West of Connecticut Avenue, the Capital Crescent rails-to-trails path quickly goes bucolic on us. But wait, what's that at the far left?

Link to older pic: 1956

Good eye, it's an abandoned siding. This siding marks the initial goal of the Georgetown Branch: coal delivery to the power house of the Chevy Chase Lake & Kensington Railway trolley.

Link to older pic: 1972

Another fenced section... gotta keep Columbia Country Club golfers from escaping.

And, lookie what we have here: another small concrete box. Want to trade the curtain for what's inside the box? Yes, you say? OK...

Link to older pics: 1947, 1971, 1976

Looks like a zonk! Electrical terminals with wiring, and what would appear to be a battery. Shh, don't tell anyone there's also a scroll of secret information from a CIA operative, or maybe it's a Starbucks coffee cup. Either way, just pretty normal stuff for the DC area.

On the outside of the box, this Chicago pennant logo almost certainly represents the manufacturer, probably one of railroad equipment, possibly the Chicago Railroad Signal and Supply Company. Anyone know? Those names are so generic they make for difficult web searching.

The 97-5 reflects a forging date of May 1897, which matches the time period B&O was building the line here. Two year digits were displayed because, well, there wasn't much concern about confusion with railroad equipment from the 1700s.

A surprisingly boring stretch jumps us about three-quarters of a mile to the bridge for East-West Highway at a spot between Chevy Chase and Bethesda: the zip code border follows the railroad here.

Link to older pic: 1970s

Yes, even well-to-do railfans need a place to live. Then somebody took their trains away.

The trail gets a lot of use, and here has worn down to the ties.

At Wisconsin Avenue, the real estate is valuable enough to make the tracks worth covering over. I have not yet learned the year this grade separation was built.

Link to older pic: 1972

The quasi-tunnel is about 1000 feet in length. When the tour resumes, we'll climb back out into the daylight.