Quote:
Originally Posted by SIGSEGV
How much tourism economy exists in West Virginia? I see there are some grand resorts like The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs but then I look at other towns along the Amtrak Route and they look like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.6745...7i13312!8i6656
I see the Cardinal stops within New River Gorge National Park in Thurmond and Prince, but it doesn't seem like a practical way to visit the park (there's nowhere to stay there or rent a car even... I guess you can bring a tent and a bike and maybe make it work?). Fayetteville nearby looks nice enough...
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I've been to Hinton and it's a quaint little town. It's definitely prettier than the Street View, although there's nothing there but some old 19th-century homes and some antiques.
To answer your question, nobody takes the Amtrak to visit New River Gorge. Almost nobody even rides the Cardinal.
The Cardinal train from New York to Chicago takes 28 hours. A flight is 2.5 hours tops. 4.5 hours if you arrive 2 hours early in New York.
So who is going to take a 28 hour Amtrak train that costs 5-10x the price of the flight? The only ones I've ever encountered were seniors and train enthusiasts. This train in particular is on time 32% of the time, so 28 hours is usually 30+ hours. And it also is thrice weekly. So if you miss it, you'll have to pay for two nights' of hotel till the next one.
Even worse, the stations make no sense. The station in Thurmond, West Virginia, services a literal ghost town:
Thurmond, West Virginia - Wikipedia. Even worse, the New River Gorge area has 3 stations, all spaced 30 minutes apart. New River Gorge National Park is my favorite place in the entire U.S., and I've been to all 3 "towns." Thurmond has no people. Prince has 100 people. Hinton peaked in 1930 and has lost 12% of its population since 2010. The average income is so low nobody can afford an Amtrak ticket. Here's a map of the route:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rdinal.svg.png
So what's the rationale? Simple: Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito won't vote for more Amtrak funding unless we keep these ghost stations on the map. And yet we have a train that goes to New River Gorge National Park, none of the locals can use, yet tourists can't take advantage of it either because there's no hotel capacity or a tourist-oriented trolley or whatever in any of these places. So even though it's my favorite region, I would never get off at Hinton. How would I get around? Where would I stay? Truly boggles the mind.
Anyone thinking of taking the Amtrak to New River Gorge is going to be hit with a bad time.