Washington. D.C. Railfanning.

[Micah_D]

Heading to Maryland for spring break. Any good railfanning around Washington D.C? I know they have Union station that gets a fair amount of passenger traffic but what about freight?

Thanks,
Micah

[David Collins]

Maybe out of your reach but Cumberland and anywhere around the sand patch grade (Yes, I'm talking about THAT route in Train Sim World 2) is pretty good. Halethorpe on the Amtrak NEC is pretty cool too.

[Micah_D]

Maybe out of your reach but Cumberland and anywhere around the sand patch grade (Yes, I'm talking about THAT route in Train Sim World 2) is pretty good. Halethorpe on the Amtrak NEC is pretty cool too.

I'm aware of Cumberland and yes it's out of my reach. Titled Washington D.C. for that reason. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Tom49801]

Heading to Maryland for spring break. Any good railfanning around Washington D.C? I know they have Union station that gets a fair amount of passenger traffic but what about freight?

Thanks,
Micah

There are spots north of Union Station along New York Ave where you'll see the CSX line tracks starting to run parallel with Amtrak's 2 main line tracks. You can also see the facilities there that take care of the Amtrak equipment. It can be a "dicey" area in that location, that was part of Amtrak territory before retiring 3 years ago. I'll check google for the names of the buildings there along New York Ave & get back to you.

[Micah_D]

Thank you Tom! I appreciate the information!

[Tom49801]

Thank you Tom! I appreciate the information!

Things have changed since I had retired LOL. The best spot would be behind the DC Office of Cable TV, Film & Music building at 1899 9th Street NE, Wash DC (about 3 miles north of Union Station). Go just past that building & at the Stop sign you'll be facing straight in front of you the entrance for Amtrak's Ivy City Maintenance Facility, turn Right & follow the road as it curves to the right taking you behind that DC Office of Cable TV building. It's a paved road and there are some over passes for shade. Looking straight down that road you'll see where CSX has a bridge for their trains. That road is used mostly for getting to Amtrak's other facilities & the VRE (Virginia Rail Express) yard.

Area is ok & there's a MacDonalds before you make the right turn at the light that takes you to the DC Office of Cable TV. I don't think anyone will mind you railfanning there & there are a couple of rust color metal (8 ft x 8 ft
size if I remember correctly) Amtrak signal houses you could park next to & get you off the road (watch out for railroad spikes that might be in the gravel parking area near those buildings).

[~Z~]

https://goo.gl/maps/69RwSaSf8Fwju8wTA
I would think this would be the closest to Union Station to head to and be able to see CSX action. Just south of Union Station, and about the only spot I see where you can view the tracks ok.
Looks like Amtrak traffic that heads south of Union Station connects just to the east of this spot so you'll see this joint traffic here. I believe CSX freight runs on this section at least.

[Micah_D]

Thank you both Tom and ~Z~! I appreciate you guys researching and providing me with detailed instructions and links to railfanning locations. I will be sure to share any trains I may catch. Thanks again!

Micah

[Saturnalia]

Maybe out of your reach but Cumberland and anywhere around the sand patch grade (Yes, I'm talking about THAT route in Train Sim World 2) is pretty good. Halethorpe on the Amtrak NEC is pretty cool too.

I'm aware of Cumberland and yes it's out of my reach. Titled Washington D.C. for that reason. Thanks for the suggestion.

While Cumberland is 2.5 hours and 130+ miles away, how big is your search radius here?

I only ask because when I was in DC years ago we went a bit up the road to Harpers Ferry which definitely is a bucket list place. It's only about an hour away. Probably still too far but the above did let the idea into my mind, so there's that haha

[David Collins]

Maybe out of your reach but Cumberland and anywhere around the sand patch grade (Yes, I'm talking about THAT route in Train Sim World 2) is pretty good. Halethorpe on the Amtrak NEC is pretty cool too.

I'm aware of Cumberland and yes it's out of my reach. Titled Washington D.C. for that reason. Thanks for the suggestion.

While Cumberland is 2.5 hours and 130+ miles away, how big is your search radius here?

I only ask because when I was in DC years ago we went a bit up the road to Harpers Ferry which definitely is a bucket list place. It's only about an hour away. Probably still too far but the above did let the idea into my mind, so there's that haha

He said maryland which made me think he was talking about the state just in general, that's all

[Micah_D]

Spending tomorrow walking around touring D.C. so anywhere within walking distance haha. We are parking at Union station then walking everywhere from there.

[~Z~]

Enjoy the walk around DC. I had a 6 hour layover there once on a Amtrak trip from South Bend IN to Miami. Walked south out of union station to the capital, went to 3 of the Smithsonian museums, over by the washington monument, saw the white house from afar, grabbed dinner and had plenty of time back at the union station before heading to FL. Didn't do any extra railfanning as I had a window seat to watch CSX for the next 24 hours