I was an Amtrak OBS Washington, DC employee in the 1980s/'90s and to see this area 25+ years later is astounding. There was virtually nothing where all of those high-rise buildings across the tracks are today, maybe some low, rundown townhouses and small businesses, but NE DC in that area was not considered a safe place for most people to go. The building with the curved roof and what look to be loft apartments carved into them was the old Washington Coliseum, where The Beatles played their first DC concert in 1964 (probably the "historic" part of what the sign on it refers to). When I was around there it was a trash transfer station.

Love the East Coast rail action. Have you been on the MARC train?