Tommarow Im leaving for DC for a week. We will be visiting DC’s union station. Is there anything major to look forward to? I think Acela is there so are the any close stations were acela is at top speed?
Colin
Washington’s Union Station is beautifully restorted as a Station, Shopping Mall, and Food Court. You will enjoy it.
Acela Bullet Trains leave for New York and Boston every hour as well as the ones comming in. Amtrak owns 20 of them. Speed in the DC area is basically 135mph. The advertised 150mph is only acheived north of New London Connecticut.
In the DC area to see (and photograph) an Acela at speed, try going north out of Washington (north of the “Beltway”) to any commuter station or parking lot next to the Northeast Corridor. Lots of easy access points
When I lived in the Washington-Baltimore area I used to like to travel to the Ivy City Engine Terminal area to watch the power being shuttled, etc. but you may not be able to do that…or could you. Ivy City Terminal is very close to WUS but be careful as it was not a really nice area back then and is still likely not to be.
Thanks! Now I really cant wait to go!
Colin
Guess I won’t look for you in Elmhurst this week, Colin!
Is this a class trip, a family trip, or what? Driving or flying (I know you’re not taking the train–it’s not like you to keep quiet about such things!)?
As others have said, you’ll like the station in Washington, but don’t expect to be able to just go to a platform and watch trains. It would be nice if you got the opportunity to compare MARC or Virginia Railway Express with Metra, though.
Have a great time and a safe trip, and tell us about it when you return!
At Union Station,take the escalators up to the top of the parking garage. It’s legal and what a view of big time railroading, passenger style.Try for the weekday morning rush hours. If you like freight with your passengers, New Carrolton or Springfield (both reachable by Metro) are good. Enjoy the trip!
Thanks for the Info.
Carl: I have been told by an Amtrak Employee in the past that it is ok to photograph trains for personal use. Just an FYI. But it is a family trip. Im flying southwest. Cant wait to see some of the local (Washington DC’s) passenger!
rixflix: Thanks for the advice! I will definalty check it out!
Ill start posting videos as soon as I get the money for a very expensive editing program. It is HD capadible (original problem,the software to convert from HD I use doesnt work on my computer so i cant put anything on youtube) and can covert them to standard. Also it can put videos onto a DVD, so Ill probly make somthing, not sure if Ill sell it though.
Thanks all for the advice. I will make a new post when Im back from DC
Colin!
It wasn’t the legality of photography I was thinking about–you won’t be able to get down to the platforms in Washington unless you’re a passenger–much like Amtrak at Union Station in that respect. Go to an outlying station and you won’t have that problem.
You should stay away from the Ivy City - Trinidad area in Washington, DC because it is a high crime area.
A good place to photograph or watch Amtrak trains is in Old Town Bowie (Huntington), but you might have a problem getting there because no Metro Bus service from New Carrollton to Old Town Bowie is available during off-peak hours. Absent driving, the best you might be able to do reach Bowie (Huntington) is to take a MARC train to the Bowie State College station about a mile north of Bowie Old Town, and walk back along 11th Street, or what was old MD 197, to the Huntington area, or old town Bowie. You can watch or photograph trains either from the Museum area or from the bridge over the Amtrak tracks.
Havre de Grace or Perryville are good locations for watching or photographing Amtrak trains, but you will need a car because there is little public transportation. MARC runs a train from Washington to Perryville in the morning, but it only lays over for a half hour, and it returns to Baltimore and Washington. MARC also runs another train from Washington to Perryville in the early afternoon, and it also lays over in Perryville for about a half hour before returning to Batimore and Washington. You could take the morning train to Perryville, look around Perryville, and then take the afternoon train back to Washington and Baltimore. There is no way you can walk across the U.S. 40 Susquehanna River Bridge between Perryville and Havre de Grace because the bridge doesn’t have walkways. As far as I know there is no public transportation between Havre de Grace and Perryville.
Amtrak permits photography in Washington Union Station provided you are not on the platforms. On the other hand I am not too sure about train watching or photography from the MARC lineside stations as there have been reports of MTA police hassling photographers.
Enjoy your trip
Thanks for the helpful advice everyone! My flight leaves in about 3 hours so Im heading for the airport!
Colin