The 1953 Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck occurred on January 15, 1953, when a passenger and mail train from Boston to Washington DC (the Federal) failed to brake sufficiently on its approach to Union Station, Washington, jumping the platform and plunging through the floor of the concourse. There were no deaths, but 43 people were injured.

May 1, 1971 – Amtrak took over most of the Operations of the national passenger rail system and eventually established corporate headquarters at Union Station. May 1972 saw the last steam passenger excursion into Washington Union Station Reading engine No. 2102 Philadelphia-Washington round trip.

Crash in Washington Terminal. The fourth car was destined for Baltimore and was set off and the train re- coupled. Leaving Baltimore, engineer Brower set the controls for 80 mph and did not apply the brakes until the train reached signal #1339, two miles from Washington's Union Station.

72) May 1972 Last steam passenger excursion into Washington Union Station Reading engine 2102 Philadelphia-Washington round trip. 73) 1974 Maryland Dept.of Transportation (MDOT) begins subsidization of commuter service.

The station currently serves Amtrak, MARC (MAryland Rail Commuter), and the VRE (Virginia Rail Express). May of 1972 was the last steam operated excursion train to use Union Station when 2102 ran a trip to Philadelphia.

GG1 #4876, the locomotive that crashed through the floor of Union Station in Washington, DC in 1953, is now safely behind fencing at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. The locomotive sits outside the museum's restoration shop.

Washington Terminal Co also operated the engine service facilities at Ivy City, along New York Ave, east of the coach yards. The Washington Terminal had a total of 27 RS1's, although some were sold off beginning in the 1960s as the number of passenger trains declined.

The funeral train arrived in Washington's Union Station four hours behind schedule and had caused disruption to the entire railroad. James Milo has provided the following details of this incident.

Washington Union Station, known locally as Union Station, is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's headquarters, the railroad's second-busiest station, and North America's 10th-busiest railroad station.

Color view of the Amtrak 47 RS-1 switching the cars used by MARC, an AEM-7 contrasting with an old Budd car, nd one unsual powered MARC train arriving in DC. The former Washington Terminal 47, shown in blue in an earlier posting, now all dressed up in Amtrak colors and looks pretty sharp for wh