Mile 30 features both a modern and stone marker. That's the overpass of Greenbelt Road, MD 193, ahead. The siding in the foreground leads to a Washington Post printing facility behind us, in fact the track goes right into the building.

The former MARC Berwyn station has been reduced to just a walkway thanks to the addition of a DC Metro stop (Green Line) not far away.

In the distance, an approaching Metro train, headlights shining brightly, has just passed under Greenbelt Road.

Link to older picture: 1932

Both the Washington Branch and the Metro Green Line cross over the Paint Branch stream here. The water level is but 10 feet beneath the track level, which says to me the stream rarely has high floods.

The original parts of the stone bridge supports are of differing heights, indication that in the past a different bridge graced this location. According to Harwood, originally the span was wooden, but perhaps as early as 1839 an iron bridge was employed. If so, it would have been the first iron bridge in the country.

Link to older picture: US 1 near here ~1900

Riverdale makes for a surprisingly pleasant and scenic stop on any tour of area railroads. This view looks south toward Queensbury Road, the last remaining grade crossing encountered on the way to Washington. That may partially explain why a higher than normal number of drivers at this crossing make the mistake of turning onto the tracks and getting their car damaged or stuck.

Riverdale's MARC station has recently been rebuilt on the site of the B&O's original station. Inside are volunteer maintained small displays of railroad history. The short row of shops seen behind give the area a quaint, small town feel. On the right, the overpass is that of East-West Highway, Route 410.

Reader David Hiles shared some history:

"According to town legend, the Calvert family allowed the railroad to run through their plantation in Riverdale under the condition that the railroad will always offer passenger service somewhere on the original grounds. If passenger service was discontinued to Riverdale, then the railroad would forfeit the right of way back to the Calverts. Maybe that is why we still have the closest MARC station to DC."

Link: Riverdale Railfans Yahoo Group

At Riverdale, the B&O and the Washington-Laurel trolley were separated by the width of the building seen here, at which trolley tickets were sold. The railroad is on the left, while the trolley line survives only in the form of the series of utility poles stretching into the distance on the right. The trolley operated until the 1950s.

The area's oldest surviving motive unit in revenue service at the time of this photo leads a commuter train toward Washington on a spring afternoon. MARC 7100 is a twice refurbished ex-B&O 239A EMD model F7-A originally built in 1951, and assigned B&O number 293A (later 4553). It's not really a locomotive... instead here it is a control cab that leads when another unit is pushing the train from behind. MARC 7100 was retired in 2010 and now resides at the B&O Railroad Museum.

Link: history of this unit, with pics from B&O days

The character of the neighborhood declines as you proceed south of Riverdale.

My maps indicated a mile marker might be near the deserted end of Kennedy Street, and I was determined to check for one, despite the street being littered with abandoned, stripped cars. As I drove in from US 1 to trackside, I passed a group of people who were in the process of disassembling vehicles.

The marker was exactly where I had expected, though buried in brush, so I quickly snapped a few photos before making a hasty exit. This is not a safe place to visit.

Reader Marty Hager sent some feedback:

"Your virtual tour of the Washington Branch of the B&O is a wonderful resource and I have enjoyed it tremendously since I first discovered the site... I take exception with one of your observations however. The site at the end of Kennedy Street in Hyattsville you described as not safe. This could not be further from the truth, at least in the day time. I have visited this site many times by myself and with my kids and we have never felt the least bit threatened. I teach at a school in the area and my oldest son is a student there. He sometimes goes to the tracks on the way home (he is also a big railfan) and I have no problem with letting him go by himself or with friends."

The view south from Kennedy Street shows the bridge that carries Alternate US 1 (Baltimore Avenue) over the tracks at Hyattsville. JD Tower once stood off-photo on the left, but was removed in 1994.

Reader Russ Forte shared some memories:

"When I was a kid, my dad took me to get my hair cut at a barber school located in a building near the tracks. We used to walk down to the tracks to look for trains. One day, the guys in the tower invited us up to see the insides. I was a very impressed 12 year-old. They had a board on the wall (CTC?) and about 50 levers that controlled the turnouts and signals. We didn’t see any trains, but they showed us how they changed the turnout settings by moving the lever."

Links to older pictures: tower in 1991, JD Tower history site

Prior to the bridge there was, of course, a grade crossing for both Baltimore Avenue and Decatur Street. On the far right are the trolley tracks, and on the left is the B&O's Hyattsville Station.

Magnification and contrast enhancement of the prior photo bring out details such as the mail crane at the distant end of the westbound passenger platform. Via a mail crane, a train could pick up mail "on-the-fly" without stopping.

On the right note the trolley car and what may be either passengers or workers. At the time of the photo the trolley's right of way had not yet been repurposed into Rhode Island Avenue.

Links: mail crane info and video, in action in WV 1966

Highly recommended video (youtube): 82 Trolley line (1950s)

This 1884 version was the B&O's largest station between Baltimore and Washington. The area is named for Christopher Hyatt who in 1865 established a store in this vicinity.

Link: Maryland Historical Trust (PDF)

The wye here at Hyattsville allows the Alexandia Branch to split from the Washington Branch and take a more easterly route around downtown Washington, DC. The Alexandria Branch tracks are not seen in this photo, but are off to the right.

This view from within the wye looks northeast back toward the Alt US 1 overpass, as well as the concrete slab on the right where Hyattsville Station had been. The station survived into the 1950s and a B&O freight house into the 1980s.

Link: station in 1907

This photo looks the opposite direction to the previous. Here you can see the so-called west leg of the wye (it's on the southeast side of the wye) splitting off to the Alexandria Branch, which is now on the left.

Immediately behind the pine trees on the right is US 1. About a mile in the distance is the overpass of 38th Avenue.

Link to older picture: 1940

And this view looks along the wye's west leg toward the start of the Alexandria Branch. On the left is the Alt US 1 bridge again, and the concrete slab even further left is the former location of Hyattsville Station.

An obviated milepost-style sign had alerted trains of their approach to JD Tower.

Red signals at Hyattsville have stopped this eastbound train on a spring afternoon. Closest to the camera are defect detectors, then the bridge over Charles Armentrout Drive (newest bridge in the area). Next, where CSX 690 has paused is the railroad bridge over the Anacostia River's Northwest Branch. About a mile in the distance is 38th Avenue, and even further Eastern Avenue.

Links: sound recordings (WAV files) of defect detector 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

This is what happens when you violate the "keep the sun at your back" rule of photography. With better lighting, this is a nice spot for an overhead view of trains.

Fortunately, there's nothing of railroading significance to try to see through the glare in this view from 38th Avenue. About a half mile ahead, the tracks leave Maryland and cross with little fanfare into Washington, DC near mile marker 35 and the Eastern Ave bridge glimpsed in the distance.

Eastern Avenue (background) designates the boundary between Maryland and Washington, DC. It's also near mile 35; a beaten-up stone milepost hides in the brush on the left.

I searched for the DC line marker seen in the historic photo below, but have not found any remains. From a distance, the concrete platform at center had promise, but turned out to be a drainage ditch. The DC line marker may instead have been on the Metropolitan Branch in Silver Spring. Anyone know?

Link to older picture: entering DC?