Here are the answers to whichWMATA week 159

On Tuesday, we featured the 159th challenge to see how well you know the Metro system. Here are the answers. How’d you do?

This week, we got 15 guesses. Eight of you got all five. Great work cpterp, ArlFfx, Alex B, Christopher Deal, Peter K, Ginger, AlexC, and No Pain No Train!

The theme connecting this week’s images is the MARC train. The five stations featured are five of the six stations where you can transfer between MARC and Metro. Eight of you correctly noted the theme.

The first image shows a view of the eastbound MARC and Amtrak platform at Rockville station. The Metro station is just behind, and the canopy and platform elevator are visible. This picture was taken from the upper level of an Amtrak train stopped on the westbound platform. Clues include the tall buildings in the background, and the low commuter rail platform.

Fourteen of you knew this one.

The next image shows the eastern stair tower at the Silver Spring MARC station. This stair tower leads to a bridge spanning the four CSX/MARC/Amtrak and Metro tracks to connect the east and westbound MARC platforms. It’s very distinctive, and we’ve featured it in a few whichWMATA quizzes.

Eleven of you got this one right.

The third image was a bit harder than I thought it would be. It shows a MARC train running nonstop through the College Park station, seen from a Metro train accelerating toward Greenbelt. Aside from the background, you didn’t have a lot to go on. But you can see that it is a station adjacent to MARC, even if you didn’t know that there was also a MARC station here. You can see that the Metro canopy is a General Peak canopy, though.

Stations that are adjacent to MARC are on the Orange Line (Cheverly, Landover, and New Carrollton) all have Gull I canopies, and are therefore out. Cheverly is also side platform, so this can’t be it. On the Glenmont end of the Red Line, NoMa, Rhode Island Ave, Brookland, Fort Totten, Takoma, and Silver Spring all have Gull I canopies, as well. On the Shady Grove end, Twinbrook and Shady Grove have Gull I canopies.

That leaves just three possibilities: College Park, Greenbelt, and Rockville.

Ten of you figured this one out.

The fourth image looks into the New Carrollton mezzanine from the eastern exterior. There are a few clues. The stair descending from the right is fairly rare in the Metro, since the system makes use of escalators almost exusively. King Street has a similar stair, but the faregates are aligned perpendicular to the tracks there, whereas here, at New Carrollton, they’re arranged parallel to the tracks.

A close examination also reveals a sign above the rightmost gates identifying them as “SmarTrip Express Lanes”, where paper farecards were not accepted. These no longer exist, but used to be very common at major stations and terminals.

Eleven of you guessed correctly.

The final clue shows the tunnel connecting the Greenbelt station mezzanine to northern College Park to the west of the station, and the MARC platforms. You can see the ramp up to the Camden-bound MARC platform near where the tunnel turns to the right.

Ten of you came to the correct conclusion.

Great work, everyone. Thanks for playing! We’ll be back in two weeks with challenge #160.

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