Washington DC, Trainspotting at Union Station.
I'm spending a few days in our nation's capital, tagging along one one of the Missus' business trips.
I've got lots of time to myself and while here I was determined to do some trainspotting. So, I braved the hellish (around 100 all weekend!) heat and walked to Union Station.
Unfortunately, the trains in DC are not very visible and at Union Station, non-ticket holding pedestrians are discouraged from entering the platform. I did get a chance to see the impressive interior though.
Luckily, it turns out that if you enter from the North side of the building where the Metro entrance is, you can walk through some glass doors right onto the MTA (Massachusetts Transit Administration) platform which happens to be adjacent to the Amtrak Platforms as well. This I did so and here are the results.
Many Siemen's Locomotives were present, starting with MARC (Maryland Area Rapid Transit, part of MTA) #84, an SC-44
Then several ACS-64's.
AMTK609
A peek Inside the cab of 609
AMTK 656
AMTK 642 in a jaunty salute to Veterans livery.
Interestingly, 642 was also the number of one of AMTRAK's ill-fated SDP40F locomotives.
MARC 4915, an HHP8 is a bit different than the others, being the lone Bombardier I saw that day.
I'm fond of these longer-nosed locomotives with their lines that are reminiscent of aircraft.
My attempts to photograph passenger cars were less fruitful but good enough to include here.
On the North side of the yard is this "B&B Headquarters" building.
And to the east of that is this structure.
A bit further west past the end of the northern platform was the charming AMTK 794, an SW1000R. I'm a bit unclear on the details but it appears it was born in 1953 as an SW9 for the Montour Railroad and sometime in the 70's it was purchased and rebuilt by AMTRAK to an SW1000R.
The blue "Washington Terminal" paint is a heritage scheme that was applied in 2018. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of seeing a 60+ year old switcher still working and doing so in high style.
At the end of a platform closer to the south side is this little building
Near the center of the yard, well past the end of the platforms is this stately tower.
I got pretty close...
...before the window opened and this gentleman told me it was time to move along.
As I withdrew I got a few pictures of the area. This impressively long building is along the South side of the terminal.
Looking back towards the terminal.
And this little this neat shot of 794 flanked by more modern rolling stock.
The last thing I photographed was this long service trench running under the last section of track.
There were a dozens of what I think were brake shoes scattered along the way. If I wasn't going to have to carry it around all day I might have taken one with me.
So, I'm happy to report that what initially looked like a no-go turned into a productive day of train spotting.
Hope you all are staying cool!
-Karl
I've got lots of time to myself and while here I was determined to do some trainspotting. So, I braved the hellish (around 100 all weekend!) heat and walked to Union Station.
Unfortunately, the trains in DC are not very visible and at Union Station, non-ticket holding pedestrians are discouraged from entering the platform. I did get a chance to see the impressive interior though.
Luckily, it turns out that if you enter from the North side of the building where the Metro entrance is, you can walk through some glass doors right onto the MTA (Massachusetts Transit Administration) platform which happens to be adjacent to the Amtrak Platforms as well. This I did so and here are the results.
Many Siemen's Locomotives were present, starting with MARC (Maryland Area Rapid Transit, part of MTA) #84, an SC-44
Then several ACS-64's.
AMTK609
A peek Inside the cab of 609
AMTK 656
AMTK 642 in a jaunty salute to Veterans livery.
Interestingly, 642 was also the number of one of AMTRAK's ill-fated SDP40F locomotives.
MARC 4915, an HHP8 is a bit different than the others, being the lone Bombardier I saw that day.
I'm fond of these longer-nosed locomotives with their lines that are reminiscent of aircraft.
My attempts to photograph passenger cars were less fruitful but good enough to include here.
On the North side of the yard is this "B&B Headquarters" building.
And to the east of that is this structure.
A bit further west past the end of the northern platform was the charming AMTK 794, an SW1000R. I'm a bit unclear on the details but it appears it was born in 1953 as an SW9 for the Montour Railroad and sometime in the 70's it was purchased and rebuilt by AMTRAK to an SW1000R.
The blue "Washington Terminal" paint is a heritage scheme that was applied in 2018. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of seeing a 60+ year old switcher still working and doing so in high style.
At the end of a platform closer to the south side is this little building
Near the center of the yard, well past the end of the platforms is this stately tower.
I got pretty close...
...before the window opened and this gentleman told me it was time to move along.
As I withdrew I got a few pictures of the area. This impressively long building is along the South side of the terminal.
Looking back towards the terminal.
And this little this neat shot of 794 flanked by more modern rolling stock.
The last thing I photographed was this long service trench running under the last section of track.
There were a dozens of what I think were brake shoes scattered along the way. If I wasn't going to have to carry it around all day I might have taken one with me.
So, I'm happy to report that what initially looked like a no-go turned into a productive day of train spotting.
Hope you all are staying cool!
-Karl
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