I have heard of this yard and have read that it is near Washington D.C. Where around D.C. is it? That i have not found. Can anyone tell me?
The CSX Benning yard is in the northeast part of Washington between Benning Road on the North and the Anacostia River on the South. The yard is not in a good area in that there is a lot of crime so it is best to stay away.
Its right off DC-295 and if you take the Orange Line to/from New Carollton you’re go right past it around the Minnesota Avenue Station. You can’t miss it on the Metro Orange line or from DC-295, but that isn’t a location where you’d want to stop and take pictures - the risk of being mugged or shipped off to Guantamo Bay as a suspected terrorist are both pretty high in that locale!
Better to take the drive out Maryland 28 to Brunswick if you want to see a yard in the Washington area - its a real pretty drive, and only about an hour from Rockville.
There is a Metro station right next to the yard (Benning St I think, I don’t remember the name). You can also get a good look at it from 295 as you sit in traffic during rush hour in the afternoons. CSX usually stores one or two sets of coal hoppers there for use at the local power plants, as well as a manefest waiting for clear track. There is also a public park near the Anacostia river, near the bridge CSX just fixed, which should have a good view of the new signal bridge they built at the end of the yard. You can also watch all the trains go over the bridge through DC. I used to work in that area, and during daylight you should be fine. Probably at night too. There are a lot of businesses in the area, and they have done a lot of redevelopment. There is also a high police presense along the 295 service roads.
Not a friendly place!! I used to run that route north out of Richmond, and I didn’t like going there during the day. On the northern tip of the yard is a homeless/crack addict shanty town. Actually saw people doing drugs and worse up there. It took a lot longer than planned to build the new crew room there because these wonderful people were stealing the copper pipe and wire out of the place as fast as it could be installed…
Think its Minnesota Avenue Metro Station - can always see railcars there. Think they also have a parking lot. Benning Road might be a Metro Station as well - the yard is spread out.
If it wasn’t for the neighborhood, it would be a good photo spot - generally you have some good power there and there is a bridge right over the tracks/DC 295 for area residents to cross.
It is the Minnesota Avenue Station. The station itself should be fine during the day. The neighborhood has changed a lot for the better in the last couple of years. Metro PD has really cracked down on the drug situation. You can usually count on one or two police cars near the pedestrian walkway during the day. They will stop cars that don’t look like they belong there. I guess I am jaded. They have build a number of higher income townhouses and an apartment building just across the street from the yard, next to the convenience store. Best to stay on the Minnesota side of the yard. The other side is either right up against 295 or hidden behind a bunch of businesses. I have been to much worse neighborhoods in and out of DC. I doubt anyone would really care if you were around during the day. Don’t be stupid and go where you can’t be seen and you should be fine. Most of the trouble in the area is at night. During the day people work. The people at home are more likely to call the cops on you than accost you. The police are also always moving around 295 as they go down to Blue Plains and the service academies there (fire and police). The botanical gardens are near there. I think they are trying to make them more attractive to visitors, so they are really tightening up on the illicit activities in the area. Most of that was right off of 295 on the service road.
Is there a yard in a high income neighborhood? That would be a switch.
They do get quite a parade of power there. It is also where Ringling Bros. parks their circus train when they are in town (they are coming soon if I remember correctly). Yesterday they had a mix of at least 3 lease units, a switcher and some other locomotives I couldn’t see in the yard.
My interest in Benning is due to the fact that CSX has assigned their x-CR SD80s to that yard. If you go to Google maps and zoom in as far as you can you can see four of them in CR paint (old pics) in the yard.
They are there alright. If you are lucky they are parked right next to 295. Often a pair are parked in the middle of the yard right where 295 starts to climb to go over the yard. There is often a train parked in front of them there. They must use them to swap out the cars at the coal power plants around the area. NS uses some high nose GPs to switch at the Mirant plant in Alexandria, right downtown. I was at a conference at the hotel nearby and heard the train arrive. Luckily they were still there at lunch and I got a good show. I was rewarded for bringing my own lunch rather than having to go out.
The ex ConRail SD80’s are equipped with the Amtrak required Train Control equipment that is required to operate on the NEC between Benning and Bowie where the former ConRail trackage to Southern Maryland leaves Amtrak and heads down toward Waldorf and points south. The normal traffic is coal to the power plants in Southern Maryland.
Well I live in the DC metropolitan area, so I’m pretty familiar with the tracks around there. The edge of Benning Yard is adjacent to the DC metro’s orange line at Minesoda Avenue NE station, a pretty bad area, if you stay around the station during the day you should be okay but I wouldn’t flash a good camera around. You can walk to Benning from the Benning Rd station on the blue line as well. I’ve never been there myself, only seen it from the metro, but I have been to the yards and layups a little before Benning at the border between DC and PG County Maryland, also adjacent to the metro orange line. This is where they leave many scrap gondolas and sometimes coal freights going to benning and occassionally even boxcars, there are active tracks leading into a scrap yard as well (the reason for the gondolas). Between Cheverly and Deanwood stations, about 100 feet after the scrap yard is a little lot behind a business where many drug addicts hang out (probably the “shanty town” mentioned above), they’re more interested in scrap metal than anything else though. Theres a lot of homeless (often drug addicted) people in that area, but none have ever done more than ask for a cigerette from me.
There is another nearby freight yard (or gravel loading station) in Bladensburg, MD that sends freights to West Virginia almost daily. They may let you take pictures near it, I’ve never tried to go into the yard itself because it is a bussiness. That is on a side road off of Kenilworth Avenue, near the Parkway leading into DC. It is maybe 1/3 of a mile on the tracks before the new csx bridge construction also in Bladensburg.
Almost any neighborhood along the tracks is on the wrong side. On the poor side, if you’re wearing Eddie Bauer or bermudas/Hawaian and flashing cams you might be in trouble. If you’re in the neighborhood where people people smoke pipes and walk jblblpian purebreads, jeans and camping gear get you into trouble.
And by the tracks, there’s RR cops and “Homeland” to worry about.
In this hobby we’re nearly always trespassing or otherwise acting suspicially. So dress for success. Semi-worn hardhats and workboots with a buddy and a little goodwill go a long way. “Look like you belong” is my motto!
But always be aware of where you are, be circumspect, and above all, safe. You’ll (from “The Train”) broaden your horizons.
RIX
I’d like to refine this a bit. Some people don’t want you to see their poverty and some don’t want you to see their wealth.
I’ve been camping along the tracks for years. Relay MD has been my favorite, 6 yards from CSX freights all night! Nice mid-upper class trespassers strolling over Thomas Viaduct at all hours. But at Baltimore’s old Northern Central yard just above Penn Station, I’ve also shared Primus-stoved coffee and eggs with a homeless guy. We were in an Amtrak MOW caboose and it RAINED all night. After breakfast I walked over to the station and a train and to work in DC and he stayed.
Both experiences very memorable for being so different, and both I wouldn’t trade. Talked maybe 3 hours with the homeless guy and doubt I helped him at all except for it being person-to-person contact. A good thing sometimes, eh?
RIXFLIX
Well, a week or two ago I was finally able to explore Benning Yard with a buddy who had been there before. It isn’t as impressive as some yards you may have seen, mostly coal and scrap metal gondolas, but it was a very interesting place none-the-less. I didn’t get any good pictures of the main yard, but it would be a great photo opertunity. It is in a rough area, and we did see one shady character (not that we were in any position to judge) walk across the tracks between the trains, plus some curious locals right beside the track. If you go there, stay near the Minesota Avenue station, or park by the bussinesses near it, because there is a CSX work station as you walk farther South (towards downtown.) I would advise you to, and I am not joking, go with a black friend (if you are not) as I did, you won’t stick out as much.
One more tip, there are a lot of security cameras all over the tracks after crossing the Anacostia river, so don’t trespass as you get closer to Capitol Hill and the “important” parts of DC where political buildings and such are.