25-11-09 PHOTOS: Points Promotion

In the fall of 2025 Amtrak offered a Guest Rewards points promotion that offered bonus points based on quantity of trips taken. Based on my proximity to the Amtrak BWI rail station and the fact that trips to and from DC often cost the same or less than MARC, I was able to put in a bunch of DC trips to kick me up into the higher bonus levels. This short set covers both the points trips and a few photos from an unrelated trip to Ridgeway, PA

Starting off on a Regional heading south to DC from BWI.

Here I am arriving in DC in style with my regional pulling into Union Station track #17 adjacent to classic Acela trainset #16. Power on my train was the ultimate ACS-86 #670 with the Acela having power car #2012 up front.

 In a cool happenstance the ultimate classic Acela power car, #2039, was over on track #20. 

My destination for this trip was an event in DC's Adam's Morgan neighborhood which is accessible via the Woodley Park Zoo stop. 

Skip ahead a few days and I was back at BWI for another round trip to Washington, DC. MARC has a noticeable pattern of Penn Line trains meeting at the Baltimore Washington International Airport Rail Station about the same time. Here a northbound train lead by MP36PH-3C #11 meets a southbound with single level cab cat #7761.

Because of the points promotion I let the MARC local with MP36PH-3C #34 pass by favor of the following Amtrak Regional with ACS-86 #644. 

About to board DC Metro car #3204 at Union Station.

This day my destination was Metro Center. Here is a quick video as I ascended the escalator of my 3k series train departing. 

My return was via Regional Train #138 from Norfolk which sent me down to Union Station's lower level. By the time 

Southbound Crescent Train 19 was across the platform with bag dorm #69006 seen here next to ACS-86 #663.

Train 19's electric, ACS-86 #609, had come off the head end and was working its way back to Ivy City yard past #628, which was coupled to a single Amfleet on track #27.  In the video you can also see Amtrak P42DC #19, which likely just came off Train 138, heading south towards the 1st St tunnels. Since this unit would need to be turned and serviced before heading back south, it is possible that it is being batched on a storage track so a single yard crew can return multiple locomotives to the yard.

End of my Train 138 waiting on the electric locomotive to take it on to New York. For whatever reason I decided to skip getting video of the power change.

Skipping again to a different day, while driving up I-95 my friend mentioned he was on the late afternoon northbound Next Gen Acela Train 2170 and just happened to be at the right location where I could get video of his passage behind an industrial park right off Delaware Route 279. I managed to get into position about 45 seconds before 2170 passed, but he was stuck in an isle seat and couldn't wave back :-( The Next Gen set was #13 with sequential power cars #2139 and #2140 that had just entered revenue service in October of 2025. 

While driving out to see a friend in West Central PA, I stopped for dinner in Frederick, MD where I caught a MARC Brunswick Line (Frederick Branch) trainset at the Wisner Street grade crossing deadheading back to the storage yard just south of Interstate 70. The consist included single level cab car #7761, single level coaches #7718, #7728 and #7730 and MARC MP36PH-3C #28.

The town of Ridgeway is located on the old Buffalo and Pittsburgh line of the B&O and the former PRR Low Grade Main Line. Today both lines are under the umbrella of the Buffalo and Pittsburgh unit of G&W Industries. Both of the station buildings have been repurposed for use by local businesses.  The B&O station was built in 1905 and the PRR station in 1907, which aligns when the region was at its most prosperous due to the extraction of both coal and oil. 

Although the PRR station was still technically owned by the railroad, local groups had restored both the inside and outside and it was in use by a local artist. 

That's all for this set. Next time I'll be back out on the PRR Main Line near Malvern, PA.