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The Journey East For The Norfolk and Western 611 Excursions Including The Washington DC Streetcar 4/7/2016

After a great time at the La Plata 2016 Spring Railfan Event, I woke up and checked the Internet before John Green and I went to the closed Granma's Cafe on the La Plata Square then tried the Choo Choo Cafe which did not open until 8:00 AM. We went back to Room V and I showed him Winterail programs from this year as well as 2013, 2012 and 2011 then went to Choo Choo Cafe at the La Plata Pharmacy for breakfast on a rainy morning. I returned to my room and watched two episodes of "NCIS" before checking out of the Depot Inn & Suites then drove the rental car back to the station.

There was one BNSF westbound grain train then the crossing gates went down and stayed that way until the Southwest Chief arived.

BNSF 4538 East came slowly through town, but did not re-set the crossing gates. Tom Anderson came down to see me off before my train arrived one hour and six minutes late.

The Southwest Chief arrived and I was boarded in Superliner coach 34031 for the short five-hour trip to Chicago. I watched "Styx The Grand Illusion Pieces of Eight Live" as the train crossed the Des Moines River into Iowa and we stopped at Fort Madison then crossed the Mississippi River into the state of Illinois to our next stop at Galesburg.

I had a lunch of Fully Cooked Buffalo-style breast chunk fritters with rib meat and a bag of pretzels from the cafe car which did the trick. At Cameron, we left the rails of the old Santa Fe for those of the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy for the rest of the trip to Chicago but were messed up by BNSF 5317 West that was on the crossover in front of us three miles east of Galesburg. My next video was Jeff Beck's "Beckology Vol 3" for most of the rest of the trip to Chicago, lasting through Princeton and Mendota, then Naperville and into the Chicago city limits, where I packed. We arrived into the cloudy and wet Windy City of Chicago at 4:08 PM and Amtrak had me there for my connection to the Capitol Limited Train 30 this evening.

I made my way off the train to the Metropolitan First Class Lounge and after I checked in and received a 7:00 PM dinner reservation, I went online then relaxed until boarding time.

This version of the Capitol Limited had P42DC 43 and 821, Viewliner baggage car 61013, transition 39036, sleepers 32025 and 32054, diner 37012, lounge 33024 and coaches 34058, 34080 and 31027. I was in Room 4 of sleeping car 32054 with Larry as my Sleeping Car Attendant. We departed on time and made our way out into a rainy evening then at 7:00 PM, both the 7:00 and 7:30 PM reservations were called to the dining car. The 37012 was one of the Diner Lite Cars Beech Grove rebuilt back into a standard diner at one end of the car. I was seated with a gentlemen going to Bristol, Tennessee, another going to Pennsylvania and a third going to Washington, DC. I had the steak and a chocolate mousse then returned to my room and watched part one of "Beckology Volume 3" as the train rolled across Indiana and later, made up my room for the night.

4/7/2016 I arose up and went to the dining car for breakfast, being seated with my friend from last night. I enjoyed three pancakes and sausage and while I was out of my room, Larry made it up for day use and I returned as we were running along the Younghiogheny River.

The railroad bridge used to belong to the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad.

The Younghiogheny River.

CSX motive power at the CSX Connellsville yard.

In May 2010, I was on that bridge across the Younghiogheny River during the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad Rare Mileage Trip featuring a Baltimore and Ohio RDC from the B&O Railroad Museum, which my good friend Bart Jennings organized.

Views along the Younghiogheny River as the train continued rolling east towards Sandpatch Summit and I saw where CSX had removed the tunnels so double stack trains could use the route. So far, we had seen both a CSX auto train and a single stack train.

The Casselman River. We travelled under the former Western Maryland Railroad Meyersdale Trestle which my good friend Chris Parker and I walked across during the 2006 National Railway Historical Society convention based in New Philadelphia, Ohio. We rolled by the former Baltimore and Ohio Meyersdale station and new windmills were visible on the ridge to the right or south of the train. We were now approaching Sandpatch Summit, after which we went under the former Western Maryland Railroad trestle then ran along the old grade, now a hiking trail and passed the former Sandpatch bridge, which had been replaced since Chris Parker's and my visit here. We passed Sandpatch Summit then plunged into the Sandpatch Tunnel and descended the eastern grade of Sandpatch. Now I would just sit back and enjoy the ride down the grade to Cumberland.

The Narrows, where Chris Parker and I rode the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, after which we arrived in Cumberland.

The Capitol Limited in Cumberland; we left here 24 minutes late.

Denver Regional Transportation district's new electric passenger cars en route to Denver.

CSX SD40-2 8226, ex. Seaboard 8226, exx. Seaboard 3598, nee Louisville and Nashville 3598, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1977 at Cumberland. We continued on to our next stop at Martinsburg.

A Baltimore and Ohio position light signal, one of the few I have seen left on this railroad.

The Potomac River.

The rail line that goes to the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, which I had ridden twice at this point. The Capitol Limited's route goes through Hannock Tunnel which is very unique since upon entry, one is in West Virginia, while inside, one crosses the state line into Maryland and Pennsylvania then upon exiting, one returns to Maryland. This is due to the slender neck of Maryland's panhandle.

A Maryland scene just before Martinsburg. I saw a Winchester and Western freight train crossing over us before we arrived.

The Martinsburg Amtrak station built in 1849.

Baltimore and Ohio freight house built in 1881. The train left Martinsburg at 11:32 AM {11:01 AM} and proceeded east to Harpers Ferry.

Western Maryland baggage car 134, built by Barney and Smith in 1912 at Harpers Ferry before we arrived.

The Harpers Ferry station built in 1893. We departed at 11:58 AM {11:31 AM}.

The former Baltimore and Ohio bridge across the Potomac River which is still used by CSX today.

The Chesapeake and Ohio canal, whose towpath is a bicycle trail that runs from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh. We ran slow to MP 39, where we crossed over before our next stop at Rockville, from which we departed at 12:47 PM {12:21 PM} and ran into Washington Union Station, arriving at 1:15 PM {1:05 PM}.

The Capitol Limited in Washington, DC.

A Virginia Rail Express train was leaving for Broad Run. I went to Club Acela where I checked in and stored my luggage then went outside to find the brand new Washington DC Streetcar. I was pointed in the correct direction and followed the signs, passing the rental car offices and bus bays then down a driveway to the street, crossing to the median where I found a waiting Washington Streetcar to ride.

The DC Streetcar is a 2.2 mile line running in mixed traffic along H Street and Benning Road in the city's Northeast quadrant, which was launched on February 27, 2016. Between 1862 and 1962, streetcars in Washington, DC, were a common mode of transportation, but the system was dismantled in the early 1960s as part of a switch to bus service.

In the late 1990s, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, began considering a series of rapid bus, light rail and streetcar projects throughout the metropolitan region as a means of providing intra-city and intra- regional mass transit and to meet the transit needs of the quickly growing population of the area. The first project was proposed for Alexandria, Virginia, in 1999. In January 2002, District of Columbia officials began studying the economic feasibility and costs of constructing a 33 mile long system of streetcars throughout the city.

The District of Columbia subsequently decided to build the initial components of the DC Streetcar system on its own. The Anacostia line was scaled back to a demonstration project just 2.7 miles in length with only four stations. However, that was terminated before the line was complete. As such, the H Street/Benning Road Line is the only currently operating line of DC Streetcar and has eight stations: Union Station, 3rd Street/H Street, 5th Street/H Street, 8th/H Street, 13th Street/H Street, 15th Street/Benning Road, 19th Street/Benning Road and the last stop at Oklahoma Avenue/Benning Road.

The route map.

A new car barn being constructed.

The Streetcar that brought me out to the east end of the line at Oklahoma Avenue/Benning Road.

It left to go to where the operator will switch ends.

The Streetcar went to its layover spot.

The Washington Metro Subway connects to this station. About ten minutes later the DC Streetcar started to return.

My DC Streetcar returned to the end of the line.

The journey back to Union Station which included a ten minute delay because of a fire truck and ambulance parking on the tracks to rescue someone in a store.

The DC Streetcar. The first three, numbered 101 through 103, were ordered in 2005 and built in the Czech Republic in 2007 by Inekon Trams, for the Anacostia line, but because of delays in the start of construction of the line in Washington, they were stored in the Czech Republic until December 2009. The second set of streetcars, initially numbered 13-001 through 13-003 (subsequently renumbered 201–203), were built in the United States by United Streetcar of Oregon, in 2013 and were based on a Skoda design (model Skoda 10T) that was originally developed jointly by Inekon and Skoda, and the shared design history explains the similarity between the two designs.

I walked back to Washington Union Station, retrieved my bags from storage at Club Acela, wrote this travelogue then relaxed until it was time to be taken out to my last train of this eastward journey.

This version of the Crescent, which would take me to Salisbury, North Carolina, had P42DCs 148 and 512, Viewliner baggage 61017, Viewliner sleepers 62005 and 62002, diner 8531, Amfleet coach 25113, lounge 28024 and Amfleet coaches 25029, 25123 and 25058. I was in Viewliner Sleeper 62002 with William Singeton as my Sleeping Car Attendant who gave me a 6:45 dinner reservation, which will be my second to last chance to eat in a Heritage Diner, this time for dinner in 8531.

We crossed the Potomac River and there were massive thunderheads to the east. I went to the dining car and was seated with Tim and Donna from Nashville going to Birmingham but had to wait an hour and twenty minutes to be served, which was the longest I had ever waited. However, the only saving grace, as far as I was concerned, was the steak was one of the best I had on Amtrak. I made my upstairs bunk and called it a night.

While I was sleeping, I passed my 1,450,000th rail mile 1.6 miles north of Elma, Virginia at MP 137.2 aboard the Crescent.

4/8/2016 About ten minutes out of Salisbury, the conductor awoke me and I climbed out of the top bunk, put it away, then dressed with my bags packed and ready to go. He carried my two bags and took me to the vestibule and we talked until I detrained in Salisbury. I walked to the street and saw a taxi coming, who dropped off his fare then took me to the Econo Lodge where I paid my taxi fare. I checked in through a window then walked to Room 129 and went back to bed. It had mostly been a great trip on the Crescent and I was glad to be back in Salisbury.

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