Glen Echo - DC Transit Attraction

"DC Transit Glen Echo" oil on canvas (30 x 40) 2014

The ads for Glen Echo which aired during the Captain Tugg show on WTTG-tv channel 5 were as close as I got to this Washington, DC area amusement park. Our parents said it was too far away and besides, we had Baltimore's Gwynn Oak Amusement Park. Well we missed a lot never having visited this splendid playground. It had classier attractions than Gwynn Oak including a  sparkling swimming pool about which I fantasized. So I can visit the park these days in my imagination looking at one of my latest paintings. I can almost hear the streetcar door open and close while the riders are screaming with glee on the big wooden roller coaster.

Like many electric parks Glen Echo gave a welcome boost to streetcar ridership on the weekends. I discovered this clipping in a DC Transit Brochure that I have in my collection. You are encouraged to "take the Number 20 car marked Cabin John anywhere along Pennsylvania Avenue west of Peace Monument" in order to get to Glen Echo. The former PCC operators of this line like to reminisce about hurtling along the streetcar tracks over the  Cabin John Bridge at the nearly top speed of 65 m.p.h.  What a great story they tell.

The park has been preserved in many ways. There are dances on weekends and an active arts organization with exhibits among the range of interests. The streetcar is also memorialized there but no tracks to fly over the Cabin John Bridge exist anymore.

Ding Ding

Baltimore Streetcars- The Overlea Loop

The Overlea Loop was the end of the line for many of Baltimore, Maryland’s streetcars until operation ceased 1963. Trusty Number 15 in my painting is about ready to pull into traffic on Belair Road and trolley across town to Walbrook Junction in Northwest Baltimore. I like this rest stop where passengers and motormen could relax and get a hotdog or a Seven-Up. It was probably a good place for men to gather to ride to work or talk about their ideas or accomplishments. Presently I cannot think of public places like this where you see men swapping stories or sharing advice. I guess they are on their computers like so many of us.

Catonsville Grocery Stores Remembered

All of this snow-panic food shopping has brought back some terrific grocery store memories for me. The old Catonsville, MD of my childhood boasted of four grocery stores on Frederick Road. They included the A & P by Newburg Avenue, the Acme near Egges Lane, the Food Fair next to the Midway Bar and Heidelbach’s which is now the Plymouth Wallpaper store. But the A & P was our favorite because they hired some of the cutest boys for baggers and cashiers. We loved to find an excuse to shop for our mothers just so we could legitimately see who was working that day. The other feature I remember about the A & P was the meat department. We always rang the bell at the meat counter and a lady would appear after sliding back the mirrored window. It was the only time I remember seeing ladies wearing pants at work in those days. The women, it was explained to me, did not wear skirts because the meat room was very cold. Heidelbach’s store was fabulous but shopping there was reserved for very special occasions. Their homemade mayonnaise was outrageously tasty among many other items. It was an authentic old-fashioned grocery store.The home of Mr. and Mrs. Heidelbach was located two doors down the street from us and on summer days they would often hand out treats to the children from their side door. The days of the neighborhood merchant are pretty much nonexistent, but now I treasure these thoughts especially during an unusually snowy winter.