Here are the colorful answers to whichWMATA week 43

On Tuesday, we posted our forty-third 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?

This week, we got 42 guesses. Nineteen of you got all five. Great work, iaom, RyanS, dc transit nerd, Peter K, Maris, Joey, Alex B, Spork!, Harry L, Fran, Mr. Johnson, JamesDCane, JPJ, Megan, Timbs 212, and R2-JL! And Mike B, Justin…., and FN who were inadvertently omitted from the list when the post went live.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this week’s theme was color. All of the featured stations have color names in their titles.

The first image shows the platform at Greensboro station. The detailing on the walls and the shape of the ceiling tell you that this is one of the new stations on the Silver Line. The mezzanine is above the tracks, so that rules out McLean and Spring Hill. You can also immediately eliminate Wiehle Avenue because of the tunnel portal visible in the distance. That leaves Tysons Corner and Greensboro stations, on opposite ends of the tunnel through the highest point in Fairfax County.

You can narrow this down to Greensboro because at Greensboro, the walls go all the way up to the mezzanine, as shown here. At Tysons, the walls aren’t full height, and a viewer would be able to see outside the station. Also, at Tysons there’s a crossover between the station platform and the tunnel, so the portal is not so close to the platform. Thirty-seven of you knew this one.

The next picture shows Silver Spring station. There are a couple of clues in the image. First, the station is elevated, which narrows the choices considerably. Also, the NOAA headquarters are visible behind the station, and they’re easily recognizable. And for those who know trains, that’s Amtrak’s Chicago-bound Capitol Limited passing the station. The diesel locomotives tell you that this must be one of the stations alongside VRE or the MARC Brunswick Line, which host diesel-hauled Amtrak trains. Thirty-nine knew this was Silver Spring.

The third image shows the glass pyramid that sits over the mezzanine at White Flint. The pyramid itself is unique in the system, so that was the primary clue. But you can also see the headquarters of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the right. It is a fairly distinctive structure visible from Rockville Pike, so some of you may have recognized it. Thirty-four guessed right.

The fourth image is a bit trickier. The system has four “basic” colors, so for a set of five photos, I had to reach beyond the common set. There are two more stations that qualify because “navy” is a shade of blue.

This is a picture of Archives, which has “Navy” in its subtitle. The easiest way to figure out which station this was was through the process of elimination. It’s got a “waffle vault,” and you can tell that this is a station on the Green Line.

From there, the crucial clue is that there is only one mezzanine, which is at one end of the station (you can tell because of the distance to the far wall). The only station that fits the bill is Archives.

Navy Yard, which several of you guessed, has two mezzanines; one on each end of the station. Twenty-five figured it out.

The final image shows the Lackawanna Street entrance to Greenbelt station. There’s not a lot to go on, but again, the process of elimination should’ve helped. The “general peak” roof-type is present at only 11 stations. Of those stations, several are in an open trench, like Grosvenor, fully elevated like Naylor Road, or in a freeway median like East Falls Church. Greenbelt is the only station with a general peak that’s at surface level but with entrances that are below the tracks. Thirty-seven got it right.

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