A B737-800 CREW AT DCA WERE UNABLE TO IDENTIFY THE 'RWY 4 BLOCK' FROM THE COMMERCIAL ARPT CHART AND ATC WOULD NOT IDENTIFY THE LOCATION.

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ON WED OF FEB 2007; AFTER LNDG ACR X AT DCA; WE CLEARED RWY 1 AND SWITCHED TO GROUND CONTROL FREQUENCY. OUR GATE WAS TO HAVE BEEN GATE X; BUT OPS CHANGED THE GATE TO Y. BOTH GATES WERE OCCUPIED AND WE WOULD HAVE TO WAIT FOR A GATE. GROUND GAVE US THE CLRNC TO 'TAXI TO THE RWY 4 BLOCK.' THE CAPTAIN CONTINUED SLOWLY SOUTHBOUND ON TXWY J AS WE TRIED TO DECIPHER WHAT 'RWY 4 BLOCK' MEANT ON THE TAXI DIAGRAM. ABEAM GATE Y WE CONTACTED A VERY BUSY GROUND CONTROLLER TO COMMUNICATE THAT WE WERE UNFAMILIAR; AND COULD GROUND PLEASE GIVE US A CLRNC VIA TXWYS MARKED. GROUND RESPONDED WITH A VERY FRUSTRATED CLRNC 'ACR X -- I TOLD YOU TO TAXI TO RWY 4 BLOCK.' A GROUND MAINTENANCE VEHICLE JUMPED IN ON THE FREQUENCY TO OFFER TO PROVIDE FOLLOW ME SERVICE OR CLEAR US TO A DESIGNATED SPOT; BUT GROUND CONTROL IGNORED HIS SOLICITATION AND AGAIN CLEARED US TO THE RWY 4 BLOCK. AN ACR Y WAS PASSING US ON THE INSIDE TXWY; AND GROUND THEN CHANGED THE PLAN. 'ACR X; WAIT FOR ACR Y TO PASS THEN FOLLOW HIM VIA K TO THE RWY 4 BLOCK'. WE WERE STILL UNCLEAR WHAT THE MEANING OF RWY 4 BLOCK MEANT; BUT IN MY READBACK I OFFERED 'WOULD YOU LIKE US AT THE INTERSECTIONS OF TXWYS A AND B?' GROUND ANSWERED; 'YES. TAXI TO THE RWY 4 BLOCK.' AS WE APPROACHED RWY 4; A BLAST FENCE AND A RUNUP AREA BECAME VISIBLE IN THIS POORLY LIT AREA OF THE AIRFIELD. WE PULLED OVER AND CAME TO A STOP IN THE RUNUP AREA. AFTER STOPPING IN THE RUNUP AREA; I MADE A CALL TO GROUND; 'RWY 4 BLOCK IS NOT IDENTIFIED ON THE CHART.' GROUND'S RESPONSE WAS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WHERE THE RUNUP AREA TO RWY 4 WAS. IT IS NOT LABELED ON THE 10-9 OR NOTED IN OUR 10-7S THAT DCA GROUND HAS NONSTANDARD TERMINOLOGY FOR THE RUNUP AREA. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT AT NO TIME DID GROUND USE THE TERM 'RUNUP AREA.' FIVE TO TEN MINUTES PASSED AS THE ACFT WAS TOWED OFF OUR GATE. WHEN THE GATE WAS OPENING UP; WE ASKED GROUND; 'CAN WE TAXI TO PARKING'. THE RESPONSE CAME; 'ACR X; I'LL GET BACK TO YOU.' SO WE WAITED. THIRTY SECONDS LATER; GROUND GAVE THE CLRNC; 'ACR X TAXI TO YOUR GATE STRAIGHT AHEAD VIA J'. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT WE WERE NOT ADJACENT TO TXWY J. THE RUNUP AREA IS ADJACENT TO TXWYS A; B AND RWY 4. TXWY J WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF RWY 4 (WHICH WAS INACTIVE AT THE TIME) OR ACCESSIBLE BY TAXIING VIA A TO C TO J. THE CAPT EAGER TO GET TO THE GATE STARTED ADDING POWER TO GET THE ACFT MOVING. APCHING THE HOLD LINE FOR RWY 4 (APPROX 25 FT FROM OUR PARKED POSITION AT THE RAMP) I TOLD THE CAPT; 'STOP; WE'RE ABOUT TO TAXI ONTO RWY 4.' HE TOLD ME; 'NO; I CAN SEE OUR TXWY STRAIGHT AHEAD.' AND HE CONTINUED THE TAXI. THE TXWYS WERE DARK; THIS PART OF THE AIRPORT WAS NOT LIT WELL AT ALL; AND I THOUGHT MAYBE I WAS DISORIENTED SO I WAS REFERRING TO THE 10-9 WHEN GROUND INTERRUPTED; ACR X; YOU HAVE TAXIED ONTO RWY 4; CONTINUE STRAIGHT AHEAD ON RWY 4 AND EXIT TXWY C.' THIS TIME THE PROBLEM WAS TXWY C WAS BEHIND US; TAXIING STRAIGHT AHEAD WOULD GET US OFF OF RWY 4 BUT NOT ADJACENT TO TXWY C. THE CAPT FOLLOWING GROUND'S INSTRUCTION TO TAXI STRAIGHT AHEAD CROSSED RWY 4. ON THE OTHER SIDE; GROUND CONTROL FINALLY CLEARED US TO THE GATE WITH A VALID CLRNC; 'TAXI VIA J; CROSS RWY 4; TAXI VIA J TO THE GATE.' WE FOLLOWED THE TAXI INSTRUCTIONS TO THE GATE. 1) GROUND NEEDED TO USE STANDARD TERMINOLOGY AND DIRECT TFC TO TXWYS LISTED ON THE CHART. 2) THE AIRPORT NEEDS TO DO A BETTER JOB OF LIGHTING THE TXWYS AT NIGHT AND DESIGNATING HOLDING AREAS. 3) THE CAPTAIN SHOULD HAVE STOPPED WHEN DIRECTED TO BY HIS COPILOT. 4) I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN OVER AND STOPPED THE AIRCRAFT WHEN THE CAPT WAS UNRESPONSIVE TO MY VERBAL DIRECTION TO STOP THE ACFT BEFORE CREATING A POSSIBLE RWY INCURSION. 5) THE 10-7 MIGHT NEED TO BE UPDATED TO INCLUDE A NOTE THAT 'RWY 4 BLOCK' MEANS THE RUNUP AREA ADJACENT TO THE BLAST FENCES AND RWY 4 AND TXWY A.CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THAT FOLLOWING THE CREW'S INITIAL REQUEST FOR A 'RWY 4 BLOCK' CLARIFICATION; THE GND MAINT TRUCK PERSONNEL'S OFFER TO ACT AS A 'FOLLOW ME' WAS EXPLICITLY REJECTED BY THE ATC GND CTLR. A FURTHER ATTEMPT BY THE SAME MAINT PERSONNEL TO PROVIDE A TXWY DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLD AREA WAS LIKEWISE REBUFFED BY ATC. ULTIMATELY THE CREW WAS IN THE GENERAL RWY 4 HOLD AREA BUT TOO FAR SOUTH ON TXWY 'B' MAKING THEIR EXIT OUT OF THE AREA DIFFICULT WITHOUT USING RWY 4 APCH END. WHEN THE ACFT DID ULTIMATELY ENTER RWY 4; THE CAPT WAS CONFUSED ABOUT THEIR LOCATION AND SO THE INCURSION RESULTED. THE RPTR STATES THAT THE GND CTLR HAD NO FURTHER COMMENTS FOR THE CREW AFTER THIS EVENT WAS CONCLUDED.