# How does freight get through DC?



## MARC Rider (May 2, 2016)

A question occurred to me after seeing some photos of that nasty derailment and spill on CSX that's still got the MARC Brunswick line trains cancelled, not to mention the Capitol Limited. The news article said the freight train was heading to Hamlet, NC. The photos showed the train as being pretty close to Union Station. Does that mean that they run freight through the same tunnel that the VRE, Virginia amtrak and Silver Service use? If so, it's kind of interesting as that tunnel goes right under the Capitol, and if you've ever been on Capitol Hill, you know they're antsy about security. But apparently they're ok with hazmat trains rolling beneath their feet.

I know there are some freight bypasses in DC, but they seem to connect to the NEC and the CSX line to Baltimore. Is there a way for a freight coming in from the west to connect to the freight bypasses, or would they have to backtrack halfway to Baltimore?


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## CSXfoamer1997 (May 2, 2016)

No. They do not take the tunnels into Washington Union Station. They take their own line towards the NEC, then leave the part of the NEC and goes toward either Boston or Cumberland.


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## CCC1007 (May 2, 2016)

looks like a wye located at this location, not on the NEC, though the train would have been parallel to the NEC for about a mile...https://www.google.com/maps/place/Union+Station/@38.951154,-76.9407129,454m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x89b7b826ca5d5a51:0x5cbb0991d60ce1d7?hl=en


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## Hal (May 2, 2016)

MARC Rider said:


> A question occurred to me after seeing some photos of that nasty derailment and spill on CSX that's still got the MARC Brunswick line trains cancelled, not to mention the Capitol Limited. The news article said the freight train was heading to Hamlet, NC. The photos showed the train as being pretty close to Union Station. Does that mean that they run freight through the same tunnel that the VRE, Virginia amtrak and Silver Service use? If so, it's kind of interesting as that tunnel goes right under the Capitol, and if you've ever been on Capitol Hill, you know they're antsy about security. But apparently they're ok with hazmat trains rolling beneath their feet.
> 
> I know there are some freight bypasses in DC, but they seem to connect to the NEC and the CSX line to Baltimore. Is there a way for a freight coming in from the west to connect to the freight bypasses, or would they have to backtrack halfway to Baltimore?


The freight line bypasses Union Station. Freight uses the Virginia Avenue Tunnel. Not the tunnel under the Capital. I have been that way. Probably none else here has.....


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## Thirdrail7 (May 2, 2016)

MARC Rider said:


> A question occurred to me after seeing some photos of that nasty derailment and spill on CSX that's still got the MARC Brunswick line trains cancelled, not to mention the Capitol Limited. The news article said the freight train was heading to Hamlet, NC. The photos showed the train as being pretty close to Union Station. Does that mean that they run freight through the same tunnel that the VRE, Virginia amtrak and Silver Service use? If so, it's kind of interesting as that tunnel goes right under the Capitol, and if you've ever been on Capitol Hill, you know they're antsy about security. But apparently they're ok with hazmat trains rolling beneath their feet.
> 
> I know there are some freight bypasses in DC, but they seem to connect to the NEC and the CSX line to Baltimore. Is there a way for a freight coming in from the west to connect to the freight bypasses, or would they have to backtrack halfway to Baltimore?






CCC1007 said:


> looks like a wye located at this location, not on the NEC, though the train would have been parallel to the NEC for about a mile...https://www.google.com/maps/place/Union+Station/@38.951154,-76.9407129,454m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x89b7b826ca5d5a51:0x5cbb0991d60ce1d7?hl=en



The wye pictured is how the move is made. Freight trains coming from the west (CSX's Metropolitan Subdivision) enter the Capitol Subdivision and heads towards Baltimore. A few miles outside of DC's city limits sits the wye that CCC posted. That is CSX's Alexandria Branch which allows trains from North and East and West to head south. It ultimately links up with the Landover Line, which was the old NEC route around WAS (until the MacGruder Branch was built) to Potomac Yard. From there, the freight goes through the Virginia Ave tunnel, across Long Bridge, through the remnants of Potomac Yard and to Richmond and points south.


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## afigg (May 3, 2016)

For those who want to see the route taken by the CSX trains through and around the DC metro area, a map of all the rail lines in the USA is available at openrailwaymap.org. Move the map to DC and zoom in, the map even labels the subdivision lines. And even includes the DC Metro and H st streetcar lines. be careful going to the website, may get distracted and spend a lot of time zooming in and out, looking at the rail lines in many places in the US.

Then zoom out to Europe and Asia....


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## AmtrakBlue (May 3, 2016)

afigg said:


> For those who want to see the route taken by the CSX trains through and around the DC metro area, a map of all the rail lines in the USA is available at openrailwaymap.org. Move the map to DC and zoom in, the map even labels the subdivision lines. And even includes the DC Metro and H st streetcar lines. be careful going to the website, may get distracted and spend a lot of time zooming in and out, looking at the rail lines in many places in the US.
> 
> Then zoom out to Europe and Asia....


You were going to post this yesterday, weren't you, but you got distracted, right?


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## Ryan (May 4, 2016)

Our very own Tracktwentynine wrote a series of articles for greatergreaterwashington that explains this topic in great detail. Worth the 15 minute read:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/3353/washingtons-rails-part-1-the-network/

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/3293/washingtons-rails-part-2-csxs-national-gateway-for-freight/

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/3369/washingtons-rails-part-3-marylands-wish-list/

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/3426/washingtons-rails-part-4-the-long-way-round/

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/3467/washingtons-rails-part-5-unbottlenecking-baltimore/


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## jis (May 4, 2016)

afigg said:


> For those who want to see the route taken by the CSX trains through and around the DC metro area, a map of all the rail lines in the USA is available at openrailwaymap.org. Move the map to DC and zoom in, the map even labels the subdivision lines. And even includes the DC Metro and H st streetcar lines. be careful going to the website, may get distracted and spend a lot of time zooming in and out, looking at the rail lines in many places in the US.
> 
> Then zoom out to Europe and Asia....


Just noticed that it is missing the proposed AAF track between Cocoa and OIA. Actually, looking at it further, it is remarkably incomplete and at places just downright strange in Florida. Oh well .... Looks like someone opened a Google terrain map and tried to guess with perhaps minimal knowledge of the on ground reality. For example, the heavily used FEC Main Line is completely missing south of Pompano Beach! The color coding between "Main Line" and "Railroad Line" appears to be somewhat arbitrary. On the plus side, the SunRail Phase 3 extension to OIA appears to be represented.

Same is tru about the map around Kolkata. There are some segments that are surprisingly upto date, and there are others that somehow got left out, and the color coding between Main Line and Railroad line is messed up, e.g. The primary link from west to Howrah station is shown not as a Main Line, but as a Railway Line between Shantragachhi and Howrah, while much lesser lines are shown as Main line.

Anyway it is fun and a good approximation.

Still it is a good first approximation.


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