Passenger Trains > Last set: Riding the Capitol

We rode the Capitol Ltd. home from Washington; here is the last set of photos.

1. Looking out the upper level windows on the concourse at Washington, at train 195 which we just detrained from.

2. Leaving Washington, a couple switchers.

3. Westbound on the B&O there is a lot of great scenery; unfortunately this time of year you miss a lot after dark. My camera was really working to pull out the shots that I did get.

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4. EB Coal.

5&6. There are also several cool tunnels; again, low light not doing any favors.

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7&8. More tunnels.

9. We overtook this WB with a CN leader.

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10. Next morning across Indiana I was surprised at how many of the old NYC signals were still in service. They're being replaced though so won't be around forever. I was hoping for cloudy weather here but was disappointed.

11. East of Elkhart the DS held us for 2 EBs; here is the 2nd one.

12. The old home signal at CP421 still stands in front of the Elkhart Station.

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13. A little bit west we see the new home signal and work going on to renovate CP421.

14. CP509 and the Chicago Skyway.

15. Metra commuters on the north side of Chicago Union Station, and a just arrived Milwaukee train over on the left.

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16-18. We rode #3 to Princeton as the final leg of our trip. The old searchlights at East and West Eola and the mp34 intermediates were the last to go, and they are indeed gone.

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2 more: Meeting a late inbound #4 west of Plano.

Thanks for looking!

Andy

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Very nice set of photos.
John

Great series, I love the notches in the tunnels. Were those for double-stacks or auto racks?

Nathan

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> Great series, I love the notches in the tunnels.
> Were those for double-stacks or auto racks?
>

Clearly, Chessie's ears did not fit in the old tunnels.

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Again Andy, Thank you for sharing !!! :):):)

atsf121 Wrote:
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> Great series, I love the notches in the tunnels.
> Were those for double-stacks or auto racks?

I seem to recall a big clearance project several years ago to allow stacks to the east coast, but I have no firm information.

Thanks all for the kind remarks!

Andy

Hiawatha101 Wrote:
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> Clearly, Chessie's ears did not fit in the old
> tunnels.

Cute! I never thought it before but they sure do look like a cat silhouette.

Andy

Interesting how all three of those tunnels on the Magnolia Cutoff were notched with "cat's ears" just enough to clear the double stacks, but not by more than necessary.

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> Interesting how all three of those tunnels on the
> Magnolia Cutoff were notched with "cat's ears"
> just enough to clear the double stacks, but not by
> more than necessary.

Normally, the easiest way to improve tunnel clearances is to lower the track. However, due to the Potomac River
bridges on the Magnolia Cutoff, this was not possible without creating a roller coaster track profile. So the solution
was to notch the tunnels as shown, which reminded me of Chessie the cat.

Gordon Bjoraker
Hiawatha101

chakk Wrote:
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> Interesting how all three of those tunnels on the Magnolia Cutoff were notched with "cat's ears"
> just enough to clear the double stacks, but not by more than necessary.

No need to spend more $$$ than needed, and shows a good respect for the bottom line>

Great report and Amtrak gave you reasonably clean glass to look out of.
Although standing in an open vestibule window is my favorite way to ride, looking out the back is almost as good.

Really nice photos and travelogue. Thanks for taking and sharing the photos.