[8)]Now this was really bizarre. Today as I pulled up to watch trains at the BNSF Eola Yard in Aurora my buddies were all in a tizzy and looing at a train stopped for a westbound signal. It had a very clean NS older SD40 (in black with the horse logo), than one empty flat followed by three dark blue box cars lettered DOD, followed by one more empty flat, followed by a very clean jet black way car (caboose) also lettered DOD[:p]. We believe this was a Depertment of Defense train of some sort, but only one unit…five cars and a way car. It sat at the waiting for its westbound signal only about five minutes then took off like a rocket. While sitting still, one of my buddies drove his car up the track on a side road and stopped righ adjacent to the way car and looked for a moment and then took a few photos of the way car. Well, he came back and told us there was at least one guy in the way car who “stared him down” [B)]through the window…MAKES YOU WONDER WHAT THEY WERE TRANSPORTING, DOESN’ IT[?]
eolafan,
I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you[:D]. Its common when we run military trains to have someone “follow” us. I do know what they had(generally speaking) and it was an Aurora crew. I’m not going to dare say anything else for fear of black helicopters and suited men becoming my friends.LOL…I think
Shrek
I know the USN ones are sometimes light blue, but I’ve never seen dark blue.
Dave
-DPD Productions - Featuring the TrainTenna RR Radio Monitoring Antennas-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/
No question about the cargo on the DOD trains I see - they are all flat cars.
Last summer I saw a DOD train traveling east on the former Santa Fe line through Galesburg – but later that day the scanner informed me that a car on it had tripped an excessive width detector near Chillicothe and basically tied up the railroad. The treads of the tanks on the flats were just slightly wider than the flatcar decks, seemingly not excessive - but perhaps a load had shifted after I saw that train.
Dave Nelson
Nukes? [?][?]
[quote]
Originally posted by eolafan
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed
Nukes? [?][?]
[:0] Not likely. I am sure if they were nukes they would not have stopped the train under virtually any circumstances and also they would have had some other form of protection (helicopters, etc.) rather than simply the crew of DOD people. Also, if you want to keep things quiet, you certainly don’t paint DOD all over the cars, now do you?
That is interesting;all the D.O.D. cars I’ve seen are
all either “Military Green” or “Pullman Green”.
We get to see a few of them around here,especially
on the P & L,as it serves Ft. Knox,which isn’t that
far from us.(we can hear the ‘guns’ sometimes)
See a lot of ‘flats’,but not very many boxcars.
There was a CSX lashup blasted thru my area southbound with a stack of DOD flats some time ago. Just empty flats. Probably bound for the ports on the gulf. What was interesting about the flats was some had 6 wheel trucks and were painted a sort of a green color.
Three trains in total came thru that day totaly as fast as the track can stand. I think someone is shipping a division somewhere to somehere back then.
I assumed the flats on “my” train were buffer cars of some sort, but the question is “buffering what”. Very intrigueing, wouldn’t you say?
I saw something really bizzar a while back. About 4 years ago, when I lived in Stevenson,Wa., I was out in the middle of the night doing some work on the cable system I ran. It was work that caused outages so I did it at the deadest time of the week when everyone was asleep. While driving home I came upon this train. It was led by a BN green GP38-2. Behind the loco was a empty single well platform. Next was another single well with 2 40’ intermodial containers on it with no identification on them other than big “radioactive” symbols. The platform itself had orange beacon lights on all four corners, and all were turned on (quite a display). The last car was another empty well.
The train was going 30mph in a 50 zone and was headed eastbound (on the Columbia river george line 50 miles east of Vancouver. I always wondered what they were sneeking by us in the middle of the night.
Also, I have been taking pictures and had military personal ask me not to take pictures of military trains. Once in West Colton on the pepper street overpass, and once out in Dagget. Both times they were very polite and didn’t hassle me at all. Naturaly I complied.
Hmmm, maybe the boxcars had shackles in them…or illegal aliens (the ET kind) [;)].
Or maybe the flats just gave the Agents a clear field of fire…
What else could be such a super secret? Gold? Helly’s are just not that secret to deserve such treatment. [?][?][?]
[quote]
Originally posted by eolafan
[quote]
Originally posted by spbed
[
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed
Nukes? [?][?]
My grandfather worked for 30 years for ABF Motorfreight and used to pick up unplacard trailers with munitions and nuclear parts from both Kansas City Bendix and Sunflower Depot. Some of the trailers had lead inserts, but none of the trailers ever had any sort of identifiable mark. Hiding in plain site.
There are fleets of trucks that all they do is haul goverment freight. I used to pull the occasinal load and I hauled some stuff that would make your eyeballs bug out if you knew what it was. Some loads I hauled for just standard compaines were scary enough. I had one load the product weighed 5000 lbs but the 17 tons of dry ice with was enough to make me realize that this stuff was nasty. If the load ran out of the dry ice and warmed up to room temp it would burst into flame on its own. If it did I was told to run as fast as I could to get away from it. Got to the reciver had 3 tons left of dry ice. Still makes you wonder.
DODX cars can be in any color. Years ago the ones that serviced a facility near where I lived were all painted gray - until the press started referring to it as the “Gray Train”. After that the color schemes got more creative. But the goal is the same – hide in plain site.
dd
Don’t start that again!
[:p]Darn it, Jim! Why is it you alway get to see all the really cool stuff. Only DOD stuff I’ve seen lately was troop trucks. Not nearly as fun![:p] If only Eola was closer to me I would be the one seeing the cool stuff. Gives me an idea for a great devious plan…muhahaaa[}:)]
Mike
Mike, come on down to Eola any time and see all the really neat stuff we see on a regular basis (at least seemingly so). You are welcome anytime, we are usually packed on warm dry weekends. Jim
I have had some loads that were puzzles. A very good friend of mine swore on a stack of bibles that a covered wagon (Not locomotives) passed his rig late at night and both stopped for a restroom break. The escort vehicles shooed my friend out of the area but not before he saw straps straining at a load that had no visible support between it and the entire trailer deck below it. The trailer frame was aluminum and usually has a upward bow when empty. This trailer was straight flat with compressed suspensions under a load.
I believe my friend. Problem is… who else knows about this load or has heard this story? Perhaps this actually happened and perhaps again it is a fable.