Wait, this mysterious heavily-armored blue train caboose belongs to the Navy?

[drdispatch]

An article from "The Drive" which may be of interest, especially if you're a rail-spotter:

Wait, This Mysterious Heavily-Armored Blue Train Caboose Belongs To The Navy?

The Navy is a prolific user of nuclear power and needs to protect nuclear material when traveling by rail. That's where the armored caboose comes in.

www.thedrive.com

 

[trentbob]

Very interesting article. One thing is for sure, you wouldn't worry about train robberies with that caboose.

I also enjoy the article on the white trains in the eighties

 

[drdispatch]

The article also mentions the Peacekeeper Missile Rail Garrison mode; one of those boxcars is on display at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

 

[Mojaveflyer]

I believe the rail museum in Amarillo, TX has some examples of the 'white train' cars used to transport nuclear warheads back in the 80's. I got to escort two of the white trains while I was working for the BN. Those were some interesting operations. The protesters liked to put junker cars on the tracks ahead of the train knowing a car/train collision would delay the train.

 

[chrismol1]

Very cool. Its been a while since I did serious railfanning I'll have to jump on the groups. This defiently is of special interest. The spent fuel being transported to Idaho thru Pan Am from Mass into NY. I'm sleeping only a few hundred yards from the line where nuc waste and parts is sent thru. They did a excerise with DOE a few years ago around these parts

 

[PACNWDude]

This was an interesting read. I worked on ballistic missiles in Cheyenne, Wyoming back in the early 1990's and the remnants of the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison are all over the place. Too bad that was not built out for the cool factor, but it was impractical from a maintenance standpoint. A lot of people did not know that two modified Peacekeeper ICBM's were the two solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle fleet.

As for the protesters and placing junked cars on the tracks, this still continues with some of the junked cars used to attempt to stifle convoys of trucks going to the missile field as well. U.S. Marshal's block highway onramps and offramps, while base security vehicles provide escort to the missile component transporters. Makes for some interesting listening if you know what you are doing.

 

[drdispatch]

This was an interesting read. I worked on ballistic missiles in Cheyenne, Wyoming back in the early 1990's and the remnants of the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison are all over the place. Too bad that was not built out for the cool factor, but it was impractical from a maintenance standpoint. A lot of people did not know that two modified Peacekeeper ICBM's were the two solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle fleet.

As for the protesters and placing junked cars on the tracks, this still continues with some of the junked cars used to attempt to stifle convoys of trucks going to the missile field as well. U.S. Marshal's block highway onramps and offramps, while base security vehicles provide escort to the missile component transporters. Makes for some interesting listening if you know what you are doing.

Greetings, brother Airman!
Yeah, I can only imagine the logistics involved in maintaining something that's always moving, and only a few people know where it is.

I went TDY from Offutt to Whiteman in July 1982 (Whiteman was a missile base back then) and got to listen to a missile convoy; at first I didn't realize what I was listening to, but I soon figured it out.
A coworker of mine (who is also ANG Security Forces) will be leaving in a couple of weeks for his new job as a security guard at the Idaho National Lab. That place is HUGE, and literally in the middle of nowhere....

 

[KE5MC]

I was stationed on a submarine tender and when they were moving weapons from the torpedo shop to the submarine along side there was always armed security stationed top-side. Didn't make any difference if it was a practice shot or a war shot... until they were moving ones that make a really big bang. Then it was 3 times the security and movie camera everywhere. They would never say what was being moved, but a blind man could tell the difference.

 

[Mojaveflyer]

I worked for BN for 18 years. We had some 'white trains' I escorted over the years. They transported nuclear warheads from Amarillo, TX, to Bangor, WA, where the Navy loaded the warheads on submarines. There were a couple of 'DOE Escort' cars on the train that were staffed by DOE Couriers. They were well armed and didn't have much of a sense of humor. If you get to the rail museum in Amarillo, TX, I'm told they have one of these 'white trains' on display, including the escort cars. These new blue waycars are basically the same thing up dated to escort spent nuclear fuel to a disposal site.

 

[N8FNR]

This was an interesting read. I worked on ballistic missiles in Cheyenne, Wyoming back in the early 1990's and the remnants of the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison are all over the place. Too bad that was not built out for the cool factor, but it was impractical from a maintenance standpoint. A lot of people did not know that two modified Peacekeeper ICBM's were the two solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle fleet.

As for the protesters and placing junked cars on the tracks, this still continues with some of the junked cars used to attempt to stifle convoys of trucks going to the missile field as well. U.S. Marshal's block highway onramps and offramps, while base security vehicles provide escort to the missile component transporters. Makes for some interesting listening if you know what you are doing.

The USAF museum in Dayton Ohio has a Peacekeeper box car. Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car

 

[WB9YBM]

a possible site for information (and I'm sure there's more available): Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois - A Museum in Motion (irm.org)

 

[spacellamaman]

everyone loves a big ole caboose

 

[WB9YBM]