Just south of Sunnyside Avenue there are indications we're getting closer to Washington. In the background, you can see the Greenbelt Yard and Inspection Shop of DC's Metro system. The track immediately on the other side of the fence was Metro's only connection with the CSX Cap Sub. Prior to Metro, a grade crossing had existed ahead.

A 2018 visit (photo left) found the link disconnected, and its utility box labeled for removal. Hopefully CSX does not spray paint its retiring employees.

Metro's Greenbelt facility is easily seen from the outer loop of the I-495 Capital Beltway. The Beltway opened here during 1964, and its bridge over the B&O line was made long enough to permit additional tracks underneath, such as Metro's Green Line that arrived during the 1990s.

Greenbelt is a terminus of Metro's Green Line, for the moment at least. Long-term planners have proposed extending the line northeast to Fort Meade, or even Baltimore Washington International Airport some 20 miles distant. Such an extension would likely parallel the B&O line at least to Laurel.

At Greenbelt the trains compete not only with the cars of DC area commuters but also with each other. Still, that doesn't mean the signage is easy to understand.

The brown sign is DC Metro standard, but in this case it describes "Commuter Rail" which locals call the "MARC train". It also lists East Bound and West Bound, which infrequent riders are unlikely to understand, not to mention the preferred spelling is Eastbound and Westbound. Omitted is a sign to direct people to DC Metro's Green line.

The blue sign is more understandable: it mentions MARC and indicates which way to walk to reach the platform to Washington, DC. It does not, however, indicate how one can reach the platform for Baltimore-bound MARC trains.

Of course, regular commuters know their way and don't need signage. The only audience for these signs are newbies and infrequent riders, the very group that needs clear directions.

The north (east) end of the MARC platform is right at mile marker 29. There's no B&O stone milepost to be found here; it was likely removed as part of the station construction. Underneath, a B&O culvert was rebuilt with modern concrete and piping.

We can look across to the adjacent Metro station where a Green line train is just pulling in. Since this is the terminal, the train will sit with doors open until the next train arrives. Metro's Greenbelt station opened during 1991.

In the distance toward the left you'll find CPL signals, still present during 2018, and evidence of this right of way's B&O heritage. Now CSX shares the line with MARC commuter trains. Notice how an extra set of tracks peel off the center main line order to serve the station, and get MARC trains out of the way of passing freights.

Here is much the same view as the prior photo, but from the south (west) end of the MARC platform. The Metro train is in the distance at center left.

CSX 5314, 955, and 5230 lead empty Tropicana reefers (refrigerated boxcars) back to Florida. During prior years CSX ran exclusive Juice Trains, known as unit trains, but seeking greater efficiency it has opted to include other cars with those of Tropicana.

On the right, Metro will lead passengers back to Florida Avenue in DC where a different kind of reefer was made legal during 2015.

These CPLs at Greenbelt may have been the last survivors of their kind along the Cap Sub, perhaps earning a temporary reprieve from removal by being adjacent to a MARC stop with platform sidings. That unusual track arrangement may require MARC to approve any signal change.

Dwarf CPLs have a special charm that will be missed. The "D" does not stand for "dwarf" but rather reminds passenger train operators leaving the station to not exceed 40 mph and to be prepared to stop at the next signal.

Link: CPL removal here 2020

Southwest of the station this triple culvert handles overflows via a unique center smaller pipe higher up. This concrete structure dates to 1963 when PG County was channelling many of its streams, and might have replaced an original B&O box culvert or stone arch.

CSX 3190 and CSX 5205 roll past a disconnected siding that leads to a Washington Post printing facility behind the photographer, in fact the track goes right into the building. At photo time the siding's other end was still connected to the main.

At left is a Bethlehem Steel Co Mainline Safety Stand that controls a derail. On the right is the site of B&O's Branchville Station.

Everyone knows signal colors are red... tangerine... blue? Since incandescent bulbs glow yellowish, signal lenses are tinted so the resulting light is the common red, amber, green. This disused signal is no longer extant.

Mile 30 features both a modern and stone marker. That's the overpass of Greenbelt Road, MD 193, ahead. Flowing beneath the photographer, and the railroads, is a stream that was sewered to make room for a parking lot at the Washington Post's facility.

During the 1870s a B&O spur curved to the right to serve a poudrette factory. Poudrette was fertilizer made from "night soil" (human waste).

Links: removal of night soil, 2005

The former MARC Berwyn station has been reduced to just a walkway thanks to the addition of a DC Metro stop (Green Line) not far away. One segment of the walkway was accidentally destroyed during the 2015/2016 addition of a third track for Metro. Berwyn Road's grade crossing closed around 1990.

In the distance, an approaching Metro train, headlights shining brightly, has just passed under Greenbelt Road.

Link: 1971

On the right, the Washington Branch starts a 3.5 mile straight run, its longest.

On the left, Metro meanders to College Park Station, then ascends to curve over the Washington Branch. I believe its nearest track stages trains for the morning commute.

Both the Washington Branch and the Metro Green Line cross over the Paint Branch stream here. The water level is but 10 feet beneath the track level, which tells me the stream rarely has high floods. During the 1800s, water for steam engines was available here.

The original parts of the stone bridge supports are of differing heights, indication that in the past a different bridge graced this location. According to Harwood, originally the span was wooden, but perhaps as early as 1839 an iron bridge was employed. If so, it would have been the first iron bridge in the country.

Link: 2012

Consumer-level color film overlapped with revenue-service B&O steam locomotives for only a brief period.

The pole shingle at right displays 30/60, which translates as the 60th pole railroad-west of milepost 30. Where poles were heavily loaded with wires, 60 were planted per mile. Fewer wires followed the Old Main Line, where there were only 40 poles needed per mile. Other stretches had just 30 per mile.

By 1953, diesels supplanted steam along the Washington Branch.

The object at photo bottom looks very much like an uprooted B&O milestone, and indeed at one time milestone 31 had stood in this vicinity. Comparison of the uneven edges of this object with those of the now-displaced milestone 31 suggest this object is not that milestone.

Automobiles are crossing at Calvert Road. That crossing would be permanently closed by the then-imminent construction of Metro's Green Line on the left. The track on the right was part of B&O's spur to the University of Maryland's power plant.

Since the College Park Airport runway (off photo right) is about 10 feet lower than the adjacent railroads, landing planes must glide in fairly low. Imagine the surprise of a train operator when out from the trees emerges a plane barely above eye level. Double stacks reach almost as high as these CSX signals, so a slightly lower plane could strike such railcars -- or "knock down a signal" the hard way.

Note: to better illustrate the proximity of landing planes and trains, the main photo is a created composite of two, inspired by the actual, poor-quality, cropped photo at left shot moments before. These two photos may not depict the same plane.

When the US Post Office Department during 1918 began air mail service between Washington and New York, they soon chose this airport because it was adjacent the railroad. Due to the lack of navigation references during that era, pilots followed the tracks. Unfortunately the very first pilot to try this followed the wrong tracks and ended up flying south to Waldorf, Maryland.

Links: ready for takeoff 1912, 1912

This "brake rotor runner" (that's what the first car holds, as seen at right) is near a mile in length. Both it and this Metro train are passing over Paint Branch Parkway that was cut underneath during 1994. Shoo-fly track on the northwest side had carried CSX trains over the construction. The Green Line began operation here during 1993.

A faster engine must have blown the doors off CSX 940. It looked like this from 2016 until showing up during June 2020 with "CSX" repainted by hand.

Engines operating such as this in the middle of a train, or at its end, are Distributed Power Units (DPUs). The operator is at the head end of the train, as usual, but powering and braking commands are transmitted via computer so that all engines of a DPU set work in tandem.

Links: more CSX 940, hand painted

MARC 7755 approaches as a control cab for the locomotive (in this case MARC 11) pushing from the other end. During the 2000s, MARC expanded its rail service to the University of Maryland via this stop in College Park. The welcome sign is a bit premature since passengers disembarking on this damp autumn afternoon have another mile-plus of travel to reach the campus. This was scheduled to become a Capital Bikeshare location during 2019.

A quarter-mile in the distance you can glimpse part of the bridge over Paint Branch Parkway; the road took over what since the 1950s had been the path of a B&O spur to the university's power plant on the east side of US 1. The spur had split off to the left near the far end of the train in this photo.

Links: spur photos, Capital Bikeshare

The MARC "station" here, which consists of platforms with covered shacks, is adjacent to the College Park stop of Metro's Green line. A walkway connects the two. At first reaction it seems odd for the two very similar modes of transport to place stops adjacent, but fast food restaurants have studied this issue and learned the best location for a new restaurant is near that of a competitor.

Both stops date to the 1990s before which Calvert Road had crossed the tracks here at grade.

Motive Power model MP36PH-3C locomotives began MARC service during 2009. They are more energy efficient than their predecessors. They even operate in the rain.

B&O's College Park Station had been here on the left. Platform remants survived until Metro's arrival.

Links: MARC roster, 1966, 1978, MPXpress locomotives

This is one of few known photos of B&O's College Park Station. An 1878 GM Hopkins map places College Lawn Station on the west side of the tracks.

One photo, four tracks, and four moving trains, a personal best.

Metro's Green line rises over the freight tracks before disappearing into a hillside tunnel (unseen at left) and progressing west under University Park.

All Metro cars had the same basic appearance as the original models from the 1970s when the system opened. That changed upon the arrival of the "7000 series" cars in 2016.

Link: "7000 series" pictures

With mileposts 32 at each side, MARC 14 rolls under the Lafayette Avenue extension, the Cap Sub's newest overpass.

About 28 minutes later, this GEVO cousin numbered 28 higher than the one above, came off the Alexandria Branch to lead mixed freight toward Baltimore. CSX 8705 and CSX 8851 follow. East West Highway has bridged behind since 1966.