I live near grovetown ga, outside fort Gordon. Csx has tracks that go into the base, but they are abandoned. There is also a abandoned wye that has been taken up. Does anyone have Any information on what the fort received by rail and or what happened to it? Thanks.
If Fort Gordon is like most military bases that existed during World War 2, practically all supplies (and personnel) arrived by rail, and entire units shipped out by rail for overseas duty.
Fort McCoy in Wisconsin is still rail served and the last time they had an open house for Armed Forces day, they had their ex Contrail Geep on display in a nice red US Army paint scheme. They have several loading ramps at the ends of sidings of the sort you used to see at piggyback loading yards when they still loaded circus style.
I assume they load a variety of military vehicles on US Army flatcars. I can recall seeing many such trains during Operation Desert Storm. And yes way back the troops would travel by passenger train or troop sleeper train.
Fort McCoy has an entire historical museum portion on its base and during that open house I was able to see a wide variety of historical photos and information about every aspect of base life and operation, including rail operations. That is in addition to their huge collection of preserved and perfectly maintained tanks, trucks, helicopters, and other big pieces of military hardware. If Fort Gordon ever has an open house I strongly urge you to go, particularly if they also have a museum. Fascinating.
Dave Nelson
Great Lakes Naval Station used thier tracks to bring coal into the power plants.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
During WWII Fort Gordon had an armored division and also housed POWs. Armor moves by rail - tanks are hard on roads (and vice versa) and WWII era tanks weren't fast enough to maintain highway speeds (even the 35MPH mandated by the Federales at the time.) I suspect the POWs were delivered on post in rail transport - minimized opportunities for escape.
Since WWII Fort Gordon has become the headquarters for the Signal Corps. The equipment used for communications and SIGINT is small, portable and readily moved by road and/or air. What took a bobtail to carry during WWII goes in a backpack now, with room left over for rations and spare socks.
Fort Campbell, KY, still has extensive rail facilities. It hosts armor. Even though the Abrams is a speed demon by WWII standards it can't maintain freeway speeds, so there are all those DODX flats to move them out (and back.)
In the early 80s both Ellsworth AFB, SD, and Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, had rail service. The rails have since been lifted at both locations.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
During the mid 60's, I was stationed at Forts Jackson, Gordon, Eustis & Knox. All had rail service at that time. One commodity in big time use then was coal for heating & steam boilers. I'd be willing to bet it was delivered by rail. Fort Eustis at that time was also the school for railroad MOS's. Wish I would have had more interest at that time as I saw them laying track, installing switches, & then ripping them up to do it all over again.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
As a kid I loved at Travis AFB near Fairfield California and it had a rail line onto the base. I recall there were center cab switchers engines that operated but remember very little otherwise.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Fort Jackson in South Carolina had a pretty extensive rail system. They had warehouses with tracks running alongside so cars could be unloaded into the warehouses. Until sometime in the '60's or '70's they heated pretty much everything with coal, which came in by rail.
Around '79 or '80, the spur that went into the fort ran right behind my house. I woke up one morning around Christmas-time to the sound of diesels from the back yard. A string of passenger coaches was being shoved into the fort, to pick up trainees who were given leave to go home for Christmas.
A few years later, the spur was torn up to make way for a highway expansion. By that time, the fort had switched to natural gas heat, and a lot of the warehouses had been torn down.
Remember: In South Carolina, North is southeast of Due West... HIOAg /Bill
From my position of ignorance, it would seem, given the state of highways and road transport that most consumables from 100-150 miles or more away would come by rail.
No one has mentioned artilery pieces and ammunition, plus small arms ammo, Training to use rifles,etc uses up a lot of ammo.
A Division of troops eats alot.
Sorry, I thought I saw a mention of WWII era. roads are better now.
Dave
All of the bases that I worked on or near during my career with the Department of Defense had rail service including but not limited to the the following: Travis AFB, Sacramento Army Base, Defense Depot Tracy, Sharpe Army Depot, Letterkenny Arny Depot, Beale Air Foce Base, Navy Supply Depot, Mechanicsburg, PA, Fortt Chaffee, Fort Hood.
The Hawthorn ammunition depot in Hawthorn NV still ships some by rail. I've seen cars traveling with the local through Silver Springs on what's left of the Mina Branch. Not sure if they still have their own locomotives but they did for certain when I first moved to Nevada 20 years ago.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
Before it closed in the '60s, Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, ME had a rail connection. I believe mostly for fuel (B-52s are very thirsty), but maybe also bombs, misseles, ammo, spare parts, and other supplies. As mentioned above, WW II saw a lot of rail traffic when the base was running than (before my time)
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Fort Carson, Colorado still uses rail today. I loaded M60A3 tanks on trains there in the 80s.
The most recent Google Maps satellite view shows the Carson yard with a few trains being made up. North side of the base, where S. Academy Blvd crosses Magrath Ave. Doing the street view from Academy gives a good overall look.
Sean
HO Scale CSX Modeler
crhostler61 The Hawthorn ammunition depot in Hawthorn NV still ships some by rail. I've seen cars traveling with the local through Silver Springs on what's left of the Mina Branch. Not sure if they still have their own locomotives but they did for certain when I first moved to Nevada 20 years ago. Mark H
My college roommate was from Hawthorn; his dad was a computer programmer on base. After college, he went back home and taught for a while. On my first real vacation, I flew up to see him for a week. The ammunition plant still had an engine house, and three Baldwin switchers. This was in 1981. When I look at the area via Google maps; I can't find an enginehouse anymore. The internet has some info on a rail operations there now, but it looks like it is a fraction of what it once was.
Camp Bullard near San Antonio was served by a SP branchline; when the branch was cut back in the late 1990's; I saw the switcher loaded on a flatcar for transport elsewhere. Did not have a camera with me at the time.
Fort Hood has extensive rail operations. At the 2013 Santa Fe Modeler's Convention held in Temple, there was a tour of their facilities.
Fort Lewis near Tacoma Washington has quite a large rail yard, and they have at least one engine. They recently rebuilt the rails and the rail yard. You can look it up in Google earth. They also buit a new engine house in a different location. It is now right next to the yards. They frequently bring loaded flats, sometimes hundreds of them with M1 tanks, hummers, MRAPs and other military equipment. When a Army Group deploys, they take all their equipment, including vehicles. They also load containers on flats with a large fork lift type of contraption that picks up the container. I have not seen them in the act of loading/unloading, but I am sure that is what it is for. BNSF usually brings the train to/from the base, and they use a caboose due to the long shoves due to no useable wye. I guess that would be a shoving platform in todays terms. The tracks go through McChord Field as they now call it, but there is no longer any rail service to the Air Force Base.
Paul,
Dayton and Mad River RR
Let's see.
United States Navy Construction Battalion Center (CBC/SEABEES) Port Hueneme, California.
Extensive rail system and rather unique, as part of the system serves the deep water commercial port of Port Hueneme.
Ventura County Railroad (VCY), Oxnard, California, operates on base to serve the commercial interest. As a matter of fact VCY is the base connection to the Union Pacific (Southern Pacific) in Oxnard.
CBC "Y"neme railroad entrance is on Channel Harbor Road and a block signal guards the VCY/CBC.The base use to have a yellow General Electric 65 tonner Center Cab, in Navy Yellow, with the number as I recall in the 65-000000 series.
Usually was run by civilian civil service personel, but Navy SEABEE ratings, especially Equipment Operators (EO's), would also run locomotives and act as trainmen.
Barksdale Air Force Base Louisiana/Bossier Air Force Base, Louisiana, had two (2) physically disconnected rail systems, the 1st, had a connection to the Louisiana Railway & Naviagation/Louisiana & Arkansas/Kansas City Southern Railroad connection, at the Bases' Main Gate (West Gate), U.S. Highway 71.
Served the main side of Base, supply and fuel depots. In later years, operated by a civilian civil service crew. Last locomotive used, was a General Electric 65 tonner, painted Air Force Blue, with Air Force White Star on cab.
Also had a fleet of DODX/U.S.Army Transportation Corps, silver rivited tank cars in use.
Back in the 1960's/early 1980's, SAC Simulators (Modified Passenger Cars) were on base also.
Operations ceased in the late 1980's and track is removed.
The Bossier Base, a base within a base at Barksdale's east reservation, had a connection with the Vicksburg,Shreveport & Pacific/ Yazoo & Mississippi Valley/Illinois Central/Illinois Central Gulf. (VS&P/Y&MV/IC/ICG).
Line was used for the huge munnitions storage area's. Trackage removed around same time as main side trackage. Right off, I don't recall, if a U.S. Army Switcher an or another U.S. Air Force Switcher was kept there and or if IC did switching.
The former Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant(LAAP) just east of the Barksdale Reservation, had a EXTENSIVE railroad system, to be exact over 65 miles and a major on post rail yard.
Usually had several U.S. Army General Electric Center Cabs, but not always. Extensive rolling stock and maintenance-of-way equipment.
Ammunition Plant and Railroad, was operated by a civilian contractor for the U.S. Army, last firm was Morton-Thiokal Corporation. Rail operation had well over 60 employee's and was for all purposes a A"Shortline" Operation.
Had two connections, one on North Side, the Louisiana & Arkansas/Kansas City Southern.
What was unique with this connection, is that there was a "At Grade Crossing" on a U.S. Interstate, I-20. That's right a at grade crossing, not a underpass and or overpass of the freeway. A very interesting operation into itself!
The South side connection, was at Doyline, Louisiana, with the Illinois Central.
Plant finally shut down, during the 1990's D.O.D. Base and Realingment Closurers of the early 1990's.
Reservation was "paper deeded" to the State of Louisiana Military Department, the Louisiana Army National Guard/Air National Guard around 10 years after closure and today is known as Camp Minden LANG/LAANG. Most trackage is still in place and some civilian concerns lease areas of Camp for civilian/quasi government manfacturing operations.
Railroad operations were operated for a while by the East Camden & Highland Railroad, but now operation is by WATCO.
The U.S. Army Lone Star Ammunition Plant had a extensive rail operation also and used GE Center Cabs. Closed around the time of LAAP. Connection was with the Louisiana & Arkansas/Kansas City Southern, at Karnack, Texas.
The Red River Army Depot/Long Horn Army Ammunition Plant, in Hooks, Texas also had a extensive rail operation. Had a connection with the Texas & Pacific and also the St. Louis Southwestern.
Used a variety of U.S. Army Locomotives and extensive rolling stock collection.
Just a few military reservations that had and or still have rail operations
The naval base at Pearl Harbor was practically built using the railroad. The dredging company used the railroad a lot to move around all of the material they had dug up. The locomotive cranes were used extensively to build the base, from putting together shipyard cranes to lifting concrete. Tracks were temporarily laid inside buildings to bring in the construction material and machinery. Ammunition was moved by rail. After the attack the railroad was used to clean up and repair damage. The Navy found they were short on equipment and sent a ton of equipment out to Hawaii. After WWII, there was a surplus and much of the equipment was scrapped or sold off. A few diesels (GE centercabs) were kept along some rolling stock to transport ammunition. Unfortuantly that too came to an end and the rails were mostly ripped up.
Interestingly on Oahu everything was 3ft narrow gauge except for the coal bunkers, which were standard gauge and had a few cranes and locomotives.
What about Shaw AFB in South Carolina.
Russell
Concord Naval Weapons Station, Port Chicago, CA
Hosted a few Myth Busters episodes. Plus, in the 70s, before being decommissioned, some Vietnam protester got both legs cut off when he tried to stop a locomotive. Might have been a Sacramento Northern, but SP and ATSF both had connections.
Google map it and see how many tracks are still there.
WP Lives
Fort Monmouth(sp), NJ - Extensive track work on the back side of the base. It was disused when we were there in the mid 70's and didn't last much after that.
Lakehurst NAS, NJ - Had extensive track to service the airships and blimps. Helium cars and fuel tankers were common and photos can be found. Temporary track was actually laid into the airship hangers so that the HE cars could be loaded and unloaded
Fort Monroe Va, had track into it. Pulled up prior to WWII. Mostly passenger service to serve the Chamberline Hotel. There was a tale of a 3' gauge RR that served the coastal artillary batteries, but I have never seen pics or evidence of it.
Fort Eustis Va, still has track as it is the US Army Transportation Command. This is where the logistics guys go to learn how to load the Ro-Ro's and Pre po ships as well DODX cars.
Fort Belvoire VA, extensive trackage for the Engineers.
Badger Ammunition Works WI, EXTENSIVE trackwork inside the plant for the making of ammunation and filling some ordience. The loco is currently at Mid Continent Railroad Museum.
I grew up on a number of Army Posts and one Air Force Base in the 1960s and 1970s. (Note my dad made sure that I knew the distinction that for the Army it was a "Post" and for the Air Force it was a "Base".) Anyway, they all had railroad trackage. Some had their own motive power but most did not. I haven't seen anyone model that, it would make an interesting layout. At Fort Devens, Massachusetts coal was brough in and groceries for the commissary.
When I lived at Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Mount Clemens, Michigan I got to ride the GE 45 tonner and tour the engine house. Mostly the RR brought in coal but the most unusual load they hauled was the remains of a crashed military jet, including its jet engines.
Victor Baird
csxns What about Shaw AFB in South Carolina.
wabash2800 I grew up on a number of Army Posts and one Air Force Base in the 1960s and 1970s. (Note my dad made sure that I knew the distinction that for the Army it was a "Post" and for the Air Force it was a "Base".) Anyway, they all had railroad trackage. Some had their own motive power but most did not. I haven't seen anyone model that, it would make an interesting layout. At Fort Devens, Massachusetts coal was brough in and groceries for the commissary. Victor Baird
LOL. Same here. My dad make sure my siblings and I knew better than to call an Army "Post" a "Base".
I did some previous research into railroads on military facilities and it seems most installations had rail access at one time or another. Most tracks were pulled up in the late 70's except for the ones housing units with heavy equipment and ammunition depots. Check out the topographic maps at the USGS. They usually have good details on the track arrangements. The maps are free to download.
portroyalman csxns What about Shaw AFB in South Carolina. I agree. Does anyone know about that? And thanks for all the replies. I had no idea that railroads were that big for military bases. Always thought that planes and trucks did most of that work nowadays.
I agree. Does anyone know about that? And thanks for all the replies. I had no idea that railroads were that big for military bases. Always thought that planes and trucks did most of that work nowadays.
Military goods are often compact and heavy. Perfect for rail transport. Planes are only used to get a relatively small amount of equipment somewhere fast. Many times the equipment is prepositioned close to potential hotspots and only the troops get airlifted. Trucks are flexible but can't carry as much as rail.
I visited FairBanks, Alaska a few years ago. The Alaska RR had a line out to the air base, mostly hauling jet fuel.
No idea who did what on base.
As a Canadian I didn't try to visit the base.
I followed the same parade of forts from Pittsburgh in 1966. My group rode a B&O pullman to D.C., an SAL coach to Ft. Jackson, and a bus to Ft. Gordan. During basic training I would wander down near the rifle ranges on weekends to watch Georgia Railroad trains pass. I'm not sure if the main track ran through the base or along the border.
Ft. Eustis had a connection to the C&O Richmond -Newport News line plus its own training railroad which I got to ride on behind one of their diesels.
Ft. Knox had an Illinois Central line passing through th base.
Mark Vinski
Beale AFB, Marysville (Linda), California still uses rail. U2 base.
Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck, NJ has an extensive network of track plus a 14 mile line to a pier in Raritan Bay.
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
softail86markBeale AFB, Marysville (Linda), California still uses rail. U2 base.
Do they still use rail?
Looked at Google Earth. Spotted one tank car in 2013 photo on a spur (no where near a place it could not be unloaded). Same car at same place in 2011 photo. What appears to be same car at end of track in 2010 photo just ouside (a warehouse?), the only place where track is covered. I think they no longer have a locomotive on the base. Didn't see any.
Oldest photos 1993 (poor quality). No sign of rail activity on them or the 1998 )poor quality) photos either.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
Mark Vinski - Your post was really interesting for me. I left Pittsburgh in January of 1966 via train from the old P&LE station to DC, then on to Fort Jackson (Reception Center). Then by bus to Fort Gordon for Basic, then Fort Eustis for AIT. After Vietnam, the last 6 months stationed at Fort Knox. Out of curiosity, what was your time frame.