Back-up move as normal procedure?

[Heading North]

Yesterday, I rode MARC's Camden Line from Union Station to Baltimore, a trip I've been meaning to take for a while that just happened to fit my schedule. Even though being dropped off "downtown" is convenient, I don't really plan on taking it again unless I have a good reason to; much of the ride was slow, and there's nothing in particular to see. Anyhow...

I rode the 5:51pm express, which only makes four stops before Baltimore (Muirkirk, Laurel, Savage, and Dorsey). We pulled into Dorsey and sat for a few minutes, then BACKED UP from the station quite a bit to wait (a mile, maybe?) for a DC-bound MARC train to pass. We then switched to the DC-bound track and ran forward again, straight through the Dorsey station, and continued to Baltimore.

I tried to figure out the strange move. I'm guessing there's no interlocking north of Dorsey that could be used, and even if we'd waited for the DC-bound train to pass, pulling in on the wrong side could confuse passengers (although honestly, how many people are boarding to go north at that hour on a non-Orioles game day?)... but it seemed awkward and time-consuming, nevermind how confusing it was. It hit me that you wouldn't see trains backing up like that as a matter of routine meetings. Any thoughts?

 

[Ryan]

I ride the Penn Line not the Camden, but I don't think that's a normal move. Rafi may know, I'm sure that he'll drop in. Was there a freight stopped just north of Dorsey? I know there's a siding there, and the northbound main may have been fouled.

 

[Heading North]

If I recall, there was one freight on the northbound main past Dorsey, and another freight joined us on the line that merges in from the left--for a short while we were running between two freights. That might help explain it.

I do feel bad for the one passenger who boarded in Dorsey and couldn't for the life of him imagine why his Baltimore train was headed to DC!

 

[JAChooChoo]

Unlike the Penn Line, the Camden Line is a freight main for CSX