22-06-24 PHOTOS: Downtown Frederick

Frederick, Maryland is an up and coming satellite city of Washington, DC with a vibrant downtown scene. In 2001 the forward thinking Maryland government funded an expansion of the MARC commuter rail to Frederick by sending some Brunswick Line trains over the Old Main Line from Point of Rocks to a rebuilt Frederick Branch that terminated at a Frederick Station just a couple blocks from downtown. Frederick sees a total of 3 peak direction round trips per day and in late June 2022 I was able to get photos ( mirror ) of most of them.

Prior to the restoration of passenger service, the Frederick Branch existed to serve a number of local industries including a feed mill and a Southern States. Today the freight traffic has largely evaporated leaving the passenger service as the primary use of the line. Here we look westbound past the station's Min-High platform towards the old industrial spur tracks. The signals are for WISNER ST interlocking that mark the limits of CTC signaling. On the left is a surviving CSX direct traffic control block limit sign.

The station track itself is considered unsigned, but this dwarf signal will display lunar white if the track is free and red if occupied.

The low level platform can accommodate full length trains with an ADA min-high at the west end. The track dead ends at a buffer stop at the east end of the platform.

The station building is a new facility built for MARC in the classic B&O style It also serves as a hub for Frederick's local bus service, TransIT as well as Greyhound.

The history of the line through Frederick is split between the B&O and the PRR, in the guide of the York, Hanover and Frederick RR. The division post is still present halfway down the length of the platform.

The first train of the evening arrived at 5:29pm and consisted of MP36PH-3C #11 and 5 single level cars with cab car #7760 on the opposite end.

22-06-16 PHOTOS: Las Vegas Monorail

After failing to locate the infamous monorail in Brockway, PA I sat down and thought about where else grifters would be likely to sell Gadgetgahn transit systems. Of course the answer was obvious and I immediately booked a trip to Las Vegas, NV. Now I had been to Vegas twice before, but a variety of circumstances had prevented me from really exploring the local rail transit space. However this time would be different with both the time and opportunity to see what the monorail hype was all about. You can view all the photos here ( mirror ) before or after reading further.

Due to some quirks in flight pricing my trip began at the Greenbelt Metro Station en-route to DCA(irport). The first leg of my trip was via WMATA 3k car #3108 that recently had its carpets removed in favor of a more stain friendly surface.

Due to 8-car trains, I couldn't get a good exterior photo at Greenbelt, but here is one at College Park waiting on a lineup through a single tracking zone.

Crossing the New Long Bridge, which unlike the Old Long Bridge, does not open.

DC Metro integration with DCA is fantastic with the station connecting directly to a TSA checkpoint.

Caught sight of the new Potomac Yards station and development shortly after takeoff.

Fast forward to Texas where my flight crosses above the DART Orange just outside the perimeter fence at DFW.

Arriving at one of the Las Vegas Harry Reid Airport D gates meant a mandatory trip to Terminal 1 via the airport's peoplemover system. Due to the influence of the Taxi Lobby, service from the airport to The Strip is a minimum two seat bus ride, connecting through an out of the way transportation center. Of course the Airport TVM was broken.

In the 1950's and 60's the Welcome to Las Vegas sign was practically the first thing a Southern Californian would encounter along US Highway 91 after departing Barstow. Today the sign site 8 miles from the current Las Vegas outskirts. For this trip I also chose to stay in the Tropicana resort as it was one of the oldest and one of the most likely to face demolition in the near future.

I was hoping to catch some action on the former Southern Pacific Cima Sub at TROPICANA AVE interlocking, but there didn't seem to be much moving on a Sunday afternoon. This was the former route of Amtrak's Desert Wind up through the mid-1990's. Several years ago the line was re-signaled and the old relay house has been converted into low income housing.

At first glance this little guy might look like a monorail, but it actually runs on two I-beams and is therefore a tram, specifically The Mandalay Bay Tram. I had no idea this even existed, but was apparently built by the MGM Mirage group to connect their properties on the south strip including, from north to south, the Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. Although it does not directly service the flagship MGM Grand, the Excalibur North station is across the Tropicana Ave intersection and connected via elevated walkways.

22-06-05 PHOTOS: Iron Hill

Due to a variety of noral cognative biases, over time I have tended to neglect my local scene in favor of road and rail trips that focused on attractions farther from home. For example once or twice a month I drive between the Baltimore and Philadelphia metros on Interstate 95 and when dodging the toll on the Delaware border a slight detour from my usual route will take me directly past Amtrak's IRON interlocking located mere feet east of the Maryland-Delaware border. I had been traveling this route for the best part of two decades and never taken the opportunity to visit IRON. The same can be said for most of the signaling locations on NJT's Atlantic City Line. For decades Winslow Jct had been "the place to be" even though multiple interlockings were located just a mile or so from the main routes to get there. So while scourging for content oppurtunities in June of 2022 I decided to visit both IRON interlocking on the Northeast Corridor and NORTH FISH interlocking on the ACL. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).

We begin at IRON with Amtrak ACS-86 #625 leading a southbound Regional under the southbound signal bridge. As IRON is only in service on tracks 1 and A, tracks 2 and 3 get the Milepost 41.5 automatic. The north-south Mason-Dixon Line runs diagonally across the NEC at this point from about where I am standing to just outside the far signal bridge support.

Amtrak's IRON interlocking, named for the locality of Iron Hill, Delaware, is where the old "A" track folds into track #1. The three track configuration extends a further 10 miles southward to BACON interlocking. "A" track ran to DAVIS interlocking in Newark and was used to support operations for the long since demolished Chrysler assembly plant there. DAVIS tower had remote control of IRON until it was closed around 1990. In the late 90's the 4-track configuration was extended to a new RUTHBY interlocking north of Newark to support expanded SEPTA service. Here a northbound Acela Express with power cars #2021 and #2024 passes under the southbound IRON signal bridge.

After the Acela set passed I noticed a train approaching on #1 track. It turned out to be an Amtrak MoW train with GP38-2 #724, MP15D #572 and 10 brand new automated ballast hoppers.

Of course I also take Amtrak for many of my Northeast intercity trips. Here we find ACS-86 #610 arriving at BWI.

In 2022 Baltimore Penn Station was seeing substantial work with its old low level platform covering tracks 2 and 3 getting a high level treatment and a brand new platform being added to Track F.