Eastern Railroad Discussion > Amtrak Capital Beltway Station Location

I was recently scanning some old slides of my brother's and I came across one that, being a westerner, has me stumped as to the location.

He labeled this shot of an Amtrak train as being taken at "Capital Beltway Station, Maryland."

I have been unable to locate any information on this station, but I suspect (with my very limited knowledge of the Maryland area) that this may be the station now known as BWI station near Baltimore's BWI airport. In what city is this station located?

Thanks in advance,

Carl

According to my recollection of Amtrak timetables from a few decades ago, the station then identified as Beltway was in Lanham, MD -- right near the beltway. It was replaced by the current New Carrollton, MD station.

The Capital Beltway station was located just under half a mile north of the current "New Carrollton" station.

The automatic signal near the southend of the platform at Capital Beltway was numbered 1266 (126.6 miles from Philadelphia). The milepost at the northend of the platform at New Carrollton reads "127".

Capital Beltway was opened about the same time the high speed Metroliners started to run. The station was a small green prefab building. A tunnel connected the platforms to the station building. There was no elevator or escalators, just a long stairway up to the platforms.

The station closed in the fall of 1983 when the new station at New Carrollton opened.

Patch is correct. The station was just inside the Beltway, a little north of the New Carrollton Station. I believe the pre fab station actually still exists (or something close to it) but is used by METRO or somebody else as a type of storage shed. Watched many a train there as a kid but no photos...

Al Moran,
The SD80MACKing

Thanks for the answers! Curiously, I was shooting at the New Carrollton station just about a week ago, and when I got back and was scanning some old slides I found the attached image taken at the Capital Beltway Station, and didn't realize that is was so close to where I had been.

My brother, Douglas G. Walker, shot this photo of Penn Central GG-1 4898 leading Amtrak train #441, the Washington section of "The Broadway Limited," through the Capitol Beltway Station in Maryland on July 5, 1976. (The same day, I was shooting California Western's Bicentennial Baldwin diesel at Fort Bragg in northern California.)

Carl

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And here is a shot of the New Carrollton station taken on August 26th on my recent trip to Maryland...

Carl

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