Best Places to railfan on the WMATA

Hey guys, I know I started posting in another thread, but I will start a new one based on several questions I have:

I have recently been very interested in the WMATA. I think its a very nice system and I hope I can get the chance to ride it. I have mapped it out on google maps so I know what each section looks like. I have also been viewing pictures and videos and have been reading all about the system. I am from Boston and have railfaned all around the MBTA. I love the T and its the system I'm most familiar with (and its my favorite too). The WMATA is a close second. Even though I have never ridden it, I am very fascinated by the station architecture, the cleanliness, the trains, and the different routes. The layout is similar to Boston, which is something I like about it.

At some point, I will make a special trip to DC and take a day to railfan the system. The most recent times I have been to DC was with a summer camp so I had no time to ride the metro. The next time I'm going will also be with a group and I bet they will rent a private transportation service. This means I will make a separate trip with my family to do this. Here is where I am most interested in seeing. I will try to get to as much of the system, but here are my top priorities:

Red Line out to Shady Grove - Looks like a nice stretch overground from after Medical Center to Shady Grove (with a couple tunnels along the way). I am interested in seeing Grosevenor because its got a cool bridge across the beltway. Also, I like the fact that the area between Twinbrook and Shady Grove runs with the MARC system. Plus, its the furthest out the system will take you, and I always like railfaning far (such as to Braintree on the MBTA).
Yellow Line across the Potomac River - Some of the best views the system will give you. I saw the bridge last time I went to DC, and I bet it will have a great view of the city and the river.
Orange Line towards Vienna/Fairfax, going at least as far as West Falls Chruch - I have always wondered what riding in the median of a highway would be like. I also want to see the junction the trains make into the yard at West Falls Church.
Blue Line towards Franconia Springfield or Yellow Line to Huntington - Goes by some interesting sites such as the Airport. I am also interested in the Junction at King Street. Also, it goes along with the VRE system.
Green Line towards Greenbelt - An interesting area where the train ducks in and out of tunnels. It also goes with the MARC for a bit, and I also am interested in the lower portion of Fort Totten, with the half over and half under ground look.

Anyways, please give me as many suggestions as you can about where to go to. As I mentioned, I will go to as many parts of the system as I can, and as long as my group will let me go for.

Also, how far can I go on one fare? I know that the MBTA charges only for entrance, but the WMATA charges per distance.

Also, I am learning to tell the difference between the different cars. Which cars run most often where?

Please tell me the best way to railfan the system in one day. I probably won't be doing this for a few months, but I like planning ahead.

Check your Private Messages.

On the things you suggested...

1) The junctions to get to Falls Church Yard are west of the station, so you might want to consider going all the way out to Vienna. I-66 also changes once you go outside the Beltway, and so rather than having grass on either side of the Metro ROW, the highway is right up against it.

2) Regarding MARC, the Shady Grove end has the mainline tracks entirely to one side. On the Glenmont side of the line, the mainline tracks straddle the Metro tracks.

3) Blue to Franc-Springd vs. Yellow to Huntington, take Blue. You go past Alexandria Yard on the way to Van Dorn Street taking Blue.

4) For fares, you get charged distance based on your entry and exit points. Thus if you enter at Glenmont, railfan a while, and leave at Wheaton (the next station after Glenmont), you're charged as if you just rode one stop to Wheaton.

5) As for what cars run where, Green Line usually gets the newest cars first. Red has a mixture of Rohrs, 4000's, and Breda rehabs. Blue has historically had a lot of Rohrs as well. I've found a lot of 5000's on Orange. Note, though, that after the June 22 accident, Rohrs now only run in the center of consists.

Architectural highlight must sees

Transept in Metro Center and to a lesser extent L'Enfant Plaza and Gallery Place.

Classic subway stations:
Farragut West, McPherson Square, Dupont Circle, Judiciary Square, Foggy Bottom, Eastern Market and Navy Yard.

Unique subway stations:
Crystal City, Farragut North, Union Station, Anacostia and Ballston.

Bi Level island platform stations:
Pentagon and Rosslyn.

Second and third generation subway stations:
Friendship Heights, Congress Heights, Forest Glen, Wheaton, Glenmont and Georgia Avenue-Petworth.

Surface/elevated stations:
King Street, Huntington, Arlington Cemetery, Eisenhower Avenue, Cheverly, Prince George's Plaza, West Hyattsville, White Flint, Grosvenor, New York Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue (Canopy above inbound track B2 frames Capitol Dome)

Viewing trains from the outside

From parking structures:
Union Station, Huntington, Springfield-Franconia, Cameron Parke Place, New Carrollton, Addison Road, Largo and West Hyattsville,

Overpasses:
New Hampshire Avenue Fort Totten, Hayock Road West Falls Church, Berwyn Road College Park and Franconia Road.

From the ground:
Behind Home Depot Prince George's Plaza, North end of L Route Potomac River crossing, Duke Street Alexandria. 23rd Parkway Southern Avenue, Swan Road Suitland.

Most of this has already been mentioned, but my favorite rides are over the Potomac River Bridge, past Reagan Nat'l Airport and on to both Huntington and Springfield. Both are interesting. Huntington travels a high viaduct over the Beltway. Also the Orange line down the middle of I-66 to Vienna is a good ride too. And the Red Line to Glenmont is interesting and is where the recent serious collision happened.

You can buy a "day-pass" that allows unlimited travel and unlimited entering/exiting the system for that day. It was $6.50 back in 2007. Also you can see out the front of all WMATA trains while seated normally on the left side of the train. The front glass is heavily tinted but you can see pretty well on a sunny day.

And you can have lunch at Union Station (on the Red LIne) in the lower level food court, or at Pentagon City Station (on the Yellow/Blue line) at the food court in the mall attached to the station. Have a fun trip!

definitely Fort Totten red line platform if you want to see trains take off full speed into the distance (particularily northbound trains):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO6nrM4MuM8
skip to 4 min.

Wheaton's escalators; the longest you'll ever see, I bet.

Forest Glen firedoors

"farecard"
Wheaton's escalators; the longest you'll ever see, I bet.

For the record, the vertical rise of the Wheaton escalators is 115' 5" (35.17m). That make their length. from working point at the top to the working point at the bottom 230' 10" (70.35m). The working point is the point where the 30 degree escalator angle intersects with the escalator landings at the top and bottom.

Other escalators over 45' 13.71m vertical rise.

A Route Red Line
Dupont Circle
94’ 5 3/4" 28.79m 3 north
84’ 9 1/4" 25.83m 3 south
Woodley Zoo Park
103' 2 1/2" 31.45m 3
Cleveland Park
58' 9 3/8" 17.92m 3
Van Ness
56' 6 1/8" 17.30m 3
Tenleytown
81' 3 1/2" 24.76m 3
Friendship Heights
65' 10 3/4" 20.08m 3
Bethesda
107' 6 1/2" 32.77m 3
Medical Center
100' 11 7/8" 30.78m 3

B Route Red Line
Wheaton, (mentioned above)
115' 5" 35.17m 3

C Route Blue Orange Lines
Rosslyn
97' 9 1/4" 29.80m 4

C Route Blue Yellow Lines
Pentagon *
59' 3/4" 18.00m 3

K Route Orange Line
Court House **
48' 6 1/4" 14.76m 3

All Stations in deep rock except Court House and Pentagon.
* Station in cut and cover. Escalators no longer in service
** Deepest station in cut and cover

"farecard"
Forest Glen firedoors

Some other notable things about the Forest Glen station:

There are stairs behind both banks of elevators. The stairs are accessible from the elevators at various levels, 4 as I recall.

The vent shafts at both ends of the station have stairs to the surface.

The 2 train rooms are connected to each other by tunnels at both ends of the platforms.

Forest Glen is the only station is the system with a fire suppression system in the track bed (sprinkler system).

There are stairs behind both banks of elevators. The stairs are accessible from the elevators at various levels, 4 as I recall.

Some details. At 220 ft, FG is the deepest station, and has no escalators. Six elevators have backup generators. The layout is two tubes, joined at the center by the lobby, i.e. a horizontal H.
where d is dirt [i.e. undug out], E is the elevator lobby. [

At each x is a full width firedoor that when dropped, blocks the tube & platform from the lobby. This so a train fire will not engulf the whole station.

But to allow escape:

=X==|
\A/
there is an airlock around firedoor, one door on each side of the X. Then there are stairs up to the surface. The whole area has positive pressurization so as to force out fumes.

Since few people can climb the 22 stories to the surface, there are ?3? safehavens en route; one or two elevators can stop at those levels.

I don't know about airlocks at the tunnel ends of the tubes. I assume there's something there protecting the escape ?stairs or ladders?

"farecard"
Some details. At 220 ft, FG is the deepest station, and has no escalators. Six elevators have backup generators. The layout is two tubes, joined at the center by the lobby, i.e. a horizontal H.
where d is dirt [i.e. undug out], E is the elevator lobby. [

At each x is a full width firedoor that when dropped, blocks the tube & platform from the lobby. This so a train fire will not engulf the whole station.

But to allow escape:

=X==|
\A/
there is an airlock around firedoor, one door on each side of the X. Then there are stairs up to the surface. The whole area has positive pressurization so as to force out fumes.

Since few people can climb the 22 stories to the surface, there are ?3? safehavens en route; one or two elevators can stop at those levels.

I don't know about airlocks at the tunnel ends of the tubes. I assume there's something there protecting the escape ?stairs or ladders?[/i]

A more precise configuration:Obviously the stairs in the shafts at the ends of platform would be segregated from the blowout vent shafts. Not sure about their layout, where the stair is in the in relationship to vent plenum, east, west, north, south.

Your ASCIIGraphix are prettier than mine.....

Do all underground stations have stairs for the emergency exits at the tunnel ports; or are some ladders?

Isn't Congress Heights the deepest cut and cover station? I thought I read somewhere when the Green Line extension opened back in 2001 that it was.

"farecard"
Your ASCIIGraphix are prettier than mine.....

I have a lot of practice. Been doing ASCII art sense the late 1980s

Do all underground stations have stairs for the emergency exits at the tunnel ports; or are some ladders?

It depends on the configuration of the station. If the normal point of entry and exit is near the middle of the station platform, one or both of the blowout shafts beyond the ends of the platforms will have stairs in them. Examples Rosslyn, Pentagon, Crystal City, Glenmont. If a station has one surface entrance at or near the end of the platform, there will be stairs in the blowout shafts at the opposite end of the platform. Examples, Capitol South, Congress Heights, Archives, Georgia Avenue-Petworth. If both ends of the station have surface entrances, there are no stairs in the blowout shafts. Examples, Dupont Circle, Judiciary Square, Farragut West, Anacostia.

"tommyboy6181"
Isn't Congress Heights the deepest cut and cover station? I thought I read somewhere when the Green Line extension opened back in 2001 that it was.

I don't think so. The Court House station has a intermediate level passageway just below the surface. Congress Heights does not. One has to ride 3 escalators to get from the surface to the platform at Court House station, One only has to ride 2 escalators at Congress Heights. Roughly 2/3 of the depth of the Court House station is below the bedrock line.

The surface entrance escalators at Congress Heights may belong on my list, but I am pretty sure it is not the deepest cut and cover station.