Horseshoe Hammond, next to Hammond-Whiting station Options

[KevinKorell]

I noticed in the new Amtrak system timetable there is an advertisement for the Horseshoe Casino, saying "Getting to Horseshoe just got easier". The station and the train have been there for years; only now are they announcing the service exists. There is a similar ad (seen here) on the Horseshoe's website with the same slogan. They are "introducing" a service that has been there all along.

The Horseshoe Hammond is a riverboat casino (apparently with no hotel) that is in fact right next to Amtrak's Hammond-Whiting (HMI) station.

The station is served currently by two Wolverine trains in each direction: 350 and 352 eastbound, and 353 and 355 westbound. In previous years, IIRC some long distance trains to/from the East stopped at Hammond-Whiting (HMI) in true suburban fashion, that is discharge only westbound and receive only eastbound. Now only the above trains stop there, but they are selling the train as a shuttle from CHI to HMI. The casino's ad also has the times wrong -- what they say are the Chicago Union Station departure times are actually the arrival times in Hammond-Whiting.