by bellstbarn
When I railfan by rail instead of by automobile, I become concerned about available pit stops. Last week, I enjoyed touring the Baltimore Light Rail main line from Hunt Valley to Cromwell, and I deliberately noted the availability of photo stops, restaurants, and rest rooms for future need. This post is intended to help other transit fans who ride the rails.
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First of all, my senior day pass on the entire system (light rail, subway, bus) cost $1.20 from the ticket machine! Fantastic. No inspector asked to see it. Secondly, we stayed at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn, which has a heated indoor/outdoor pool. The motel seems to offer van service to the Light Rail, but Pepper Road station is less than a ten-minute walk across parking lots. The many restaurants and stores of Hunt Valley Towne Center are adjacent to the Hunt Valley Light Rail two-stub-end terminal, and also within an easy walk from that Marriott.
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From north to south: I was annoyed that as soon as we entered double track at Gilroy Road, we met three teen-age girls walking south on the northbound track; approaching Timonium, we came upon another trespasser. North of Timonium, there was a triple-track section, apparently for turnbacks. but the Timonium station had push-buttons on the south end of each platform, perhaps controlling crossovers ahead (or perhaps to ask a switch change from a dispatcher?). Lutherville has a Baltimore County police station and a small shopping center to the east. More crossovers appeared as we went under I-695. Then on the left side there were balloons decorating a tree. One dead trespasser? As other threads have explained here, we were not allowed to stop at several communities, including Ruxton Post Office. At Falls Road, I noticed another constant problem with Baltimore Light Rail: alighting passengers presume to cross in front of the train! Mount Washington appeared to be an attractive photo stop on the west, and Cold Spring Lane station is in a park setting. Woodbury also seemed to be a good photo stop. At North Avenue (two island platforms, triple track), the operator reached out his right-side to push a button.
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I had hoped to take photos on Howard Street, but the scene was shady in both meanings: no sunlight on the trains, and too many vagrants. What struck this New Yorker was that the depressed part of downtown wasn't deep; to east and west the businesses were in better shape. I arrived at University Center to find a crowd surging from the sidewalk to board the our three-car train by using the twelve doors, an excellent reason for the proof-of-payment system.
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At the Inner Harbor, I went in search of the nearest available rest room. I found it in the Light Street Pavilion, but James Rouse's 1980 development has a few empty stores and seemed somewhat seedy.
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On the Light Rail again, I noticed the brief stretch where CSX parallels the trams north of Patapsco. At Nursery Road station, there was a warning sign: Train may use either platform. Is there reverse running? A Checkers, a Sleep Inn, and Comfort Inn appeared near North Lithicum. Papa John and Subway were near Lithicum. North of Ferndale there seemed to be a few good photo spots for the morning.. The terminal at Cromwell (Glen Burnie) has across the street a McDonald's, KFC, and Wendy's. The station is just south of I-79. One track continues south, to what?
I have posted a dozen photos on Webshots:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/567775 ... ost=travel
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First of all, my senior day pass on the entire system (light rail, subway, bus) cost $1.20 from the ticket machine! Fantastic. No inspector asked to see it. Secondly, we stayed at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn, which has a heated indoor/outdoor pool. The motel seems to offer van service to the Light Rail, but Pepper Road station is less than a ten-minute walk across parking lots. The many restaurants and stores of Hunt Valley Towne Center are adjacent to the Hunt Valley Light Rail two-stub-end terminal, and also within an easy walk from that Marriott.
-----
From north to south: I was annoyed that as soon as we entered double track at Gilroy Road, we met three teen-age girls walking south on the northbound track; approaching Timonium, we came upon another trespasser. North of Timonium, there was a triple-track section, apparently for turnbacks. but the Timonium station had push-buttons on the south end of each platform, perhaps controlling crossovers ahead (or perhaps to ask a switch change from a dispatcher?). Lutherville has a Baltimore County police station and a small shopping center to the east. More crossovers appeared as we went under I-695. Then on the left side there were balloons decorating a tree. One dead trespasser? As other threads have explained here, we were not allowed to stop at several communities, including Ruxton Post Office. At Falls Road, I noticed another constant problem with Baltimore Light Rail: alighting passengers presume to cross in front of the train! Mount Washington appeared to be an attractive photo stop on the west, and Cold Spring Lane station is in a park setting. Woodbury also seemed to be a good photo stop. At North Avenue (two island platforms, triple track), the operator reached out his right-side to push a button.
-----
I had hoped to take photos on Howard Street, but the scene was shady in both meanings: no sunlight on the trains, and too many vagrants. What struck this New Yorker was that the depressed part of downtown wasn't deep; to east and west the businesses were in better shape. I arrived at University Center to find a crowd surging from the sidewalk to board the our three-car train by using the twelve doors, an excellent reason for the proof-of-payment system.
-----
At the Inner Harbor, I went in search of the nearest available rest room. I found it in the Light Street Pavilion, but James Rouse's 1980 development has a few empty stores and seemed somewhat seedy.
----
On the Light Rail again, I noticed the brief stretch where CSX parallels the trams north of Patapsco. At Nursery Road station, there was a warning sign: Train may use either platform. Is there reverse running? A Checkers, a Sleep Inn, and Comfort Inn appeared near North Lithicum. Papa John and Subway were near Lithicum. North of Ferndale there seemed to be a few good photo spots for the morning.. The terminal at Cromwell (Glen Burnie) has across the street a McDonald's, KFC, and Wendy's. The station is just south of I-79. One track continues south, to what?
I have posted a dozen photos on Webshots:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/567775 ... ost=travel
