Here are the answers to whichWMATA week 104

On Tuesday, we featured the 104th challenge to see how well you knew the Metro system. Here are the answers. How'd you do?

This week we got 32 guesses. 13 got all five. Great work, Stephen C, AlexC, JamesDCane, PLKDC, Justin…, ArlFfx, Solomon, David Duck, Peter K, MtPDC, Otree38, Peter K is a nice guy don't be hatin' on him!, and We Will Crush Peter K!

The first image shows the newly restored artwork Penguin Rush Hour at Silver Spring Metro. The artwork was originally installed in 1989 as a temporary exhibit, but was kept because it was so popular. In 2005, the painting was removed for impending construction of the Silver Spring Transit Center. Last month, a reproduction of the original was installed once again at the station.

The penguin mural resulted in the flightless bird becoming a symbol of Silver Spring, and many are happy to see it back on the walls along Colesville Road under the Metro platform. It's only fitting that it make an appearance in whichWMATA.

29 waddled into the correct answer.

The second image shows the platform at Union Station. Only a few stations have the “6-car train ends here” stickers on the platform, which narrows this down to one of the major stations. The staircase is also a clue, since most of the older “waffle” style stations only or mostly have escalators. The real clue here is the “no clearance” striping, which runs the length of the station at the base of the vault.

As you've probably heard, WMATA is painting the vault at Union Station. I took this picture before that started, though this view of the Glenmont track is still accurate, as the painting hasn't reached that side yet. The painted portion of the vault no longer has the no clearance band, but the “no clearance” words were left unpainted. Only a few stations have this banding, including Pentagon.

22 solved this clue.

The third image features the entrance to Waterfront station emerging next to Fourth Street SW. The past decade has seen the redevelopment of the former Waterside Mall, the parking lot of which was where the station entrance used to emerge. Now, new buildings are growing upward all around, and in Navy Yard, farther east. This picture was taken from the old EPA building, now a residential tower known as The Lex.

31 saw the right answer.

The fourth picture shows the view from the entrance to Capitol South. The Cannon House Office Building is visible across the parking lot and is a primary clue. Another clue includes the security booth typical of those around the Capitol complex.

32 got it right.

The final image shows signage in the mezzanine at Ballston station. This sign actually features a mistake. Installed in 2012 for the advent of Rush Plus, it was never revised for the 2014 opening of the Silver Line. I actually took the picture less than a week ago, so it's not an old sign that was in my stash.

Between June 2012 and the opening of the Silver Line, to make up for lost Blue Line trains, Metro ran a rush only Orange Line service between West Falls Church and Largo Town Center. That service gap is now made up for with the Silver Line. This sign directs customers to the elevator to the New Carrollton/Largo platform and also the street elevators on the south side of Fairfax Drive. Metro should replace the Orange Rush bullet with a Silver Line bullet. But for now, it remains a relic of an earlier time.

Other clues included the “F” in Fairfax Drive and the fact that this platform elevator only leads to one direction, meaning this has to be a side platform station.

18 came to the correct conclusion.

Thanks for playing! We'll be back in two weeks for week 105.

Information about contest rules, submission guidelines, and a leaderboard is available at http://ggwash.org/whichwmata.