Amtrak’s westbound Cardinal is on the money as it approaches Linden, Indiana, on June 30, 2022. No. 51 is operating as P051 on the CSX Monon Subdivision. The sun has been up for less than an hour and creates a warm glow on the side of the train. The engineer of P42DC No. 17 is giving me a little wave as his train rushed past.
It was in 2007, I believe, that Amtrak rescheduled the eastbound Lake Shore Limited to arrive and depart Cleveland between 6 and 7 a.m., which meant it was a daylight operation for a good part of the year.
That schedule didn’t last long and No. 48 soon enough began leaving Chicago at 9:30 p.m., which puts it into Cleveland at 5:35 a.m.
I didn’t take advantage of the 2007 window of opportunity as much as I should have. A friend, though, did. He made it a point to photograph No. 48 in as many places as he could between Cleveland and the Pennsylvania border just east of Conneaut, Ohio, during the summer of 2007.
I did get downtown on a couple of occasions to photograph No. 48 in the station, including this view made on July 14, 2007.
Note that lead unit No. 156 is the one that is now painted in Amtrak’s Phase I locomotive livery.
Amtrak in the Heartland 