Operation
Revenue service for the Cleveland Mercury began on July 15, 1936, following a publicity tour. It proved so popular that the Chicago Mercury was introduced in November 1939. Two train sets serviced these trains, but the schedule was such that one train set began the day in Cleveland, ran to Detroit as the Cleveland Mercury, and ran from Detroit to Chicago as the Chicago Mercury, while the other set did the reverse run (the eastbound Chicago Mercury arrived in Detroit after its westbound counterpart had left, so the NYC would have needed an extra train set, if it had not shared sets across trains). The Cleveland run was on a 2:50 hour schedule and the Chicago run took 4:45.
The James Whitcomb Riley was introduced on April 28, 1941, running between Cincinnati and Chicago on a 5:15 hour schedule. It was named after the popular poet because of his association with Indiana and Americana. The equipment was basically the same as the other Mercurys, although it was an all-coach train. The Cincinnati Mercury, running between Cincinnati and Detroit on a 6:30 schedule, followed the Riley into service.
The Cincinnati Mercury was the first to fall as rail service contracted, ending in 1956. It was replaced by the light-weight Xplorer in a brief experiment. The Chicago Mercury was combined with the Wolverine in 1958. The Cleveland Mercury was discontinued on July 11, 1958. The Riley was retained, although it was no longer a streamliner. In 1971, Amtrak combined the Riley with the George Washington. The combined service was renamed the Cardinal in 1977, which is still running to this day.
Read more about this topic: Mercury (train)
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