RAILFAN GUIDES of the U.S.

 

TRIP 9
RICHMOND VA to BALTIMORE MD
Sunday, October 11th, 2015

 

RAILFAN GUIDES HOME
RAILROAD SIGNALS HOME



I had driven down to Richmond with my daughter Tina with a moving van, and needed to get back home. 
What better way than to go by train!  Especially when you have Amtrak reward points to burn up.

I had made a reservation on Northeast Regional train number 66, which was supposed to leave Richmond RVR at 7pm.  This is the Staples Road station, just north of the ex RF&P Acca Yard.  Train 66 is the last train of the day - it is a daily NE Regional train that originates in Newport News at 5:20pm, but today, I heard it was delayed waiting for the connecting bus coming from Virginia Beach.

I thought they might have used to 50 minute layover in DC as an opportunity to make up some time, but they only cut it short by 5 minutes!

The train was maybe 40% full from Richmond up to DC, but north from there, it was maybe around 85% full.

Schedule:
   19:47 Got two toots
   19:55 Lv Richmond
   20:10-20:12 Ashland
   21:02-21:05 Fredericksburg
   21:24-21:26 Quantico
   21:52-21:56 Alexandria
   22:10-22:52 Washington DC, track 26
   23:00-23:02 New Carrolton
   23:16-23:18 BWI Airport
   23:31-23:34 Baltimore, track 6
   Note: Being on the former RF&P, trains USUALLY run left hand traffic...

Passing Freight Trains:
   3 while in station 18:50-19:55
   20:11 – on our right, NB
   20:15 – on our right, NB
   20:18 – on our right, NB
   21:00 – to our left, SB
   21:11 – to our left, SB
   21:17 – to our left, SB
   21:46 – to our left, SB

The Consist:
   Engine #7 Richmond to Washington DC
   Engine #624 Washington DC to Baltimore and beyond
   61021 – Baggage Car
   81548 – Business Car
   82651 – Coach
   82985 – Coach
   43382 – Café Car
   82751 – Coach
   82718 – Coach

In Richmond

  
P42DC's numbers 7 and 136 ready to go in Richmond.

     


A Quick Stop in Alexandria VA



In Washington DC

                   


No green..... All of the outbound signals are displaying stop.  How many can you count?  I think I count 16.... maybe.  Say goodbye to #7.
The signals are all dwarf CPL's, slightly modified so that the marker lamps are spaced further away from the signal to make viewing easier at a greater distance than they were designed for.



In Baltimore MD


  
Amtrak #624 is one of the new Siemens ACS-64, or Amtrak Cities Sprinter.

              Sleeping MARC trains

  Train 66 heads north to New York City and Boston


     
Penn station uses quite a number of pedestal PL signals.  They have all had the incandescent bulbs replaced with cool white LEDs, and they really stand out.  The two overheads are for SB trains.

  A new electronic billboard bombards visitors with Baltimore propaganda.

  An older style stairway coming down from the main concourse.

  The main waiting area back upstairs.

    The light on the statue oscillates back and forth between blue and red, floating thru various shades of purple along the way.


  Looking over my shoulder, we say goodbye to Penn Station.

  If you are heading north on I-83, the Jones Falls Expressway, the entrance is located right across the street from the station's exit.





Disclaimers:

I love trains, and I love signals.  I am not an expert.  My webpages reflect what I find on the topic of the page.  This is something I have fun with while trying to help others.  My webpages are an attempt at putting everything I can find of the subject in one convenient place.  There are plenty of other good websites to help me in this effort, and they are listed in the links section on my indexa page, or as needed on individual pages.  Please do not write to me about something that may be incorrect, and then hound the heck out of me if I do not respond to you in the manner you would like.  I operate on the "Golden Rule Principle", and if you are not familiar with it, please acquaint yourself with how to treat people by reading Mathew 7:12 (among others, the principle exists in almost every religion).  If you contact me (like some do, hi Paul) and try to make it a "non-fun" thing and start with the name calling, your name will go into my spambox list! :-)

Please Note:  Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them.  For those of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, my indexa page has a list of almost everything railroad oriented I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to help you detail your pike.

If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan guide is correct.  Once in a while, an error may creep in, especially if restaurants or gas stations open, close, or change names.  Most of my maps are a result of personal observation after visiting these locations.  I have always felt that a picture is worth a thousand words", and I feel annotated maps such as the ones I work up do the same justice for the railfan over a simple text description of the area.  Since the main focus of my website is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them.  Since most of us railheads don't have just trains as a hobby, I have also tried to point out where other interesting sites of the area are.... things like fire stations, neat bridges, or other significant historical or geographical feature.  While some may feel they shouldn't be included, these other things tend to make MY trips a lot more interesting.... stuff like where the C&O Canal has a bridge going over a river (the Monocacy Aqueduct) between Point of Rocks and Gaithersburg MD, it's way cool to realize this bridge to support a water "road" over a river was built in the 1830's!!!  

My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a thousand words, especially for railfanning.  Text descriptions only get you so far, especially if you get lost or disoriented.  Take along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still better if you get lost!  I belong to AAA, which allows you to get local maps for free when you visit the local branches.  ADC puts out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their state maps do not have the railroads on them.  If you can find em, I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and concise graphics, and they do a really good job of showing you where tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads.  Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known.

By the way, floobydust is a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data book, and means miscellaneous and/or other stuff.

Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have something to add or correct.... credit is always given! BE NICE!!! Contact info is here

Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.

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