Red lights illuminated: train is moving away.

White lights illuminated: train is moving closer.

There are no track crossovers between here and BWI Station so normally one would conclude this middle-track train is not stopping there. As we'll see below, at photo time the station had platform extenders because the far track was under repair.

AMTK 619 curls under MD 295, the B-W Parkway that in its early days was called the Baltimore Expressway.

The ramp in the distance connects northbound MD 295 with eastbound I-195 into BWI Airport. There are bags of room for the fourth track here as even the catenary poles were spaced in anticipation of another track, though PRR probably did not anticipate a 100-year wait.

A similar view of that ramp and the tracks from MD 295...

Note that the nearest catenary poles were reduced in height when the wiring was redone to make room for the road.

Original concrete pole bases, like the closer one, have beveled edges at top that serendipitously cause the rusty wash to avoid staining the corners. Newer installations, such as the example beyond, usually are not beveled. Most of the catenary's steel poles in Maryland are of the I beam variety. Tube-shaped poles are found north of Maryland.

Many of the poles have black and white targets taped to them. The tape is drying which suggests it has been there for a few years. I surmise the targets enabled a computer aboard a moving train to more easily "see" the poles and either make precise measurements or record the condition of the concrete base. This base looks fine but some others are starting to crack. I have not seen the spray-painted symbol and 46 on other bases. The value 105.71 reflects the location in track miles from Philadelphia, but it might be wrong since this pole is closer than 0.29 miles to milepost 106.

AMTK 2026 is northbound.

AMTK 2029 is pulling out of BWI Rail Station. Note the yellow platform extenders on the right while the rightmost track was out of service. The concrete at bottom center belongs to the culvert seen next.

Given the muddy challenge reaching this location I was hoping to be rewarded with a 19th Century B&P stone culvert. Unfortunately, none of the three culverts in this vicinity date to B&P, at least not on their east side exteriors. I leave it to someone else to navigate the swamp and check the west side.

Someone did! Carl spent almost of hour of creek wading and thorny brush dodging to reach the other side for this photo, which he kindly has shared. It appears the interior of the northernmost passage (left) of this triple culvert is indeed built of stone, which suggests it is an original from the 1870s B&P era.

The pair of circular passages to the right would have been added later to expand drainage. Since their concrete does not look recent, I'd guess they date to circa 1950, or at least prior to Amtrak. To keep it all flush, that concrete was also slathered over the original passage. Note the uncommon use of highway-style guardrails as ballast retainers.

It's been called the ugliest train station on the Northeast Corridor, and I have to agree. Despite its brutalist architecture the BWI Rail Station provides a handy connection with the airport.

Here an Amtrak train on the center track blows past a MARC commuter train slowing to stop at the station. The northbound platform's 350-foot length at photo time was subsequently tripled.

Links to other pictures: aerial view 1999, 1999

The BWI stop began life during 1980 as one for four MARC trains per day. As of 2019 a train stops here roughly every 10 minutes on average, making the station Amtrak's 13th busiest in the country. The original ticket sale and passenger waiting area (depicted here) was outgrown years ago.

The Penn Line hosts more trains than shown by the arrival/departure screens because these screens list only the trains stopping here.

As late as the mid-1990s, one could park a car 200 feet from the tracks then hop aboard a train a few minutes later. That single-level lot evolved into this multi-level deck with room for 3000 cars.

As seen from the station, two trains round the bend at MD 295. Prior to BWI, PRR's Stoney Run Station (also written Stony Run) had been about a half mile south of here.

For over 3 miles the line parallels Stoney Run out of the Patapsco Valley. Creekside land was easy for B&P to acquire since that land was rarely suitable for housing or farming.

By 2019, trackwork had been finished and the platform extenders removed. That meant trains on the center track would resume not stopping at BWI.

The electricity supply wires are roughly 15 to 22 feet above the track. The engine-top pantograph that touches the supply is designed to raise and lower as needed.

Security always has a presence along the line, but during the busy holiday season it is increased, including more K-9 units.

This black lab is wearing DO NOT PET signage.

I recall the trains being standing room only during Thanksgiving week. On the right is a temporary station while a new station is built in preparation for adding the fourth track.

Trains on all four tracks will be made accessible by the addition of a center platform.

AMTK 2027, MARC 26, and MARC 35 find this double-wide holding down the fort while the new, larger station is built.

BWI's is one of few rail stations in the US to be enlarged after 1950.

Link: 1980 station dedication

Given the number of different transportation entities involved, the variety of names for the rail station on signs and official sites online should not surprise.

• sign, above: BWI MARC TRAIN RENOVATION & EXPANSION
• sign, right: BWI RAIL STATION
• sign, right: AMTRAK / MARC STATION
• sign, below: my BWI
• sign, below: BWI MARSHALL AIRPORT
• sign, below: BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, MD
• online: Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
• online: Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshal (sic) Airport
• online: Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport
• online: BWI Marshall Airport (BWI)

Amtrak's sign placement obscures the big green sign behind, yielding a cringeworthy "Passenger Discharge Pickup".

Though this northbound platform was lengthened to over 1000 feet during 2008 it will need to be redone to handle the fourth track.

December's green trees are pines. Many varieties of pine do well in sandy soil, such as that found here within the coastal plain. The last time most of Earth's ice melted this area was underwater, as it will be again eventually. Beyond that, the Earth is destined to become too warm for most mammals within the next 250 million years due to the continents recombining into one supercontinent.

Links: 2006 looking south, the future supercontinent

Both AMTK 2017 and a plane are outbound.

Link: 2014

Determining the exact location of this photo has been a challenge. Note the water gantry, as well as water in track pans from which properly-equipped steam engines could scoop up fresh water without having to stop. There are two candidate locations, neither of which is an excellent match.

Triumph VI authors Charles Roberts and David Messer caption this photo "... on the tangent approach to Stoney Run shown in a 1928 view looking northward." This suggests PRR's Stoney Run Station is ahead, somewhere beyond the factory/mill on the right. That would put the factory trackside west of present-day BWI runway 10. The problem is the grading along this stretch is not flat enough for stable track pan water, i.e. the water would flow down the pan toward the low end.

The other candidate location is with Stoney Run Station behind the photographer. That puts the factory about where BWI Rail Station now resides. Such placement aligns the near water tank, as well as both the near and distant water gantries, adjacent convenient water supply in the form of Stoney Run tributaries. The grading is flat and level. This is not the spot Triumph VI describes but is where a local resident claims "Stoney Run Pumping Station" was. The factory might be part of Standard Gravel and Sand Company that had dredged Stoney Run.

A problem with both locations is neither the water equipment nor the factory appear in 1938 aerial photos of either stretch of track. Can anyone solve this puzzle? Gantries like the one in the photo still exist near Halethorpe Station back at mp 103, but old aerial photos are not a match there either.

(Old) Stoney Run Road's bridge over Stoney Run dates to 1965, before the grade crossing ahead was closed. A station dating to the B&P era had been in the northeast quadrant of the grade crossing.

William Glover writes:

"Best train watching spot that I ever had. I bet the road crossed at grade here into the '80s. Gates and signals and bells, 75+ mph freight and passenger trains, a small shaded stream, zero automobile traffic in the early 70s, it was great."

The bright arc to the right of the tracks on the April 1938 aerial at left suggests PRR had recently realigned the tracks to ease the curve north of the grade crossing with (Old) Stoney Run Road. As we'll see later, Amtrak has done similarly elsewhere.

Though purported to be B&P's Stoney Run Station building, this structure has been so modified over the years that now it merely resembles the actual station that can be seen on Triumph VI page 344. I applaud the historical preservation but wonder how much, if any, of this structure is original B&P from the 19th century.

It can be found at the back of MDOT's office building along Corporate Center Drive. The elevated walking path leads to BWI Station.

Link: Stoney Run Station historical marker

AMTK 173 flies past maintenance of way vehicles parked south of the (Old) Stoney Run Road grade crossing. The grade crossing has been superceded by the Stoney Run Road overpass seen in the distance.

You may have noticed this is a diesel locomotive, and that cargo-transporting Amtrak roadrailers, reporting mark AMTZ, are at the end. Roadrailers are truck trailers on flatcars, and for Amtrak were more commonly seen in the western half of the US than along the NE Corridor. This train could have been an equipment move, or one diverted from its usual route.

High speed trains were a real challenge to photograph with early digital cameras due to shutter lag.

A Pennsylvania RR relic is found here in the form of initials on a utility accessway cover.

The meaning of the P.R.R. part is obvious, even with the extra period. T.&T.D. stands for Telephone and Telegraph Department. I have found only one other T&TD cover (#853). Far more common is the next newer version of this cover which instead uses T.&S.D. for Telephone and Signal Department. On still newer versions AMTRAK replaces P.R.R. while the newest covers (as of 2019) show "Amtrak C&S" for Communication and Signals.

Link: T&TD info

Amtrak MOW equipment N14901 takes a break from the daily grind. This particular unit was labeled "undercutter" on its side. An undercutter excavates under the rails without those rails being removed. This is often done to clear debris or repair damaged sections of ballast.