River Cities (train)

The River Cities was a passenger train operated by Amtrak from 1984 to 1993 between Kansas City, Missouri, and New Orleans, Louisiana, via St. Louis, Missouri. It operated as a section of the City of New Orleans and the Mules.

River Cities

The River Cities at Centralia in May 1984
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Midwestern United States
First service	April 29, 1984
Last service	November 4, 1993
Former operator(s)	Amtrak
Route
Start	Kansas City, Missouri
Stops	25
End	New Orleans, Louisiana
Distance travelled	1,014 miles (1,632 km)
Average journey time	22 hours
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	358, 359
On-board services
Class(es)	Reserved coach
Catering facilities	On-board cafe (Kansas City—St. Louis) Diner-lounge (Carbondale—New Orleans)
Observation facilities	Dome lounge (Carbondale—New Orleans)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map continued as Mules 0 mi St. Louis MO IL 12 mi 19 km Belleville City of New Orleans to Chicago 61 mi 98 km Centralia 81 mi 130 km Du Quoin 117 mi 188 km Carbondale continued as City of New Orleans

The two trains split in Carbondale, Illinois, with the River Cities continuing 117 miles (188 km) to St. Louis, where it joined with a Kansas City Mule. For southbound trains the procedure was reversed; the River Cities would split from a St. Louis Mule and proceed to Carbondale, where it joined with the City of New Orleans for the journey to New Orleans. Before the Amtrak era, the City of New Orleans and its nighttime companion, the Panama Limited, had operated St. Louis sections that split in Carbondale.

Amtrak ended the service on November 4, 1993, as part of national cost-cutting measures, and instituted Thruway Motorcoach service between St. Louis and Centralia, Illinois. The only city to permanently lose service was Belleville, Illinois.[1][2]