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[NOTE #1]

*K4* (Northern) CHILLUM to METRO CENTER
7days a week.
CHILLUM terminal was the liquor store on Eastern Ave, between Chillum Rd & N.H. Ave
(concrete pad still in front of store)
Chillum Rd
New Hampshire Ave/North Capital St/New Hampshire Av
Sherman Av/Vermont Av
(I Don't remember if followed 9th or 11th southbound to downtown & over to Metro Center)

NOTE #1
When Ft Totten opened in 1978, the K4 northernmost terminal was changed to Ft Totten
NOTE #2
Operator Street reliefs were at New Hampshire Ave & Georgia Ave.

*K6* (Northern, currently Montgomery) WHITE OAK to METRO CENTER
7days a week
Sears Department Store
New Hampshire
Northhampton Dr/Southhampton Dr
New Hampshire Ave/North Capital St/New Hampshire Av
Sherman Av/Vermont Av
(I Don't remember if followed 9th or 11th southbound to downtown & over to Metro Center)

NOTE #1
Selected K6 trips in Rush Hours only operated as far as Langley Park (New Hampshire Ave/Quebec St/Merrimac St) before going back downtown.
NOTE #2
When Ft Totten opened in 1978, the southernmost terminal for the K6 was Ft Totten.
NOTE #3
Operator Street reliefs were at New Hampshire Ave & Georgia Ave.








 

Actually, the K6 continued to Metro Center during non-rail hours after Fort Totten Station opened.  The first Saturday K6 and the first few Sunday K6's would go from White Oak to Metro Center and the last few late night K6 trips would travel between Chillum and Metro Center.  When rail hours were extended in the early '90's the late night K4's would run trips from Chillum to Metro Center.

Also, the buses would travel inbound on 9th St. and outbound on 11th St.

There was the T11 that ran from Belair to Stadium Armory I think, prior to Addison Road opening up.  It followed Central Ave. all the way in same as what is now the C20whatevers.

There was the F9 that ran from Lewisdale to Downtown DC that my parents used to take when they lived on Ager Road.

My routes when I was growing up was confined to the Riggs Road/University Blvd. corridor, but I remember bits and pieces when we would cross an intersecting route.

I remember the K6 running to Metro Center at night when Metrorail ran limited service.

The T11 actually went to the Seat Pleasant bus terminal at 63rd & Dix(which is still there, by the way).  It also later terminated at Capital Heights Station not Addison Road as many (not necessarily you) popularly believe although it did go to the Addison Road Station.  The 40 traveled between Union Station and Seat Pleasant terminal.

Did they operate or not?
The following are a list of routes, I vagely remember, or not? At the time, I was between 13 & 15 years old w/ a new Step-Dad. So not 100% sure.

*A* Series
ARCHIVES to SOUTHEAST DC
I remember riding these buses along 395, and they would drop off of 395, at the Marine Barracks, before continuing to ARCHIVES

*B7 or C7*
FAIRLAND to (UNKNOWN)
This route operated to the C&P Telephone complex on US 29. I think 1trip a day.

*F5*
PG Plaza to

Fort Totten--Remembered

This route operated from PG Plaza Park N Ride (By the Grand Union) out EW Hgwy, Riggs Rd/Sgt Rd. Operated in Rush Hours ONLY

*K9*
TAMARACK to FT TOTTEN
Operated from Randolph Rd & Tamarack Dr/New Hampshire Ave
(Bypassing Northwest Park Apts) to FT TOTTEN. (Rush Hours only)

*S* Series
SUMMIT HILLS to Downtown
Was there a 16th street bus that operated to/from Summit Hills apts?

*T1* FRIENDSHIP HGTS to CONGRESSIONAL COUNTRY CLUB

--Remembered

(Western?) Operated along Bradley Blvd?

*T2* FRIENDSHIP HGTS to ROCKVILLE (N Washington St & Bealle Ave)
(Western?) I don't ever remember seeing this bus operate to/from Riggs Park/Ivy City/Dupont Circle. But I did see it behind the CROWN Gas at this location in Rockville.

*T8* FRIENDSHIP HGTS to MONTGOMERY MALL
(Western?) I only heard a rumor of its running.

*W4* CAPITAL PLAZA to BOLLING A.F.B.
(Bladensburg) Once on Bolling AFB, you had to have a US Military ID card to proceed onto base. (in 1978, my 1st duty station was Anacostia Naval Station, but we were housed at Bolling Field, so I rode this bus on occasion)

*86* COLLEGE PARK to

RI Ave/Metro Center--Remembered

(Bladensburg) This bus from Darthmoth Ave (College Park) towards Mt Rainer, operates pretty much the same way as it did in the late 60's & early 70's, including passing that PGPlaza Big Boy

*88* MT RAINER to PG HOSPITAL
I only heard a rumor of this bus operating. Did it or not?


OWL SERVICE
In the mid 70's METROBUS operated an ALL-NIGHT service, called OWL SERVICE on very few & selected routes. I know the following routes DID have OWL SERVICE
*30* FRIENDSHIP HGTS
*40* MT Pleasant (Unsure of OWL service on this line)
*50* NAVY YARD (many a night at 3am, I waited to 14th & K at
               McDonalds after 2:AM for the bus to the NAVY YARD)
*70* SILVER SPRING
*90* Florida Ave/U Street/Navy Yard?

--No Question! All night service until the late '90's

*9* FT BELVIOR

*X2,5* Lafayette Square/Seat Pleasant
*A* Archives/Livingston

Now that I posted some history about how the buses operated in the 70's & up to present day, in Montgomery & parts of PG County, does anyone else have personal recollections of the routes in VA, Southern PG, DC? Lets post them & answer the missing links.

Tame stuff you all have. 

I was once at the 94 stop on 8th & L SE (Navy Yard) at about 3:50 AM it was the last/first bus (the last 94 from Ellington Bridge ended there and dropped everyone off then went back to the garage and the first one left the garage and picked everyone up going to Stanton Road).  Some guy apparently out of his mind was talking about killing a lot of people.  Then the bus came to go to Stanton Road and the guy walks on and passes the fare machine.  The driver tells him to pay the fare and the man shouts "Do you Know who I am?  Do you know who I am?"  He then unzips his pants and urinates on the driver.  The driver leaves the bus and another bus driver comes a drives the bus.  This happened back in June 1991.

And while someone mentioned this one of the first times I rode one of the 30's the bus was in front of the White House and I saw that one man was performing oral sex on another man.  That was the weirdest thing until the above event happened.

I know this an old topic but what ever became of this project.

I do not have any favourite current bus routes but past bus routes would include:

13M
FFC 404 (midday Roslyn-GMU)
W12
D12 from 11th & E to Marlow Heights

While i like the T11 it is not a favourite route largely because Central Ave has changed significantly.

89, 89M
80, S80
30, B30
31, Y31

What in the world are you talking about?
The 89M stands for the Muirkirk branch. It is kinda outside of the numbering system.

Actually the "M" stands for midday.  This route was created before the days of the 13M and 14M.  WMATA had run out of 80 route numbers and created the 89M to distinguish from the rush hour 89.

I don't know, it may be more practical to run some that don't stop at every station.  There may be more people headed to Silver Spring from Union Station than to say, Takoma. 

The buses should serve every station just not run on every station roadway.  There is no reason I see that a bus needs to go into a station when there is no point of transfer. 

I would have the bus run from Metro Center to Silver Spring and skip Judiciary Square and Union Station and passing one block from Gallery Place.

Some of those streets you chose are residential.  I don't think buses should be going down residential streets at 3 AM.

Bus stops at the stations are easy to recognize, easy to locate, and are able to be well lit.  The same cannot be said for "nearby locations".

Most of the residential streets listed are arterial streets and some at one time had buses traveling on them up to 3:00am. 

6th street NE is residential but arterial
The streets mentioned in Eckington have residences but are also close to an industrial area and rail yard
12th street NE is mostly commercial with some residences on it
13th street-Sargent Road NE is residential but arterial
3rd street NW could be changed to the arterial North Capitol street-Blair road but both are residential
The streets between Takoma and Silver Spring are mostly through Mont. College and a business district

Union Station to Silver Spring?  Express?  I would just take North Cap. to Missouri to Georgia Ave.  Shouldn't take too long to do something like that in the overnight hours.

But you skipped all the stations!  I'd probably do this:

From "inner" Columbus Circle bus stop (Union Station)
Continue Columbus Circle
Continue Mass Ave WB
R North Capitol Street...[Cut to prevent a long Quote(see above)]...SILVER SPRING METRO


The reverse would be nearly identical.

10th Street, NE is a more direct way from Rhode Island Ave to Brookland, but I doubt the people living there would want buses going down their street during the overnight hours.  Additionally, I'm not so sure that the Takoma to Silver Spring routing fully avoids residential streets.  Another option there would be for buses to double back to Blair Road, and take Blair to Eastern to Georgia.

This is a better alternative:

From "inner" Columbus Circle bus stop (Union Station)
Continue Columbus Circle
Continue Mass Ave NE WB
R North Capitol Street
R H Street NE
L 6th Street NE
L Florida Avenue NE
NEW YORK AVENUE STATION
Continue Florida Avenue NE
R Eckington St NE
R R St NE
L 3rd St NE
R T St NE
L 4th St NE
R Rhode Island Avenue NE
RHODE ISLAND AVENUE STATION
Continue Rhode Island Avenue NE
L 12th St NE
L Monroe St NE
R 9th Street NE(Brookland-CUA Station RDWY)
BROOKLAND-CUA STATION
R Bunker Hill Road NE
R Michigan Avenue NE
L 13th St-Sargent Road NE
L South Dakota Avenue NE
L Galloway Street NE
FORT TOTTEN STATION
Continue to 1st Pl NE
L Riggs Road NE-Missouri Ave NW
R 3rd St NW
L Blair Rd NW
L Butternut St NW
R 4th St NW
R Cedar Street NW
L Station Roadway
TAKOMA STATION
Continue Station Roadway
L Eastern Avenue NW
Continue Takoma Avenue
L Fenton Street
L Wayne Avenue
SILVER SPRING METRO

This way would be more direct.  12th Street between RI Ave Sta. and Brookland is a better alternative to 10th St.  The Takoma to Silver Spring routing goes mostly through Montgomery College and few residential streets. 

The bus would not have to go in to RI Ave Sta. or any other station because there are or could be stops near the station entrances and there would be no need to transfer to any bus or rail.  The stations that have their roadways served are for buses to continue on their way to the next station.

edited for spelling and to add two streets I missed

Does anyone remember the 13M that ran from Rosslyn to Pentagon at a time when for some reason the 38B was reduced to operating peaks only?  At that point, the 1B and 1C were extended to Rosslyn as well.  This was in the mid 90's.  The 13M route was crazy because it went from Rosslyn through Georgetown into DC then over to Pentagon and back.

Actually it was the late 90's and I used to ride the 13M every day to Rosslyn on my way to Tyson's Corner and then catch the 404 or one of the 3's.  I still have dreams about missing the 13M and not being able to get to wherever I'm going in the dream. 

The crazy routing of the 13M was the result of a comprimise due to the DC Government's inability to pay for it's WMATA fee.  In 1995 the District of Columbia was about to be in default of its payment to Metro.  Metro threatened to suspend all bus service in DC unless payment was made on time.  The threat was serious but probably not going to happen.  As a result of this many routes were cut back, eliminated or combined (the biggest changes that affected me were the combination of the 60 with K4/New Hampshire Avenue Line and the P1,2,7/Manor Park Line, the elimination of some of the late night A46, A48, 91 and 93 late trips [these buses had run all night long] and the 37 which has come back with changes but there were many others).  The 38B was one of those routes.  DC got in to a disagreement with Arlington County about who would pay for the 38B.  Arlington did not want to pay for the route at all as it duplicated the subway service and it was mostly patronized by DC residents.  A compromise was reached so that Arlington would pay only for service in Arlington and DC would pay for service in the District.  Thus the 13M was born running only in DC except for two stops in VA at the ends of the line. 

The 29X was at one time and may still be the longest WMATA bus route at over 30 miles.  This is due to its trip from the Pentagon down I-395 to going on the Beltway and circling around Annandale.  I do not know if it is currently the longest route.

I meant the Eisenhower 14A.  I rode the 14A and B to and from Tysons.

Did you ever ride the 14C, D or M to or from Lakeforest?

Has anyone ridden the 11H, P or Y?  How about the H17 or the K17?  Anyone ride the A13 via Englewood?

For some of us it might be what WMATA routes you haven't ridden.

I know off hand I never rode any of the old 5 routes except for the 5S.  I also haven't ridden the routes, A13, J15, D14 the old As from Southeast, the old Ps, the old F6, X1,3, old B4,5, old 14A, the other 17 routes other than the A and G, the other 18 routes other than the A,B, the 6, the 8 and none of the rush hour Z routes past and present.  I am pretty sure there is more, but can't  think of them off the top of my head.

I rode the last 5S from the Ballston the last day the 5S ran.  I have ridden most the buses you haven't ridden except I don't know to which 14A are you referring.  The 14A that went from Eisenhower Ave Station to the Alexandria rail yard or the 14 line from Maryland to Tyson's Corner.  I have ridden all the 14 routes from Maryland to Tyson's Corner but not the 14A from Eisenhower Ave to the Alex. Rail Yard.

It's easier to say which buses I haven't ridden which are the NH1, N11, N13, W19, 19L, 21's, 26G 26H and I cannot remember anymore at this time. 

I remember the T11.  When we had family in Kettering back in the 70's, we'd take that to one of the Metro Stations, it wasn't Addison Road I don't think, it must have been Potomac Park or something else closer to DC, it was such a long time ago.  Flying down Central Ave. in an AM General!

The T11 went to Union Station in the late '70's and perhaps the early '80's during non rail hours in place of the 40 which ran during rail hours.  Before the metrorail it went to SW Mall (L'enfant Plaza).  Before its demise in the early '90's it went to Capital Heights Station via Addison Road.

Actually, the F2 did go to Takoma, then Cheverly you might have meant the F8.  The F8 ran from P.G. Hospital to Langley Park, without going to Cheverly Station (don't know why).  Then when the Green line opened, the F8 was extended the Cheverly, the F2 departed from Cheverly, via Tuxedo Road, going through the back of PG Hospital Center, continuing their route to Takoma.  The F8 took over the portion the F2 route from Cheverly to PG Hospital.  The interesting thing about the F2/F8 was that the F8 used mostly 30 footers back in the day and the F2 mostly 40 footers.  Today the F2 uses 30 footers alot and the F8 uses 40 footers.

You're right.  I must have had a brain slowdown.  It was the F8.