It has been awhile since we've done trivia here, and I thought up of (what is hopefully a fun) a set of questions pertaining to "odd" Metrorail routings, since some previously unusual routings are about to become regular.
For each origin/destination pair below, identify whether the service ever ran regularly (or runs regularly) or not, and for those that have/currently run, identify when they ran. For the purposes of this, a service is "regular" if a map was printed showing the routing in question (July 4th maps count, text in the map legend not reflected by in service lines on the map below do NOT count), the routing was explained in a map "bubble" on the side or if the routing appeared on a public timetable. In other words, odd routings that might have come up for the purposes of trackwork (Huntington to Stadium-Armory) are NOT regular for the purposes of this post.
Ready? Here we go...
1. Farragut North-Rhode Island Avenue
2. Greenbelt-Farragut North
3. Ballston to Addison Road
4. New Carrollton to National Airport
5. Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt
6. Huntington to Rosslyn
7. Vienna to Largo
8. Shady Grove to Stadium-Armory
9. Greenbelt to Grosvenor
10. Huntington to U Street
11. National Airport to Rosslyn
12. Huntington to Franconia-Springfield
Have fun and good luck, answers to be posted after noon ET Thursday.
Farragut North to Rhode Island Ave: Yes, March 1976-January 1977.
Greenbelt to Farragut North: Yes, 1997-1999 (Green Line Shortcut).
Ballston to Addison Road: Yes, ca.1981-1983 during the "Round Robin" phase.
New Carrollton to National Airport: Yes, 1978-79 before the Rosslyn-Ballstson segment opened and again during the "Round Robin" era.
Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt: Did not run regularly but was the original intended Yellow Line route before the southern terminal swap with the Blue Line.
Huntington to Rosslyn: Yes, on July 4ths until 2009.
Vienna to Largo: No.
Shady Grove to Stadium Armory: No.
Greenbelt to Grosvenor: No.
Huntington to U Street: Yes, Yellow Line for most of 1991 prior to the L'Enfant-Anacostia segment opening and the Green Line being introduced.
National Airport to Rosslyn: I'll take a stab, July 4ths in the 1980s?
Huntington to Franconia-Springfield: No
Was this too hard or people just weren't interested? Anyway, here are the answers:
1. Farragut North-Rhode Island Avenue: This was the first segment of the system opened, operating from March 27, 1976 through January 16, 1977, at which time Dupont Circle opened
2. Greenbelt-Farragut North: This was the Green Line Commuter Shortcut that operated from January 27, 1997 until September 17, 1999, rush hours only (and also on July 4, 1999)
3. Ballston to Addison Road: I don't have exact dates for when this ran, but this was operated during the "round robin" Blue/Orange service that operated from 1982 until the Yellow Line Bridge opened in 1983.
4. New Carrollton to National Airport: This one ran twice, but it was only shown on the maps per the criteria I laid out once, also durng the "round robin" described above. The other time it ran but was not signed on the maps was from November 20, 1978 until December 11, 1979.
5. Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt: This was shown on early maps as the Yellow Line, but no regularly scheduled service has ever operated on this route. That changes on Monday.
6. Huntington to Rosslyn: This operated on each July 4th from 2000 through 2008. The first two years, it was designated as the Yellow Line, it was then designated as the Blue Line starting in 2002. Trains terminated on the upper level and relayed on the platform, with the operators falling back an interval to ensure a quick turnaround.
7. Vienna to Largo: This is another July 4th routing, operating each July 4th from 2005 through 2008 (Largo opened in December 2004). It will operate during rush hours starting on Monday.
8. Shady Grove to Stadium-Armory: This hasn't run, and needless to say, it would be a bit difficult with some significant wrong railing in this direction. However, a train could get from Stadium-Armory to Shady Grove without wrong railing or fouling up traffic if it wanted to/needed to.
9. Greenbelt to Grosvenor: This actually did run and was depicted on a single map. On July 4, 1999, the Green Line Shortcut ran all day to Farragut North, but after the fireworks, it was extended up to Grosvenor. The Green Line on the map only went as far as Farragut North, the extension was marked by a bubble.
10. Huntington to U Street: It is true that the Yellow Line ran from Huntington to U Street from May 11, 1991 until December 28, 1991, but on the map, the Yellow Line was shown as terminating at Mount Vernon Square and the Green Line was shown as operating between U Street and L'Enfant Plaza, even though there were no Green Line trains. The correct answer per the criteria I outlined is that the last few Yellow Line trains each night from the time U Street opened until the inner city Green Line opened on September 18, 1999 were extended from Mount Vernon Square up to U Street, and this was only indicated in the public timetables.
11. National Airport to Rosslyn: Another July 4 routing. In 1999, the only year that special July 4th service operated prior to the opening of the inner city Green Line, the Blue and Inner Green Lines terminated at U Street, and the Yellow Line terminated at Mount Vernon Square. But what did that leave serving the section of track between Pentagon and Rosslyn? A shuttle train, that operated from the center track at National Airport to the upper level of Rosslyn. It was marked as a black line on the map, I didn't ride the Metro that July 4th so I'm not sure how this train was signed or announced in practice, but the route did run and was depicted on a map for a single day.
12. Huntington to Franconia-Springfield: You could run trains between these two stations without any wrong railing or reverse moves due to the wye at C&J Junction, but in practice, this has never occurred.
For #11, I'm guessing that regardless of the destination codes actually set, this train was probably signed "SPECIAL" via the override switch with no color sign in the bulkhead door.