The "Cardinal" is the successor of several previous trains, primarily the New York Central (later Penn Central) "James Whitcomb Riley" and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) "George Washington". The "James Whitcomb Riley" was a daytime all-coach train which operated between Chicago and Cincinnati (via Indianapolis). The "George Washington," the C&O's flagship train, was a long-distance sleeper that ran between Cincinnati and–via a split in Charlottesville, Virginia–Washington, D.C. and Newport News, Virginia. Until the late 1950s, the "Riley" carried the "Washington"s sleeper cars between Cincinnati and Chicago. Both routes survived until the formation of Amtrak in 1971.