Having completed the Washington, DC Metro in its entirety, all 83 stations and 101 miles of the originally planned system, on January 13, 2001, I am now able to rate my favorite parts of the system and other things. Please read on as I tell you about my favorite lines, parts of the system, and reasons why.

5. Yellow-Practical for when I am commuting but boring to railfan. The line, originally starting at Greenbelt and going to Franconia-Springfield, now goes from Mount Vernon Square to Huntington. On the original route, you would have the curvy Greenbelt line and the long, speedy runs from King Street to Van Dorn Street and Van Dorn to Franconia-Springfield. The current 10 mile route leaves you with three highlights. The Fenwick Bridge over the Potomac River (best view is on the Mount Vernon Square bound trains), the long, 5 minute run from National Airport to Braddock Road, and the architecture at Huntington. Other highlights of the line are for the commuter: Five minutes from Pentagon to L'Enfant Plaza, less than 10 to Gallery Place, 10 minutes from the airport to L'Enfant, and about 15 to Gallery Place. The line is almost exclusively Breda cars operating out of both Greenbelt and Alexandria, occasionally a Rohr will make it onto the line.

4. Blue-Before the Branch Avenue extention, this had third place but it has been since dropped to fourth. Some long, fast runs are all this line has. It is from 3 to 5 minutes with a very high speed between Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn, Van Dorn and King, Braddock and National Airport, Pentagon and Arlington Cemetary, Arlington Cemetary and Rosslyn, Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom, and Stadium-Armory and Benning Road. Not great fun to railfan between Stadium-Armory and Foggy Bottom. A few Rohrs roam here, the line is operated out of Alexandria.

3. Green-The curves and scenery do it. There are only two big highlights on the line, but they make it a great line to railfan. There are many curves between College Park and Fort Totten that the trains take at high speeds. It is a thrilling ride as you watch the speedometer go higher and higher as the train takes curve after curve. Fort Totten is a cool station, being half indoors and half out. There is a fast run between Fort Totten and Petworth, a little boring until Navy Yard, and then the fun begins again. The tunnel under the Anacostia is fun to ride. After Anacostia, the newest part of the line is one of the most scenic. Except for between Anacostia and Southern Avenue, the line is mostly above ground. Most stations are open cut and are very pretty architecturally. Southern Avenue and Branch Avenue have landscaping on the sides of the tracks. Also, the bridge leading to and the Naylor Road Station itself are very cool. Naylor Road won an award for the excellent use of concrete. The line is almost exclusively Bredas but the new CAF cars will make their debut on this line. Trains come from Greenbelt and Branch Yards. I have found that in general, the operators on this line are the least friendly to railfans.

2. Orange-It shares trackage with the Blue line on its most boring stretch between Stadium-Armory and Foggy Bottom. That is also the most boring stretch on the Orange line, with Rosslyn to Ballston coming in second. On the New Carrolton side, the highligts are the fast runs and bridges from Stadium-Armory to New Carrolton. The line splits off from the Blue line and takes a smooth turn into Minnestoa Avenue. The Cheverly Station is the architectural highlight of the line. On the Vienna side, the line emerges from the subway west of Ballston in the middle of I-66 with long, speedy runs between all the stations from there to Vienna. From West Falls Church to Vienna, all three stations were hit by the renaming but operators won't announce the new names for some reason. The only slow parts on that stretch are the curve to the east of West Falls Church and the crossover at Vienna. The line has a mix of Bredas and Rorhs, it is here and the Red line you will most likely not have a seat to lean on while railfanning.

1. Red-The longest and best line for railfanning, without question! From east to west, the line starts at Glenmont. Wheaton has the longest escalator in the system and second longest in the Western Hemisphere (230 feet) and its sister station, Forest Glen, is so deep there is no escalator! The line emerges just before Silver Spring in the CSX right-of-way and we speed down to Union Station (I've seen almost 70 MPH on this stretch). Metro Center and Gallery Place are passed. Both stations are very beautiful but busy. From DuPont Circle to Woodley Park, the two tracks are in a single tube, allowing you to see the oncoming trains. Then, if you are lucky enough to get a train in manual operation, trains will pick up a lot of speed after Tenleytown. You can get up to 75 MPH in between most stations. The runs are also long. Then, just south of Grosvenor, we come to my favorite part of the whole system. The train will come up in the median of MD-355, go over the Beltway and take some very small, banked curves at very fast speed (about 50 MPH). Then into the most scenic station system, Grosvenor. There are more tunnels until Twinbrook, but after that, the line joins up with the same CSX tracks it ran between back in Northeast Washington. Most of this run though is behind car dealerships and other buildings on Rockville Pike so it isn't so scenic. Trains go fastest on the red line in my experience. I've seen 77, 75 (twice), and 74 MPH on occasion, and other trains have gotten into the high sixties. The line operates out of Shady Grove, Brentwood (between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue), and Glenmont. The line has a mix of Bredas and Rorhs, it is here and the Orange line you will most likely not have a seat to lean on while railfanning. Friendliest operators, in general, are here too.