RAILforum: Washington DC Area

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Posted by railfan02 (Member # 1337) on :

hi im new to the washington dc area and im looking for help on finding layups or yards to fullfill my love of photographing freight trains. please help me. any help would be appreciated. thank you

Posted by Steve Dunham (Member # 924) on :

I live in Virginia, and can point you to a couple of spots on this side of Washington.

Close by the Van Dorn Street Metro station on the Blue Line is a Norfolk Southern facility. At the end of the Metro parking lot away from the station, a public road goes right next to the tracks. There usually is power tied up there, though the trains are infrequent.

In Manassas, about a mile west of the railroad station in town (you can ride there on weekdays using Virginia Railway Express) is another Norfolk Southern facility, with something almost always going on. A public road crosses the mainline and another crosses two legs of the wye.

Not a yard, but with a pretty high density of freight traffic, is the Alexandria railroad station, adjacent to the Metro King Street station. Lots of CSX freights, a few Norfolk Southern freights, and lots of passenger trains too, not to mention rest rooms, vending machines, and benches. It's a popular spot with railfans.

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Steve Dunham
Literalman@aol.com
http://www.stevedunham.50megs.com/

Posted by MPALMER (Member # 125) on :

A bit further out (and to the North), Point of Rocks, MD, is a CSX (B&O) junction which you can reach by MARC during weekdays. The Capitol Limited also comes through but does not stop there.
There is a classic old unmanned station there, but food etc. are a couple of blocks away.