Here are the answers to whichWMATA week 22

On Monday, we posted our twenty-second photo challenge to see how well you know Metro. Reader Peter K took photos of five Metro stations. Here are the answers. How well did you do?

We got 31 guesses this week. 10 of you got all five correct. Great work, Alex B, Merarch, Patrick, Mr. Johnson, TheOtherGlenmont, Kwasi, Sand Box John, Aaron, JS2008, and Rob K!

Since Peter K took all the photos this week, the answer paragraphs below are all in his words.

Across all 91 stations, WMATA operates 613 escalators to keep passengers moving efficiently through the system. That’s really quite an impressive number considering there are only 35,000 escalators in the US, meaning that slightly more than 1 out of every 60 escalators in this country is on Metro. Since escalators are a key part of nearly all Metrorail commutes, I thought it’d be appropriate to take a moment and look at a few unique escalator installations.

First up is an overhead view of the surface-mezzanine escalators at the Q Street (north) entrance to Dupont Circle. This configuration, with three escalators separated by wide balustrades, is somewhat unusual in the system and is most commonly seen at deeper and/or high-volume stations since it allows each escalator to be taken offline for maintenance without impacting the others. The lighting and point of view narrow the location down further: here, we’re above the escalator and have natural light, which eliminates places like Bethesda and Tenleytown.

But the real key here are the building materials. The darker metal along the balustrades rules out renovated escalators like the ones at Medical Center and Potomac Avenue, and the brickwork along the sides definitively puts us in the open, circular pit of Dupont’s north entrance. 28 of you got Dupont Circle right.

The second image is at National Airport, specifically the escalators at the southern end of the District-bound platform. The main hint here is the Gull Wing I roof, which is only used at 13 island platform stations. Of those, National Airport’s platforms are distinctly narrower than the others, being barely wide enough to accommodate 2 escalators side-by-side, due to its 3-tracked configuration.

Other unique features include the “THANKS FOR RIDING METRO” inscription on the way to the mezzanine and the placement of the escalator at the very end of the platform. Another tip could have been the airport shuttles and distinctive yellow pedestrian bridge barely visible on the left side of the picture. 18 of you got this one correct.

The third image shows a few of the platform-mezzanine escalators at L’Enfant Plaza on the upper level, heading up to the 7th/Maryland entrance. The upper level of L’Enfant is unique within the system for how wide its upper level is, providing a cavernous amount of space on the platforms and allowing the floating mezzanine to be pulled away from the walls to create a second walkway on the outside of the escalators.

Metro Center can be ruled out, since it now has signs installed in the space between the parapet and the escalator. This particular entrance also has 3 escalators serving each platform, which among side platform stations is a trait shared only with Ballston (to my knowledge). 21 of you correctly guessed L’Enfant Plaza.

The fourth image shows the escalators up to the L Street (northernmost) mezzanine at Farragut North. Like a handful of other stations, the L Street mezzanine at Farragut North is located in a separate room beyond the end of the platform. The distinctive feature here, aside from the bank of 3 escalators and the arriving Red Line train, is the especially low (and newly renovated!) tiled ceiling, eliminating other similar stations.

Stadium-Armory also has a bank of 3 escalators right at the end of the platform, but the ceiling is full-height there. Union Station, which has a flat ceiling at its north end, only has 2 escalators, separated by the elevator. 23 of you knew this was Farragut North.

The fifth image shows the west (older) mezzanine at Rosslyn. The unique feature here is simply the size of the escalator bank. Rosslyn is one of only 3 stations to have 4 escalators in one bank serving a single mezzanine, the others being Mount Vernon Square at the Washington Convention Center and the Verizon Center entrance of Gallery Place. However, both of those installations are much, much shorter than Rosslyn and feature a staircase in between two sets of two escalators.

In this picture, the extra-wide, stair-free gap in the middle is there because of a now-disused elevator shaft bisecting the escalators (week 15) that’s been closed due to development above the station and replaced by the new, elevator-only east mezzanine (week 12). 20 of you correctly guessed Rosslyn.

Next Monday we’ll have 5 more photos for you to identify. Thanks for playing! And a special thanks to Peter K for supplying the photos this week.