Tag Archives: trains

The Daily Feed
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Come On Ride It (The Train)

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_2126’
courtesy of ‘cliff1066â�¢’

Love trains?  Love Union Station?  Love actor Taye Diggs?  Head down to Union Station on May 8 between 11 and 4 for National Train Day, Amtrak’s annual celebration of trains and rail travel.  There will be exhibits and performances to see, you can check out various trains and model trains while you’re there, and National Train Day spokesman Taye Diggs will be on hand.  Want to take a tour of the trains?  Reserve a free ticket ahead of time.  No word on whether Taye will be leading tours himself, but if he is… sign me up!

News, The Daily Feed
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VA gets $75M, MD $70M for Railway Improvements

Photo courtesy of
‘Tomix EF66 41 Hauling Hayabusa’
courtesy of ‘foolish adler’

Both Virginia and Maryland will received funds from the federal government’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to improve local railway infrastructure and services.

Virginia’s $75 million dollars in funding will build an additional 11 mile track to the current railway service between Woodbridge and Quantico.  The new track will allow freight and passenger trains to simultaneously navigate this bottle-necked section and will allow trains to reach speeds up to 100mph. Improving this stretch is only part of a proposed $1.8 billion dollar project to create a Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.

According to WTOP, the $70million awarded to Maryland will rebuild a highly-traversed Baltimore tunnel and will speed both commuter and freight  traffic.

Life in the Capital, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District, WMATA
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Celebrate National Train Day at Union Station

Photo courtesy of
‘Locomotive’
courtesy of ‘wfyurasko’

Calling all trainiacs!  This Saturday is National Train Day, and lucky you– DC is home to one of the biggest events to celebrate it!  From 10 AM to 3 PM, head over to Union Station to meet American Idol’s Randy Jackson (not sure how he’s related to trains, but that’s cool), listen to some live music, or check out some train equipment, including the train car that President Obama rode in to the inauguration.  There will also be exhibits all day that explore how trains are related to economic development, the green aspects of rail travel, and photos showing the connection between the national landscape and trains.  Think Joe Biden will stop by?

The Daily Feed
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MARC Commuter Alert: Major Delays on Penn Line

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Via WaPo’s Get There blog, an alert for MARC Penn Line Riders: major electrical system damage near Landover has left only one of three tracks open for inbound and outbound commuter trains, so MARC’s going to be a mess.

MTA MD’s official MARC alert page says Metro will honor MARC tickets to New Carrollton to get past the rail bottleneck.

Baltimore-bound riders may also want to consider the Camden Line tonight, or, as a last resort, the Green Line to Greenbelt, then B30 Bus to BWI, and Light Rail from there.

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Special Events
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Extended Weekend: What to Do?

Photo courtesy of F1RSTBORN
Jive Turkey, courtesy of F1RSTBORN

In town for the holidays and not a cook? Looking for some dining options other than wrestling with a big ol’ Butterball and your mom yammering in your ear? Hosting relatives and looking for things to get them out of the house? Or are you an international visitor and don’t celebrate with us Yanks?

We’ve got you covered.

Behold, a quick-and-dirty WeLoveDC look at dining and fun options for the upcoming four-day weekend.

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Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: Tysons and Trains

Photo courtesy of juan.barredo
DSC_9921, courtesy of juan.barredo

Two items of interest today for commuters on both sides of the Potomac: Tysons Corner and MARC.

Tysons Corner. It’s a name that sends shivers up most North Virginian commuters’ spines. Notorious for traffic flow “issues” and the spawning of language more suitable for “R” rated movies, the Tysons area is one big, over-bloated, dysfunctional urban mess.

So can it be fixed? Is it really possible to make Tysons a more commuter- and pedestrian-friendly place to be?

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