Here are the answers to whichWMATA week 32

On Tuesday, we posted our thirty-second photo challenge to see how well you know Metro. I took five photos in the Metro system. Here are the answers. How well did you do?

We got just 18 guesses this week. Only one person got all five correct, and it’s our reigning champion, Peter K. Great work, Peter!

The first image was very simple. All but one person got this one right. It shows a northbound train leaving National Airport headed for Crystal City. The primary clue here is the platform configuration. You can tell that there are two platforms, since I’m standing on one, but there’s a track between me and the other one. But the separation between the two visible tracks is large enough that it’s not a side platform station. So this can only be one with two island platforms and three tracks. National Cathedral is also just visible left of center.

The second image shows Takoma, and this proved much harder than I expected. Only four people guessed correctly here. The main clue is the bank of three escalators, which is the width of the platform. That means this entrance can only be at the end of the station (as opposed to the middle). Several stations have banks of three escalators, but Takoma is the only one above ground.

The third image shows the pedestrian and bicycle underpass at College Park. Half of the 18 guesses were correct. This tunnel links the eastern bus loop to the MARC station and Bowdoin street, but requires an at-grade crossing of the CSX tracks (which is why the crossbuck sign is present). This is the only instance where there’s a pedestrian crossing of railroad tracks at grade adjacent to a Metro station. There is another entrance to the College Park station from the west side that does not require crossing the tracks.

The fourth image was also harder than I expected because it is more similar to another station than I meant it to be. The photo shows a staircase between the mezzanine and the platform at New Carrollton. The elevator is also visible, as is the tunnel that links the east and west sides of the station, the Amtrak and Greyhound terminals, and the Amtrak platforms. I didn’t realize that King Street has a similar configuration, but the one at King Street is mirrored (the elevator is to the left of the stairs; here it’s on the right). Only two people correctly guessed New Carrollton. Five people guessed King Street.

The final image shows the canopy at Franconia-Springfield. Six of you knew this one. There were three clues that should have helped you narrow this down. The first is that the ceiling and skylight indicates that this is one of the four “high peak” stations. Additionally, in the ceiling there are six beams running parallel to the tracks (only five are visible in this image), which is unique to Franconia. The other three high peak stations have just two of these beams.

The final clue is the little downward notch at the center of the canopy. That is the “next train” sign, which indicates which track will have the next departing train. The canopy at Branch Avenue, the only other high peak terminal, is different because the skylight is longer.

Thanks to everyone for playing! Great work. Stay tuned. We’ll have five more images for you next Tuesday.