I was there for the first time since I was a preteen this year. Something occured to me I couldn't explain.
We have all seen pictures of the 1953 wreck in which a runaway GG-1 and its cars crashed through the bumper post and into the concourse room. The floor gave way and the engine and some cars fell through to the basement below.
That room appears to be much as it was then. However the track level is roughly 20 feet lower. Today a runaway would crash directly into the basement. Was the track lowered at some point in the past? What was the motivation for doing that? Alternatively, is there a bilevel track arrangement I failed to notice?
Yes, there is a bi-level or dual level track arrangement at DC Union Station. Tracks 7 to 20 are the upper level tracks on the western side that terminate at the station. Tracks 22 to 29 are on the lower level to the east and lead to the First Avenue Tunnel for trains heading to the Long Bridge and Virginia on the RF&P line. This split level track arrangement has been there since Union Station was built. There have been some changes such as tracks 1 to 6 which were removed to provide space for the DC Metro Red Line. Not sure what happened to track 21 but I gather it is has been gone for a long time.
The 1953 wreck came in on track 16 on the upper level and ended up into what is now the food court area.
dakguy201 just so you will know. the long range plan for union station that you can find on the AMTRAK web site will have lower level tracks under the present tracks 7 - 20 that will be for HSR. did not see an elevation diagram that shows how that will compare with te present arrangement . tracks 22 - 29 start at almost the same elevation of the other tracks but descend to the elevation at the passenger entrance gates.
When I was in Washington in 1974, I could still see a difference between the color of the tiles that replaced the original tiles and that of the tiles that had not been broken when the locomotive went through the floor into the baggage room.
A remark in the article in Trains about the locomotive's going into the baggage room still tickles me--it was to the effect that it took so long to get the locomotive up and out of the baggage room because the baggage check ticket was lost.
Even though I use the lounge when waiting for a train there now, I still miss the long benches that were in the old waiting room.
Johnny
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