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WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes

Posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Tue Jun 12 08:39:14 2012

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For those of you unaware, WMATA is introducing what it is calling "Rush+" next week (Monday to be exact), which is the long talked about "Blue Line realignment" that will send 3 TPH from Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt and vice versa via the Fenwick Bridge. The extra slots on the Blue/Orange line will be used by 3 TPH that will operate between Vienna and Largo. This is in preparation for the Silver Line opening in a few years, at which point some of the Orange Line trains that currently pass through Rosslyn each hour will become Silver Line trains to Reston.

I realize this isn't the most DC centric board, but there is some interest in WMATA here. So, in honor of Rush+, I thought up of (what is hopefully a fun) a set of questions pertaining to "odd" Metrorail routings, since some previously unusual routings are about to become regular.

For each origin/destination pair below, identify whether the service ever ran regularly (or runs regularly) or not, and for those that have/currently run, identify when they ran. For the purposes of this, a service is "regular" if a map was printed showing the routing in question (July 4th maps count, text in the map legend not reflected by in service lines on the map below do NOT count), the routing was explained in a map "bubble" on the side or if the routing appeared on a public timetable. In other words, odd routings that might have come up for the purposes of trackwork (Huntington to Stadium-Armory) are NOT regular for the purposes of this post.

Ready? Here we go...

1. Farragut North-Rhode Island Avenue

2. Greenbelt-Farragut North

3. Ballston to Addison Road

4. New Carrollton to National Airport

5. Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt

6. Huntington to Rosslyn

7. Vienna to Largo

8. Shady Grove to Stadium-Armory

9. Greenbelt to Grosvenor

10. Huntington to U Street

11. National Airport to Rosslyn

12. Huntington to Franconia-Springfield


Have fun and good luck, answers to be posted after noon ET Thursday.

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(1161595)

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Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes

Posted by Sand Box John on Tue Jun 12 09:53:38 2012, in response to WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Tue Jun 12 08:39:14 2012.

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1. Farragut North-Rhode Island Avenue
Phase I 03 27 1976 to 01 16 1977.

2. Greenbelt-Farragut North
Green line Short Cut 01 27 1997 to 10 17 1999.

3. Ballston to Addison Road
Don't recall what months / years, happened after Addison Road opend ended when Yellow line opened to Huntington.

4. New Carrollton to National Airport
11 20 1978 to 11 30 1979

5. Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt
Only shown on the earliest generation of system maps.

6. Huntington to Rosslyn
Service never run

7. Vienna to Largo
Don't recall.

8. Shady Grove to Stadium-Armory
Service never run.

9. Greenbelt to Grosvenor
Green line Short Cut trains running through to change to off peak Red line trains

10. Huntington to U Street
05 11 1990 to 12 27 1991

11. National Airport to Rosslyn
Independence Day service on selected years.

12. Huntington to Franconia-Springfield
Service never run.

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(1161620)

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Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes

Posted by Dupont Circle Station on Tue Jun 12 14:21:34 2012, in response to Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes, posted by Sand Box John on Tue Jun 12 09:53:38 2012.

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Huntington-Rosslyn (Blue), F/S-Mt. Vernon Sq (Yellow), and Vienna-Largo (Orange) were all July 4th routings.

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(1161694)

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Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes

Posted by Sand Box John on Wed Jun 13 08:45:34 2012, in response to Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes, posted by Dupont Circle Station on Tue Jun 12 14:21:34 2012.

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Huntington-Rosslyn (Blue), F/S-Mt. Vernon Sq (Yellow), and Vienna-Largo (Orange) were all July 4th routings.

I will stand corrected when Oren posts the answers.

John in the sand box of Maryland's eastern shore.

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(1161711)

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Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes

Posted by Dupont Circle Station on Wed Jun 13 12:50:29 2012, in response to Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes, posted by Sand Box John on Wed Jun 13 08:45:34 2012.

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You needn't wait that long:

WMATA July 4 Service Map - 2007

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(1161865)

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Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes ANSWERS

Posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Thu Jun 14 16:31:59 2012, in response to WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Tue Jun 12 08:39:14 2012.

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Here are the answers:

1. Farragut North-Rhode Island Avenue: This was the first segment of the system opened, operating from March 27, 1976 through January 16, 1977, at which time Dupont Circle opened

2. Greenbelt-Farragut North: This was the Green Line Commuter Shortcut that operated from January 27, 1997 until September 17, 1999, rush hours only (and also on July 4, 1999)

3. Ballston to Addison Road: I don't have exact dates for when this ran, but this was operated during the "round robin" Blue/Orange service that operated from 1982 until the Yellow Line Bridge opened in 1983.

4. New Carrollton to National Airport: This one ran twice, but it was only shown on the maps per the criteria I laid out once, also durng the "round robin" described above. The other time it ran but was not signed on the maps was from November 20, 1978 until December 11, 1979.

5. Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt: This was shown on early maps as the Yellow Line, but no regularly scheduled service has ever operated on this route. That changes on Monday.

6. Huntington to Rosslyn: This operated on each July 4th from 2000 through 2008. The first two years, it was designated as the Yellow Line, it was then designated as the Blue Line starting in 2002. Trains terminated on the upper level and relayed on the platform, with the operators falling back an interval to ensure a quick turnaround.

7. Vienna to Largo: This is another July 4th routing, operating each July 4th from 2005 through 2008 (Largo opened in December 2004). It will operate during rush hours starting on Monday.

8. Shady Grove to Stadium-Armory: This hasn't run, and needless to say, it would be a bit difficult with some significant wrong railing in this direction. However, a train could get from Stadium-Armory to Shady Grove without wrong railing or fouling up traffic if it wanted to/needed to.

9. Greenbelt to Grosvenor: This actually did run and was depicted on a single map. On July 4, 1999, the Green Line Shortcut ran all day to Farragut North, but after the fireworks, it was extended up to Grosvenor. The Green Line on the map only went as far as Farragut North, the extension was marked by a bubble.

10. Huntington to U Street: It is true that the Yellow Line ran from Huntington to U Street from May 11, 1991 until December 28, 1991, but on the map, the Yellow Line was shown as terminating at Mount Vernon Square and the Green Line was shown as operating between U Street and L'Enfant Plaza, even though there were no Green Line trains. The correct answer per the criteria I outlined is that the last few Yellow Line trains each night from the time U Street opened until the inner city Green Line opened on September 18, 1999 were extended from Mount Vernon Square up to U Street, and this was only indicated in the public timetables.

11. National Airport to Rosslyn: Another July 4 routing. In 1999, the only year that special July 4th service operated prior to the opening of the inner city Green Line, the Blue and Inner Green Lines terminated at U Street, and the Yellow Line terminated at Mount Vernon Square. But what did that leave serving the section of track between Pentagon and Rosslyn? A shuttle train, that operated from the center track at National Airport to the upper level of Rosslyn. It was marked as a black line on the map, I didn't ride the Metro that July 4th so I'm not sure how this train was signed or announced in practice, but the route did run and was depicted on a map for a single day.

12. Huntington to Franconia-Springfield: You could run trains between these two stations without any wrong railing or reverse moves due to the wye at C&J Junction, but in practice, this has never occurred.

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(1161918)

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Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes ANSWERS

Posted by Sand Box John on Fri Jun 15 00:04:55 2012, in response to Re: WMATA Trivia in Advance of Next Week's Service Changes ANSWERS, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Thu Jun 14 16:31:59 2012.

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8. Shady Grove to Stadium-Armory: This hasn't run, and needless to say, it would be a bit difficult with some significant wrong railing in this direction. However, a train could get from Stadium-Armory to Shady Grove without wrong railing or fouling up traffic if it wanted to/needed to.

The only wrong railing would be westbound through the Farragut North platform.

12. Huntington to Franconia-Springfield: You could run trains between these two stations without any wrong railing or reverse moves due to the wye at C&J Junction, but in practice, this has never occurred.

The thing that would make service between these 2 terminals unlikely is the fact that the yards leads that are part of that Y tracks are not configured for automatic train control and the curves are not super elevated so movements would have to be made in manual mode at a speed not to exceed 15MPH.

John in the sand box of Maryland's eastern shore.

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