Yesterday I had lunch in Silver Spring with a friend and was reminded of the fine photos taken by Dr. Ira Pearlman on Sunday, Ocrober 24, 1954. This NRHS excursion traversed the Georgetown and Alexandria Branch lines. The train was pulled by B&O GP7 743 and consisted of three passenger cars. Here we see a couple shots from 1954 and the view as it looks today. Enjoy!
I’d like to get back one day to take more detailed/composed shots, as these snapshots were serendipitous after we had lunch across the street. To view the rest of Dr. Pearlman’s wonderful photo set, please visit my Gallery. Hope you enjoy them! I snapped a few additional photos:
View from Lotus Café – fantastic food! 
Metro speeding past the old station 
View to the east 
The 1945 station is well preseved 
This is the staircase leading to the old pedestrian tunnel, closed to public 
some old CPLs and a lamp post in storage here 
Details of CPLs. Hope to see these restored one day. 
And here is likely what is the lamp post that is visible in the second photo above, located just next to the station parking lot.
This is sooo cool. Thanks. I will send to Sandy, Aaron and David, if you haven’t already done so. Or even if you have.
I remember the GB quite vividly 1950s-1960s. I grew up on Elkhart Street and loved the Railroad. I remember the Alco S2 pushing its train caboose first so the man in the caboose could blow the horn for road crossings. Later GP9s and larger units were used and pulled rather than pushed. Mainline freights would stop and leave cars for the GB in a small yard near Brookeville Rd. A local freight would go out to Gaithersburg(?) in the morning and return in the afternoon and pick up empties from the GB and the resulting train could be quite long.I worked for a Mason Co. that had a yard acouple blocks past EC keys (A.Myron Cowell)and saw the train go by a few times. In 1978 I worked as a bricklayer on the 2nd Air Rights Building laying block near the track. I only recall one train going by-A lone GP9 with one loaded hopper of Coal. I never expected the Georgetown Branch would become just a memory.I am currently 71 yrs. old.
The two passengers walking towards the train are my mother, Charlotte Pearlman and her father. My grandfather, Aaron Frank, retired from the B&O as a City Agent in the late ’40s.
My parents had been married all of about 5 weeks at the time of the excursion and photos.