Obscure Facts about MARC/VRE

Hello all;

I know that it has been some time since I have posted on this forum, but I am currently in the midst of working on a massive project that covers obscure facts about various northeast commuter railroads, ranging from leased engines and odd consists to special trains and overlooked historic events. Therefore, it would be greatly appreciated if you could share any obscure facts about MARC/VRE that you can think of so that I can add as much info as I can to this project. Info must be limited to any time after the formation of said commuter railroad, and does not include any info about its predecessors. Thank you for your help.

Seabrook station on the MARC Penn Line is the only original Baltimore & Potomac passenger station that has never been closed, relocated, or deprived of its regular passenger service.

Citation: http://www.trainweb.org/oldmainline/prr ... ok_station

I can't remember the source now, but I read somewhere that Seabrook was not a name dreamed up by a real-estate developer but was the surname of an official of the B&P, possibly an engineer involved in the construction of the road. FWIW.

I would contact or visit the Odenton Heritage Society about the PRR main line, the B&P line, the WB&A Electric, and more, as there's a lot of stations that came from all three that ended up on MARC's Penn Line. https://www.odentonheritage.org/

That said, I think I still have a ton of photos of MARC's early days. I also think Dorsey is the youngest MARC station out there now -- nothing has been made since.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2023 10:11 am I would contact or visit the Odenton Heritage Society about the PRR main line, the B&P line, the WB&A Electric, and more, as there's a lot of stations that came from all three that ended up on MARC's Penn Line. https://www.odentonheritage.org/

That said, I think I still have a ton of photos of MARC's early days. I also think Dorsey is the youngest MARC station out there now -- nothing has been made since.

You are correct, Dorsey is the youngest new station location, with Frederick before that.

When VRE began operations in 1992, there was no Lorton or Franconia-Springfield station.
Metro's Blue line had not yet gone to Franconia-Springfield.

VRE had 11 Kawasaki Double Deckers but sold them back to MARC when they switched to Gallery cars

davinp wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 11:41 am When VRE began operations in 1992, there was no Lorton or Franconia-Springfield station.
Metro's Blue line had not yet gone to Franconia-Springfield.

VRE had 11 Kawasaki Double Deckers but sold them back to MARC when they switched to Gallery cars

The fun fact about those 11 Kawasaki Double Deckers is that the seat pitch on them is tighter than the dedicated MARC double-deckers (MARC IIIs). MARC was hurting a bit so they wrapped the cars and got them out w/o changing the seat pitch. When asked they said "It was cheaper and faster to keep the seats as is than spend time and money to change it. We'll keep the seat pitch but swap the VRE brand on the seats out over time." So for a short time, you would board a MARC III, sit down, and see VRE on the seat back.

For a while early in its life, VRE had food-service cars made by modifying de-engined RDCs.