Not (Quite) The Longest

I've long wondered if the escalator at the Dupont Circle stop on the Washington Metro is the longest in the world. I know this much: it all but made me give up smoking three year ago. I was in D.C. covering baseball on a day when the Dupont escalator broke down. So up I trudged the Lord-knows-how-many steps, lugging my 25-lb backpack, huffing and puffing all the way to the top. I was dizzy from fatigue by the time I climbed my last step. I think it was shortly after that I quit smoking.

It's a two-minute ride. If you don't believe me, ride it for yourself by watching this video.

Anyway, I'm back in D.C. and the escalator was working this morning. But I later discovered on a Google search that it is not the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere. That title belongs to another escalator on the same line, the one located at the Wheaton station. But Dupont can't be far behind.

Here's a photo:

By the way, there's a very good used bookstore at Dupont Circle: Second Story Books. I've made quite a few "scores" there over the years with books on my National Book Award list for fiction.