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comp.os.tpf

The Amtrak TPF offices have moved from 400 N. Capitol Street NW to 10 G. Street NE.   Closer to the train station, further from the homeless shelter. 
The Amtrak data center is in Manassas, Virginia. The site is in a quaint little building run by (I think) Lockheed which does not allow non-US citizens within. Slightly less hectic than DC. On site vending machines, you go out if you want more.  
If you haven't lived in Washington the concept of NW (northwest) and NE (northeast) probably won't mean much to you. The US Capitol building is the "center" with the city divided into quarters based on a compass. North Capitol, East Capitol, and South Capitol lie along the axes. There is no West Capitol, that's where the Mall is. In this case it refers not to a place to shop but rather the biggest lawn you've ever seen (I ain't mowin it.). Reflecting pools, statues and monuments, etc. Pretty nice, not too cluttered. Most of the Smithsonian Institution buildings are near there. (SI is sort of the US national museum.) 

         NW | NE 
       | 
       | 
       | 
Mall---+--------- 
       | 
       | 
       | 
    SW | SE 

So I'm saying 14th St. NE is a long way from 14th St. SW, etc. Emergency equipment used to routinely get lost, a situation which seems to have improved. 

DC (The District of Columbia) is a capitol city with the required museums, theaters, pan handlers and slums. Get a map. READ THE MAP. Stay out of SouthEast. If an area looks like it would be dangerous after dark assume it is rather than assuming it isn't. 

Taxi cabs in the district work on a zone system. Assume if they don't try to rip you off they will let you rip yourself off. Know where you want to go. Walking a block might save several bucks(dollars). Virginia and Maryland cabs are metered.  Most convenient airport is National Airport (DCA). (Now Ronald Reagan National Airport). Most liked Airport is Baltimore-Washington International (BWI). (Amtrak has a station near there, and there are shuttle busses.)  Most under-utilized airport is Washington-Dulles Airport (AID). 
The story is that Dulles was renamed Washington-Dulles because too many people were ending up in DALLAS. (That's in a surreal place known as Texas.) 
There is a subway called Metro. Get a map. (Reasonably good assistance line if you know where you want to go but don't know which subway train to take.) It was apparently designed for tourists. If you know any other subway that serves two cemeteries, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF.) 
The bus lines work. Most of the local busses are part of Metro. The same number gets you bus information that gets you subway information. The equipment varies from relatively new handicapped capable "kneeling" busses to old (how can I say this) (oh, yeah...) cattle cars. Some routes are bearable, some really make you wish you took walked. Some localities started their own bus lines when Metro failed to live up to their expectations. The rates are usually cheaper than metro. The locality busses are usually newer than metro
busses. 
Highways exist. Traffic exists. The worst traffic is now apparently on Saturday along US rt1 south into Fairfax county, Virginia. If you want to drive in the DC area remember that traffic regulations vary from locality to locality. Apparently you can now get a ticket in Arlington for "encroaching" on a cross walk when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. In DC the pedestrians don't need a crosswalk. 
And for all you yahoos from California, the law in Virginia is that traffic on the primary artery has the right of way over vehicles trying to merge. GET OVER IT. 
Bicycle paths exist. If you want to use your bike you better read the laws in (you guessed it) every jurisdiction. In Virginia a bike is a vehicle. Keep it off the sidewalk. Wear a helmet. If a sidewalk is designated as a bike path then it is not a sidewalk, it's a bike path, and the rules are different. In Virginia, if you're riding a bike and clip a pedestrian and leave the scene it's legally no different than if you did it with a Mack truck. (Hit and Run) In DC a bike apparently is no different than having big feet. I don't know what aberration Maryland has. 
Gotta go, my beer is calling me.