When the sign department is fresh out of 9s, everyone knows to use an upside-down 6. But what if they are all out of 6s too? Here's an inventive solution near Brookville Road (bridge number 10A, or perhaps that should be 010A). The older milepost-on-a-rail nods in approval at right.

As we'll learn later in the tour, this is only the first of several jury-rigged Met mileposts.

Emerald color glass insulators like these had decorated the trackside utility poles. CSX has since removed them.

Max zoom spies CSX 693 eastbound under Linden Lane. The industry on the right is one of many that no longer receives shipments by train. The W whistle signpost is not an artifact: ahead is the Met's closest-to-DC grade crossing that survives.

No Wicked Witch of the West permitted here. Seeking better sleep, since the time of the prior photo locals successfully petitioned to have the loud train whistling stopped, hence this new sign. Given that sounding the horn at grade crossings is a Federal regulatory requirement, you will not find "don't whistle" signs many places. The sign applies to the Linden Lane / St. Johns Road grade crossing about a half mile ahead. There's another one like it along the Washington Branch (Cap Sub) north of Riverdale.

The Capital Beltway's blueprints said the Met needed a bridge where one had never been. As seen here, that bridge was built during 1960 on the west side of the Met's original alignment, probably with help from Interstate highway funds. Upon the bridge's completion, the original alignment could be dug out to make room for six, and later eight, lanes of I-495 Capital Beltway pavement below.

The bridge was equipped with at least one blue-and-white B&O herald, as seen in the zoom view at left. CSX later covered it with one of their rectangular plaques.

Many DC-area drivers have seen the bridge thousands of times, but not from this angle. Given that the Beltway dates to the 1960s, this B&O bridge remains one of the Met's newer.

In Washington, a railroad bridge can span the separation of church and state.

Art, politics and statements of the human condition contrast with views of a Mormon Temple, or more precisely the Washington D.C. Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The central spire, topped by angel Moroni, stands 288 feet tall, roughly half the height of the Washington Monument.

The rail bridge is known for a "Surrender Dorothy" graffito inspired by a prank in 1974 by schoolgirls of nearby Holy Child School whose play that year was The Wizard of Oz. The graffito has appeared in several forms, but the one I recall spread one letter per riveted segment, as seen here overpainted by darker blue rectangles.

For outer Beltway drivers, the bridge obscures the temple until it emerges into view as illustrated at right. Not just temples stand tall around the Beltway, but also headquarters of many huge government contractors. Maybe there exists a yellow brick road after all. The original Baum Oz novel was about US monetary policy, especially the backers of gold versus silver (oz. is an abbreviation for ounce).

Links: Surrender Dorothy, schoolgirls, Wikipedia's entry

C&O 8259 in Chessie System paint is a model B30-7. SBD 8314 is former L&N 1238. Also wearing Chessie paint is (B&O?) 2035. All are westbound across bridge 10D over the Beltway.

All the Met's grade crossings within Washington have been eliminated, so the one in the foreground for Linden Lane tells us we're not in DC anymore.

B&O's Forest Glen station was an EF Baldwin design erected in 1887 prior to the opening of the National Park Seminary adjacent, a private school for girls.

In front of the station awaiting the next train appears to be a baggage cart stenciled with "Baltimore and Ohio".

Between the time of this photo and the next, B&O replaced the railcar siding on the right with a passenger shack, accessible via a tunnel under the tracks. After passenger demand diminished, during the 1950s the railroad removed all these items, plus the station, leaving behind little more than the rails. For reference in the photos below, note the turreted "castle" at right.

EL Thompson caught this DC-bound B&O Pacific engine chuffing through Forest Glen and past the "castle" in 1928. At the time the building was part of the National Park Seminary. The ground floor was occupied by the Sanitary Grocery Company, which later evolved into Safeway supermarkets.

Magnification brings out details such as the mail crane at the distant end of the passenger platform. Via a mail crane, a train could pick up mail "on-the-fly" without stopping.

Links: in action in WV 1966, Sanitary Grocery in DC in 1926

In much the same view some 80 years later, nothing much remains except the rails, the "castle" and the Linden Lane grade crossing (CSX calls it St. Johns Road). Not only is the Forest Glen Station dead, but it is buried: the building of the railroad bridge over I-495 necessitated realigning the tracks to the west (left) such that they now cover its foundation. During the 1960s the "castle" became a Hungarian restaurant, and is now home to various professional offices. Long views and easy access make this a decent railfan location, though noise from Beltway traffic is continuous.

Link: wikipedia's entry

After WWII, EL Thompson caught another B&O Pacific at Forest Glen; number 5143 formerly belonged to the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh.

A B&O westbound has just passed over the Linden Lane grade crossing...

... while this eastbound will soon reach that grade crossing.

Just beyond the grade crossing one can find this substantial 1870s original stone arch bridge.

Its opposite end (right) was widened in two stages, first by a brick arch, then later with concrete into which 1979 is embossed. Notice the brick arch transitions to stone not far from this end. The widening was likely made necessary by track realignment for the Capital Beltway bridge.

CSX shares the Met with a horse of a different color pulling westbound MARC commuters. Though the line began life in single-track form, traffic warranted completion by 1893 of double-tracking between DC and Gaithersburg.

Within the past few years, the Met's CPL signals gave way to the inline design like those here adjacent to Metropolitan Avenue. The red collared white pipes encapsulate connections for warning signals at Kensington Station.

This box culvert lurks adjacent Metropolitan Avenue. Despite the atypical design for the Met, I suspect this is original B&O construction.

Like bridge 10E, this one was extended northeastward in two stages, first with a brick arch, then later via concrete. Unlike 10E, the concrete end is not fully open, but rather appears to lead to a drain-style water entrance. Note the bright sliver of sunlight in the distance.

One interior stone appears to have the digits 1870 carved into it, which matches the Met's construction period. The crudeness of the carving and its placement upside down, however, make me wonder if it is original.

Decades ago rails spanned these supports designed to allow easy unloading by gravity of bulk materials like coal and stone from railcars. Similar supports can be found adjacent to B&O trackage in Elkridge and Hyattsville. In toto, this siding had room for 16 cars and is visible where it joins the Met in the 1978 photo linked below.

Links: Elkridge 2002, 1978

A summertime retreat community began in the 1880s when farmer George Knowles sold property where B&O bisected the Rockville-Bladensburg road. Around 1890 Brainard Warner formed a planned community here, and chose the name Kensington.

Unlike along the Old Main Line, passenger service has never ceased along the Met, though the organization providing that service has changed. This photo captures the final years of B&O as sole provider, here using Budd RDCs. As suggested by the spartan conditions illustrated (drive right to the tracks), this was not busy nor a big money maker for the railroad, and by 1974 the State of Maryland began subsidizing it.

In 1983 B&O successor CSX and the State combined to form MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter) to provide passenger service along the Met, or what by then was known as the Brunswick Line. That arrangement ended in 2013 when Bombardier Transportation Services took on the task.

Link: wikipedia's MARC entry

The photogenic and easy-to-access Kensington Station has encouraged many to bring their cameras. Note the passenger shelter opposite the station. B&O 63 was a model E6A.

By 1968 the shelter was either gone or off photo right. As I write this on a hot summer afternoon, this scene looks invitingly refreshing. Shelter or not, those waiting for B&O 4596 (model F7A) may have felt differently.

The Baldwin-designed building was originally named Knowles Station.

Prior to MARC refurbishing, the station sported a yellow/brown color scheme.

Here is the appearance after refurbishing into a MARC commuter station. As in the 1901 photo, a tall utility pole is adjacent, moved slightly. The (freight?) shack at left is long gone, but a similar structure has taken its place.

Link: interior 2009

The B&O name is remembered adjacent to the construction year. Note the unique signal combination that warns passengers. CSX trains operate at up to 70 mph here.

Did someone mention a train? CSX 7785 is next in line.

Bishop's crook lampposts, probably the original ones powered by electricity, were still on duty during 1958, as seen from a train moving past the station. White blobs near photo center may be the last dregs of snow from an early spring storm.