Train Bunkers

[eTraxx]

Thinking .. that might make for a good model. Have a section of track that is completely cut off .. and a boxcar next to a platform used for a storage building ...

 

[vato loco]

I wonder if there is any ACTIVE Bunkers sites any where else? It might be safe to say,"yes" and where to start looking? My guess they would have be located far away from the general public at large. Is this Bunker site still on a active base? If it ain't in use I wonder why it hasn't been bulldozed yet and used for something else? Nice, piece-o-land!

 

[UP2CSX]

That ain't the desert. It's right on Susuin Bay, an arm of the San Fransisco Bay. It's very humid and there is a lot of salt in the atmosphere. It looks brown because that's how all of California looks in the summer, when there's virtually no rain from June to October. The Inland Area of the Concord Naval Weapons Station is no longer operating. The tracks are being torn up, as shown in the photos. The stranded boxcars are being used for tool and supply storage as part of the demolition work. When it's complete, the boxcars will be scrapped on site. If you hunt around, you'll see other such boxcars still around various parts of the Inland Area, all ex-DODX 40' and 50' boxcars.

Chris, the biggest weapons depot still operating in the US, and possibly the world, is the Hawthorne Army Depot in Hawthorne, Nevada. It's in the middle of nowhere, which is why it was chosen as the location for a new naval weapons depot after a s huger explosion in a densley populated area of New Jersey. It was transfered to Army control in 1977. It's a huge place, about 240 square miles, with about 2,500 ammunition bunkers. It's operated by contractors now and the railroad is still marginally active, with the engine house and some 44 and 70 tonners visible from Highway 95 as you come into town from the north. This picture gives you an idea of the scope of the facility:

 

[bkpigs]

What an interesting track plan. Anyone else follow the tracks to all of the bunkers and magazines?

Yah, I thought it was neat how they had it set up. I am sure it made sense to the guy who designed it but it seemed like there would have been a more efficient track plan. Like instead of looping the "main" around the property I would have just ran it along one end with several seperate spurs running away from the "main". Seemed like the plan they had could easily be clogged up with one switching engine (which they probably didn't need to run more than one) or render the entire place useless if something were to explode in the first bunker causing the "main" to become impassible. Maybe the terrain limited this.

 

[ChevelleSSguy]

So who is going to be the first to model these rail car bunkers?

 

[Chris Roy]

Chris, the biggest weapons depot still operating in the US, and possibly the world, is the Hawthorne Army Depot in Hawthorne, Nevada. It's in the middle of nowhere, which is why it was chosen as the location for a new naval weapons depot after a s huger explosion in a densley populated area of New Jersey. It was transfered to Army control in 1977. It's a huge place, about 240 square miles, with about 2,500 ammunition bunkers. It's operated by contractors now and the railroad is still marginally active, with the engine house and some 44 and 70 tonners visible from Highway 95 as you come into town from the north.

You beat me to it. I drive through Hawthorne a few times a year on the way to visit inlaws. The McDonald's has some nice pictures of the facility as well as historical pics of the original in NJ, and a writeup about the explosion and decision to move.

The other nice thing about the drive up Hwy 95 is being able to trace the old narrow gauge right of way that parallels the route.

 

[UP2CSX]

I remember those pictures in the McDonalds, now that you mention it, Chris. It's a good place to stop, get a burger, and check out the old picture. It's also about the only fast food restaurant between Tonopah and Fernley.

The abandoned grade you can see south from Hawthorne is from the Mina branch on the old SP. It was only narrow gauge until 1905, when it was standard gauged. The branch started at Mound House, although the SP built a line down from Hazen about 1915 that cut off the V&T traffic from Mound House, and led the abandonment of the V&T branch about 1920. The route from Hazen to Thorne, Mina, and Tonapah Junction was intact until 1947. The section from Tonopah Junction to Mina was abandoned in 1947, since the T&G from Goldfield to Tonopah Junction to Mina was also abandoned up in 1947. The line from Hazen to Mina managed to hang on until 1990, hauling a few trains a week with concentrates from mining in the Mina area and loads to and from the ammo depot. The mines around Mina closed up in the later 80's, with the decline in gold and silver prices, and the SP filed to abandon the branch back to Wabuska in 1991. The Army still saw the need for rails from Thorne to Wabuska in case operations at the depot cranked up again, so they bought the line from Thorne to Wabuska from the SP, and still operate occasional trains today, using UP motive power. The line from Thorne to Mina was torn up in 1992, and this is the grade that is seen so clearly from Highway 95. If you get a chance to walk the grade for any distance, you'll see how throughly the SP cleaned up the branch when they pulled it up. Not a rail, tie, or even a spike to be seen. As part of the agreement with BLM, they had to remove as much man-made material as possible, and breech all the culverts along the route. The grade itself is the only thing that remains. Since it was a well-built, heavily graded line, at least that remnant should last for many decades to come.