3 hours or so delayed we had lots of little stops in between Ashlin Kentucky and um mainly like the new Gorge but since the New River Gorge it’s been going pretty good but uh we’re about 3 hours delayed so we had originally 5 hours in White Sulfur Springs which is where the Green Brier is located but now we’re only going to have about 2 hours so it’s going to be sort of a wh wind stop we’re just going to make the best of it so anyhow having fun here on the train even though it’s been really slow white S springs we’ll be nice finally it was time to get off the train and explore White Sulfur Springs and the green Brer [Music] [Applause] Resort all right the train is stopped now we’re ready to get off and uh check out white sulver springs for 2 hours before we get back on the next train the Cardinal headed back towards Charleston Huntington and Ash I’ve arrived at White Sulfur Springs Depot home to the Green Brier we’re now in White Sulfur Springs uh the train station’s just right over there and the Green Brier is right over there but we’re going to go eat lunch well sort of lunch we are supposed to get here at 12:05 and uh it’s right now 3:00 p.m. so we’re literally 3 hours late uh so we’re headed to lunch now and we have 2 hours to spend here so not much time but uh we’re going to try to get lunch as quick as we can then see as much of the green as we can before we have to get back on the train to go back home and that Train’s not delayed so we kind of wish that one would be delayed a little bit so we’d have more time here but we don’t oh well we had lunch at a cute little place called across the board game Cafe in downtown White Sulfur [Music] Springs after that we made our way to the Green Brier [Music] can’t 5:00 by that [Music] Mak tea and cookies yeah you want some [Music] cies the greenb resort is situated on 11,000 acres and the current building was built in 1913 28 US presidents have spent the night here along with countless other dignitaries and celebrities [Music] St [Music] [Applause] [Music] so now I’m back at the White Sulfur Springs Amtrak station and uh had a little longer than what we originally thought here in White suer Springs and at the Green Brier because our return ride train 51 on the Cardinal is about an hour delayed um we don’t really care that much because it gave us more time to look around the Green Brier and have fun but anyhow looking for our train to come back and and uh and hope you enjoyed this [Music] [Music] video the rain and cloudy skies gave way to beautiful sunshine for our return trip back through West Virginia on the Amtrak cardinal [Music] [Music] if you’ve enjoyed this video I would appreciated if you click that like button and please subscribe to my [Music] channel I’ve purchased a USA rail pass and I’m going to take a month-long trip throughout the United States on 10 different routes I’m going to be vlogging the entire trip and posting several videos so please feel free to subscribe to follow along on my Journeys we had a fresh air stop in Huntington West Virginia and although our stop in ashlon was the very next one I wanted to get off the train for just a few minutes to stretch my legs and see the [Music] engine wait what time is it well we’re back in Ashlin long day but fun day on the Amtrak Cardinal thanks for watching

Over my spring break, I drove from my home in North Carolina to visit family in West Virginia and Kentucky. I bought an Amtrak USA Rail Pass and am taking a month-long journey this summer across the US. I mentioned this to my sister and aunt and we decided to take a day trip on the Amtrak Cardinal to visit one of the most popular destinations in West Virginia, the Greenbriar Resort in White Sulphur Springs.

We left from Ashland, KY, where my cousin lives early in the morning. As it turns out, not as early as planned, because the Cardinal was running behind. and was about an hour late coming into Ashland. We rode west through Huntington, Hurricane, St. Albans (my hometown), and Charleston before arriving in Montgomery. We continued on to Gauley Bridge, which is at the confluence of the Gauley and New Rivers, forming the Kanawha (which we had traveled along since around St. Albans). Now, we were traveling along side the New River, and through America’s newest national park, the new River Gorge National Park.

Our train was quite delayed, having to make several stops between St. Albans and Gauley Bridge to wait for freight traffic or something blocking the tracks. This put us three hours late getting into White Sulphur Springs. We thought we would only have two hours there, but just before we started our walk from the Greenbriar back to the train station, I got a notice that our return train, the Train 51 Cardinal, was running about 90 minutes behind. This gave us more time to relax around the beautiful Greenbriar Resort.

I hope you enjoy this video. I am making a series of videos from my trip I am taking this summer using the USA Rail Pass, so please subscribe so you will be notified when those videos are posted! Thanks, and enjoy!