They say its easy to overlook the familiar. Despite living south of Baltimore for many years now I had never visited the MARC Camden Linestation in Laurel, MD, except while riding the service in passing. Well in the fall of 2025 I set out to not only capture most of a rush hour at Laurel, but also walk west to the nearby signal location and then east to the famed Laurel Racetrack station, where the service consists entirely of three weekday afternoon flag stops, all in the DC bound direction. The photos from this adventure can all be found here.
The Laurel depot building was constructed in 1884 and was rebuilt after a serious fire in 1992. More recently the platforms were rebuilt with long duration plastic lumber. Today it is open during the morning and afternoon peak times for waiting passengers and also houses a ticket vending machine.
A deadhead equipment move kicked off the afternoon rush with cab car #8047 and MP36PH-3C #22.
MARC's Jessup Station is infamous for its low ridership with, on average, 1 rider per day. Located on the Camden Line, the station was never upgraded with additional parking like the neighboring Savage and Dorsey stations, and generally lakcs connectivity to the surrounding area, including a large prison complex. Ridership is also hindered by the service level of a single round trip in the DC direction per weekday. In the summer of 2025 a service disruption resulted in my friend catching MARC Train 854 which made the Jessup stop, instead of the usual Train 856 that I would meet at Dorsey. Due to the sufficient warning I was able to adjust my pickup and give my friend the opportunity to use Jessup for a bona fide transit purpose. Combined with some additional NEC photos I had enough to fill a photo set.
The MARC Jessup station is directly adjacent to JESSUP interlocking on the CSX Capitol Sub, which itself is at the north end of the giant Jessup Auto Terminal, which handles new vehicle deliveries for the entire region. CSX has invested in capacity improvements on the south end of the yard to keep autorack trains from fouling the main tracks as they are received or assembled for departure. Unfortunately it appears that the north end still sees these sorts of movements spilling into or past JESSUP interlocking. Here ES44AC #3153 pulls a cut of racks out of the yard tracks and onto the main line.
The CSX movement was successful in clearing the main just as my friend on Train 854 pulled into Jessup. He was not alone in getting off as the singular regular rider was also commuting that day. MARC Train 854 had MP36PH-3C #15 leading and cab car #8049 on the rear end
The next train through was my friend's usual Train #856 which of course skips Jessup en route to Dorsey. #856 had MARC MP36PH-3C #24 leading.
One of my perennial signaling missions has been trips to tidewater Virginia to get photos of legacy Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac signals that has so far survived CSX re-signaling efforts. The ones that remain are far off the beaten path, requiring mile plus walk-ins. For 2025 my target was the "Holly Hill" location which is two miles in the opposite direction from the "Rixley" location I visited in 2024. Both were actually served by the same state game land parking lot. After the signal outing I drove up to Fredericksburg for a retail shopping and brewery tour catching additional Amtrak and CSX trains along the way. You can find the full set of photos here.
First to appear was a southbound CSX manifest freight with ES44AC #743 leading and AC4400 #541 in the trailing DPU position.
Next up was Amtrak Regional Train 194 with P42DC #44 leading, briefly illuminating the Holly Hill signals while still in the block.
It's easy to forget that MARTA is a thing that exists. The last large heavy rail system to be stood up in North America, MARTA takes after the DC Metro with a bit more transit mojo. For my first ever trip to downtown Atlanta I wasn't about to pass up riding as much of MARTA as I could and I prioritized the east-west Blue/Green line over two mornings with a final trip to the airport on a third day. You can find the full set of photos here.
Starting service in 1979, MARTA currently operates with three batches of railcars. The initial batch of 120 cars from Société Franco-Belge in 1979, a follow-up batch of 120 cars from actual Hitachi in 1982 and a final batch of 100 cars from Breda in 1999. Here Hitachi car #257 arrives at Peachtree Center on the Red/Yellow line. Note the exposed bedrock which makes the area above suitable for building skyscrapers.
The four color services runs on two main trunk lines, Red/Yellow going North-South and Blue/Green going East-West. The two trunks meet at the Five Points station, which I think is a legacy title from referring to an unbuilt 5th MARTA line that would have also served the station.
With new vehicles from Stadler already on order, I was eager to ride the most vulnerable Société Franco-Belge cars. I got my wish with #188 on a Green Line routing. The interior has a style very similar to the contemporary Budd UTV seen in Baltimore and Miami. Most notable is the deep cab area that creates a tunnel effect when halfed mid-train.
Bankhead is the Green Line's only unique station with a two car platform that make it the limiting factor on Green Line operations. As one might suspect this was the remnant of a northwestern line that was never build with Bankhead itself opening in 1992 to make use of the junction and righto of way that was built in 1979. Today the Green Line provides supplementary service on the Blue Line between MLK and Bankhead. Here Franco-Belge married pair 188-187 is seen at the platform and reversing direction on the tail track.
The Blue Line's western terminus is the Hamilton E. Holmes Station, which is not named directly for the civil rights leader, but an adjacent arterial roadway named in honor of the civil rights leader after his death in 1995. Prior to that the station was named Hightower, I assume after the famed law enforcement officer. Here we see MARTA car, #699, adjacent to fellow Breda car #676 at the Hamilton E. Holmes Station platform in addition to the #699 departing eastbound.
Here is Hitatchi car #279 arriving at Hamilton E. Holmes. You can still see that hint of 1970's styling that would vanish with the 1999 Breda order.
More MARTA action in the form of Franco-Belge car #151 at Five Points and Hitachi car #219 at Peachtree.
The Hitachi cars, like #236 seen here, had a shallowed cab-end tunnel and a similar beige interior with explicitly 80's two tone plastic bucket seats.
The Avondale station was the East-West line's original 1979 terminus with the main tracks proceeding directly into the yard. When the line was extended to a park-n-ride on Atlanta's perimeter beltway the tracks has to be built on flyovers over the yard. Here we see the Breda trainset with #676 at the station platform with Franco-Belge car #147 on the yard lead with its ends open. Something may have been the matter with the #676 train as we crossed over the wrong railed to the Indian Creek terminal.
Opened in 1992 and seemingly refreshed somewhat recently, Indian Creek serves a function similar to the DC Metro's Greenbelt, a large Park-N-Ride with direct highway access. Here we see the gorgeous station concourse along with Hitachi car #286.
On my way back from Indian Creek I got this photo of part of the Avondale Yard. Avondale, GA is best known for being home to the first ever Waffle House restaurant.
As you may have noticed the car end views are all pretty reasonable. Here is a through-end photo of Hitachi car #265 near the Georgia State station.
The East-West line was built alongside the CSX Abbeville Sub with views of the now defunct Hulsey Intermodal Terminal. From the train I managed to catch CSX ET44AC #3265 and C40-10W #5435 with a manifest freight in the Hulsey Yard area.
Hitachi car #219 at Five Points and a Franco-Belge car from above at Peachtree.
Heading to the airport here is the cab and interior of penultimate Breda car #701. If you thought that #699 should have been the ultimate car on a 100-car order, the numbering started at #601 and pair 655/666 was skipped due to the association with Satan.
Hitachi car #276 arrived at the track opposite just before #701 departed.
Arguably the busiest airport in the world, the MARTA Hartsfield-Jackson Airport station features a staffed 4-bay ticket window to help travelers purchase a Breeze Card. Due to open payment and a general upgrade, the Breeze Card was to be phased out in 2026.
That concludes my first trip to downtown Atlanta. Next week I'll be heading back down to Tidewater Virginia, but I suspect I'll be returning to Atlanta again.
The last time I went to Lowell, MA was during the height of COVID and I only had enough time to walk the length of BY interlocking where the MBTA Lowell line briefly merges with the old Guilford Rail System Freight Main Line. With all of the re-signaling that is currently taking place along that route, I returned with a friend for a day of craft beer appreciation and searchlight signal photos. This post will detail the more interesting parts of the trip along with my return to the Mid-Atlantic via Acela express.
On weekends service to Lowell is pretty awful with trains running on a 1-2 hour headway. Today was no different and the only thing I was able to catch at Lowell's transportation was an empty high-low island platform. Lowell has an interesting layout as the two tracks on the left are used for MBTA service to Boston, while the three on the right are part of the former Guilford Rail System "Freight Main Line" that at one point stretched 714 miles from central Maine to Sunbury, PA.
A few years ago what remained of the Guilford was purchased by CSX which has wasted no time assimilating the line with new chaining, signals and, in this case, bridge art.
Due to the presence of hydro power, Lowell had become an early industrial hub, mostly specializing in textile production. The advent of electricity and modern logistics allowed this industry to move to more suitable locations turning Lowell into the stereotypical "gritty old mill town". In 1978 Federal money was obtained to create the Lowell National Historic Park as an urban renewal. One component of this was a heritage streetcar operation coined the "National Streetcar Museum", which I was able to visit and ride back in 2006. On this march day 20 years later the vintage streetcars weren't running, so I made do with a photo of Boston and Main 0-6-0 switcher #410, which is displayed on the streetcar platform.
Since 2006 Lowell has undergone an impressive recovery as the cost of housing in the core Boston area has exploded. Helped by the presence of UMass Lowell and MBTA service, the city is full of new development with many of the old mill buildings converted into artist lofts or new housing. This vintage service station sign was located across the street from the National Streetcar Museum.
Heading out of town my host suggested seeing the old B&M station at North Chelmsford. The trackside structure is being relocated for preservation with the wooden building already gone and the foundation marked up for disassembly. This project is likely one of CSX's "good will" gestures after taking control of neglected Guilford assets.
The MBTA Fitchburg Line station Shirley might look like something out of the 19th century, but it was actually constructed in 1993 after the station itself was reactivated in 1981 after over a decade of Fitchburg Line extensions and retrenchments. Although the minimal infrastructure gives the station a vibe similar to some of MARC's least used stations, Shirley currently serves a respectable 100+ passengers a day.
Because I had been out all day getting photos of 1940's and 50's vintage railroad signaling I hadn't really noticed that it was almost sunset when I had encountered an actual train movement in the form of a Norfolk Southern run-through freight with a former Guilford C40-8 leading a trio of NS units including SC70ACC #1807, AC44C6M #4857 and C44-9W #9928. In the 2010's NS had invested in a joint venture with the Guilford to run freight from Harrisburg to Ayer in conjunction with NS's of the former Delaware and Hudson route between Sunbury and Schenectady.
