Union Station Interior*

In recent months, you may have read about photographers who have reported being harassed by Amtrak police/personnel, and sometimes even having their photos destroyed, while trying to work inside picturesque Union Station in DC.  Well, Photo District News just tweeted that Amtrak (in cooperation with the National Press Photographers’ Association [NPPA]) has finally revamped their photography policy and published new guidelines for everyone to follow, nationwide.  Hooray!

Best of all in my book, is the news that “[a]n important aspect of the new photo guideline says that while nothing in the new photo policy limits or expands the authority of Amtrak police to investigate what a photographer is doing, ‘the taking of photographs and/or video may not, in and of itself, rise to the level of reasonable suspicion or probable cause.’”  Many of us have seen innocent tourists get harassed around town, and it is nice to see someone acknowledge that tourists like to, you know, take pictures.

Now, Union Station (as well as many other stations and rights-of-way around the country) is operated, in part, by a private management company….which has been the source of much of the confusion inside Union Station.    And while Amtrak is trying to help us out, it looks like that confusion might continue.   Though Jones Lang LaSalle, the management company for the commercial section of the station, does have a published form to request Union Station as a film or photo production site (for movies or professional photo shoots), there’s still no stated policy about amateur photography inside the managed portion of the building….though the JLL website does contain a photo gallery.   Confusing!

As the NPPA’s counsel stated, “My only caution is that while Amtrak operates nationwide many of its stations and right-of-ways throughout the country are operated by an array of property management companies…Those companies may or may not adopt these guidelines. Unfortunately the public has no way of knowing that when all they see is the familiar Amtrak logo. I still strongly believe that regardless of the ownership public areas are considered a public forum where first amendment protections for photography would apply.”

So, shutterbugs, be on the lookout for zealous JLL security personnel when trying to shoot inside and around the station…and let us know if you notice any changes with the implementation of the new policy!

* Photo used under a Creative Commons License by flickr user morning_rumtea

Union Station: A great place to shop. Or spend your money on a train to visit your mom instead.

Today brought snow flurries and a chill north wind, and it’s really beginning to feel a lot like that old Holiday gift giving season.  However, with the wholesale rejection of the outgoing administration’s admonition to go shopping, and with belts tightening, a lot of us are wondering just how this is going to work.

While there is an upcoming sales tax holiday (and the markdowns are just going to get better and better), my family is looking at this an opportunity to do some housecleaning.  I’m embracing Freecycle, with e-groups across the region.  I also recommend the “free” listings on craigslist because who doesn’t love a curb alert?  Help out a neighbor–and give yourself the gift of less clutter. 

Finally, giving of oneself is the ultimate in generosity.  Check out these opportunities, consider something more vampiric, or you can even barter your volunteer time for fun and profit.

Happy holidays?

Photo credit to zizzybaloobah on Flickr.

There’s a gigantic Oreo cakester standing in front of Union Station right now, with sparkly birthday candles sticking out of it to celebrate Oreo’s 95th year. In its shadow, Oreo Guy is giving out high-fives. Please do not try to eat either of these.

On Wednesday, President Bush blocked traffic for a while to dedicate DC’s latest memorial. This one is for Victims of Communism. The statue is a replica of the one they used in Tiananmen Square. As memorials go, it’s not too bad, it’s relatively classy and it doesn’t dominate the skyline like DC’s last memorial, the gargantuanly hideous Air Force Memorial. It’s also nice to see a memorial dedicated to peace and not war or hubris (like a lot of other monuments in DC). You can find it at the intersection of Mass Ave, New Jersey Ave, and G St, a couple of blocks from Union Station. I can only assume they picked that location because it offers a great backdrop of a burned out, abandoned building to remind us of how destitute Communist economies can be (see second photo). The statue is also staring directly at Georgetown Law School, probably to represent how Victims of Communism can look to the laws of the United States for protection from being tortured and/or being held in secret prisons with no charges.

By the Metro escalators at the Union Station 1st St NE entrance, for several months now, a large enclosure of wood panels has blocked the gap between the escalators and the entrance to Amtrak HQ. This week I noticed that the walls are finally gone, and once again foot traffic is free to pass through the gap to get to the down-bound Metro escalator without squeezing in with the opposing traffic on the other side of the entrance.

What I’m wondering is, why was that area closed off for so long? Call me unobservant, but I really don’t see much visible change in the floor or walls which were walled up, other than a shinier floor and some duct tape over the grout. Surely all that work wasn’t just to lay down some wiring and polish the granite? Union Station Metro-goers, what do you think?

1d units called to Union Station by Amtrak pd tonite at approximately 1800 hours – report of juveniles fighting near bakery area – the argument became physical and spilled out on 1st St NE side — the group continued to fight and gunshots rang out – one teenager struck by gunfire and taken to Hospital – officers chased subjects -so far two apprehensions and gun recovery — victim at hospital in critical condition

By the time I arrived, I’d missed the action by about an hour. According to witnesses the boy had been shot multiple times in the head, but managed to drag himself to Corner Bakery to ask for help, while the shooter and his girlfriend had run down E Street, where they were apprehended and arrested for assault. They gave their address as the shelter at 2nd and D Streets NW, which would be CCNV.

Tip to would-be gun happy perps at Union Station: Don’t. Really. It’s so heavily policed they’ll be on you before you can say Mooninite, especially at that specific corner, which almost always has a patrol car on watch to moderate the hordes of after-school teens who used to conglomerate there and occasionally harass tourists and other passers-by.

An eloquent differing view from DC CL RNR.

This year, my wife and I stayed home for Christmas day. After exchanging gifts, we headed over the Ellipse in the hope of walking around the Pagent of Peace before the forecasted rain. Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed when we arrived to discover the gate was not going to be opened until noon. That is not unreasonable, park rangers deserve to have Christmas morning too, but it would not have hurt to have the lights on.

We then headed to Union Station to take in the 10th Annual Norwegian Christmas. It was beautiful of course, but the model train wasn’t running. We held out until noon hoping it would be turned on, but no such luck. For the $6 we paid to park, I would have liked to have seen the train in action. I guess expecting Christmas attractions to be available in all their glory on Christmas day is too much.

Renowned actor, Earle Hyman, will flip the switch to light the 8,000 lights on the tree. The 80 year old actor is best known for his role as Bill Cosby’s father, Russell Huxtable, on “The Cosby Show,” but is also a distinguished stage actor. He taught himself Norwegian so that he could read Henrik Ibsen’s plays in the original language. The ceremony includes choral song and appearance by Ambassador of Norway, Knut Vollebaek.

Source: Norwegian Embassy Press Release

The model train that “winds its way through the mountains and fjords of Norway” has been running for a week now. There is also a life size ice carving of a polar bear today too.

Even if you can’t make it up tonight, it’s worth a trip to see Union Station all decked out for the holidays. The decorations beautifully complement the station. Thank goodness those who wanted to tear down this Beaux-Arts marvel failed.

But I have to say that with all those things going for it – Amtrak can really suck. The Acela is oft like the really smart second grader for whom teachers have visions of greatness – only to learn that he’s far more interested in smoking pot and wasting space than actually living up to his potential.

Over just the past couple trips back and forth – I’ve had cancelled trains, *switched* trains, and delayed trains. All things that demand a trip or call to customer service…if only I had the tiniest shred of confidence in *that* process. Sigh. I do hope they grow up a bit. They could be so much better.

On Sunday, my wife and I checked out The Interstate in the District of Columbia exhibit at Union Station. It runs through next Sunday.

The story of D.C. interstates were told mostly by photographs. Each of the interstate highways to enter the city, I-66, I-295 I-95/495, I-395 (orginally I-95) had its own section. Many of the photographs included were of the original construction. There was also a corresponding interstate marker for each road, although the I-66 and I-95 shields were the size of three digit interstate shields and had the wrong font for the numbers, something that only a hardcore road geek like myself would likely notice.

In addition to the photographs, there were narratives about Dwight D. Eisenhower (for whom the SW Freeway is is dedicated to) and the system as a whole and a piece about the opposition to the planned freeways that led to the truncated system of today.

A highlight of the exhibit was a scale model of the freeway system, built and unbuilt, along the Anacosita River. Included is the proposed Barney Circle Freeway, which would have extended the SE Freeway across the Anacostia to DC 295.

Unbuilt Barney Circle Freeway bridge over the Anacostia River

There is no mention of the fact that the SE Freeway is technically I-695 but not posted as such.

Overall, I liked the exhibit, which took me about 25 minutes to complete. The photos were great and the narratives were concise summaries.

Some other observations:

The original 14th Street Bridge was a series of truss spans in the location of the current Rochambeau Memorial Bridge.

The Case Bridge that carries I-395/SW Freeway over Washington Channel is named for Senator Francis Case a South Dakota Republican who championed voting rights for the District, leading to passage of the 23rd Amendment.

Some of the photo captions left something to be desired. A number of them refer to the Palisades Parkway when it should be Canal Road. The Palisades Parkway was unbuilt. It is a curious error. Another described I-395 approaching the Beltway, when in reality it was the American Legion (nee Cabin John) Bridge.

Why the District decided to celebrate freeways in an old train station is a little curious, but I am not one complain about going there. For one thing, having it there means you can get to it much more easily since the hours are much longer A trip to Union Station is worthwhile in and of itself too. We took Metro as well. All in all, this is a great introduction to D.C. interstates.

If you want to learn more, check out these sites:

Scott Kozel’s Roads to the Future

Washington, D. C. Area Interstates

Bridges Carry Bits of History AlongWith the Traffic – The Post