J
Jay
Guest
I'm new to the forum and a casual railfan at best, but I thought I'd share a discovery I made today. I work very near Union Station in DC, and was walking north along 2nd Street, NE, around the east side of the station, on my way to lunch today. I've noticed a long, low building parallel to the tracks there for quite awhile, and could tell it was at least in part open to the public, because there's a sandwich board sign for the "Railroad Cafe" outside one entrance. I walked in, passed by the Cafe (a tiny snack bar) and found myself outside on a 300 foot long patio/deck directly overlooking the tracks leaving Union Station to the north. I spent about 15 minutes standing there watching trains go by before leaving. There are some tables at one end where you can eat lunch, but it was mostly empty while I was there around 1pm. The building itself appears to be mostly Amtrak offices with some space leased to other tenants. As far as I can tell the deck is completely open to the public, although I'm not sure what would happen if you camped out there all day.
Anyway, it's called the Railway Express Building, at 900 2nd Street, NE. From Union Station, you'd need to come out the front and turn left, then follow F Street around past the SEC building to 2nd Street, NE, then up past the Kaiser Permanente building. The Railway Express Bldg will be on your left after you walk under the H Street overpass. Worth checking out if you have time, as it's right next to the tracks and you can see everything coming into or out of U.S. from the north.
Anyway, it's called the Railway Express Building, at 900 2nd Street, NE. From Union Station, you'd need to come out the front and turn left, then follow F Street around past the SEC building to 2nd Street, NE, then up past the Kaiser Permanente building. The Railway Express Bldg will be on your left after you walk under the H Street overpass. Worth checking out if you have time, as it's right next to the tracks and you can see everything coming into or out of U.S. from the north.