WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary

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WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Sand Box John on Fri Mar 27 00:53:12 2026 I was there on the first day. John in the sand box of Maryland's eastern shore.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by WMATAGMOAGH* on Fri Mar 27 11:00:44 2026, in response to WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by Sand Box John on Fri Mar 27 00:53:12 2026.* Meanwhile the current management is so focused on creating viral moments, the celebration isn't the regional event it should be IMO.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Sand Box John* on Fri Mar 27 13:46:58 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Fri Mar 27 11:00:44 2026.* Meanwhile the current management is so focused on creating viral moments, the celebration isn't the regional event it should be IMO. Did not even consider seeing it from that viewpoint. Drove in from the Sand Box this morning to Largo and parked, took the Silver line to Metro Canter and rode the Red line to Glenmont and back to Governor. Chose not to go all the way to Shady Grove as I wanted to get back at Metro Center before all of the pennants were gone. Spoke the the Chief Operating Officer, He said WMATA is in the works for a display on the National Mall in July that will coincide Metrorail's 50th anniversary with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Passed out a couple dozen of the 1976 opening day passes I have. 2 thing I noticed: Station name text on pylons is smaller and island platform pylons are shorter then they originally were. 7k cars enter stations hotter in automatic mode then the aluminum rolling did prior to the suspension of automatic operation. 30 plus MPH roughly 200' from the stopping point at the end of the platform. Got myself Senior SmarTrip Card. The ladies in the sales office were kind enough to transfer the balance on my regular SmarTrip Card onto my Senior SmarTrip Card. John in the sand box of Maryland's eastern shore.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by terRAPIN station* on Fri Mar 27 17:37:24 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by Sand Box John on Fri Mar 27 13:46:58 2026.* Score.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Sand Box John* on Fri Mar 27 22:15:57 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by terRAPIN station on Fri Mar 27 17:37:24 2026.* Score. I will assume "score" is in reference to the opening day passes. Got them from Cody Phanstiehl back in 1975.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Jackson Park B Train* on Fri Mar 27 23:14:29 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by Sand Box John on Fri Mar 27 22:15:57 2026.* Congtats on being there back then and now for the 50th. BART did a public event for its 50th.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by WMATAGMOAGH* on Tue Mar 31 13:30:01 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by Jackson Park B Train on Fri Mar 27 23:14:29 2026.* Was BART's event actually public or just for some contest winners?
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by WMATAGMOAGH* on Tue Mar 31 13:30:58 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by Sand Box John on Fri Mar 27 13:46:58 2026.* The changes in font that you noted, are those in connection with the ongoing wayfinding initative?
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Jackson Park B Train* on Tue Mar 31 13:37:54 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Tue Mar 31 13:30:01 2026.* BART's 50th included a daylong public event at the former hQ location with numerous booths. Rapido showed off their then new HO BART models. Of the 4 children I had taken on the first day one was still in the area and joined me.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Sand Box John* on Tue Mar 31 19:57:48 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Tue Mar 31 13:30:58 2026.* The changes in font that you noted, are those in connection with the ongoing wayfinding initative? I can not say for sure. All 4 of the panels on the platform pylons were swapped out for new. John in the sand box of Maryland's eastern shore.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Joe* on Tue Mar 31 21:33:42 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by Sand Box John on Tue Mar 31 19:57:48 2026.* It has been decades since I rode the Washington Metro. In the first section, too many signs were written vertically on pillars, difficult to read. Do these terrible signs still exist? --- My first tour of Capital Transit was in February, 1948!
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Jackson Park B Train* on Tue Mar 31 23:07:32 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by Joe on Tue Mar 31 21:33:42 2026.* Not sure when my first ride was. Last ride was on 1053 post revenue charter. A PCC headsign is currently set to Union Station here in my dining room,though often to Cabin John as that was the line to where I grew up.
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Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary
Posted by Sand Box John* on Wed Apr 1 04:19:41 2026, in response to Re: WMATA: Metro 50th Anniversary, posted by Joe on Tue Mar 31 21:33:42 2026.* It has been decades since I rode the Washington Metro. In the first section, too many signs were written vertically on pillars, difficult to read. Do these terrible signs still exist? The reasoning for placing the station names on pylons was to not have to deface the arched vaults in subway stations with signs. The logic behind placing station names on pylons was based on reading the titles of books on their splines. Only a hand full of the stations within the original 103 mile system have had their pylons removed. They were removed to fee up floor space in the high use stations with 13' wide twin platforms. One of the two infill stations along with the Blue line expansion stations and all of the new Silver line stations do not have them at all. In island platform subway stations they are used to circulate air and wash the crown of the arched vault with light. All of the stations have horizontal station name signs. Massimo Vignelli, who designed the station graphics package for WMATA back in the late 1960s along with the iconic and present day New York City Subway map was not please when seeing the added signage in the 1990s. John in the sand box of Maryland's eastern shore.
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