Western Railroad Discussion > A few DOD shots from the Ventura County RR

The VCRR had two moves for the Department of Defense on 3/24, moving flats loaded with tanks from the Port Hueneme Navy Base to the exchange yard in Oxnard, CA.
This stretch of track is 110lb rail at best, and 80 at worst, so the going was fairly slow (5-10mph).

1: VCRR GP38-2 #2136 pulls the first train of the day, turning from Patterson Road and is about to cross Wooley Rd.
2: Most of the flats had Abrahms tanks, with the except of a Paladin howitzer on the first car, and extra parts and assemblies on the last flats.
3: Looking east down Wooley, it will run in the median until it gets to the Oxnard yard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/20 15:21 by TipsyMcStagger.

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4: Coming down Wooley, I was caught in a turn lane that never seemed to move. The train eventually caught up to me.
5: Crossing C Street
6: A look back at the ~40 car train

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Later in the afternoon, the second train left the Navy yard. Engine 2136 again had the honors.
After crossing the very busy Five Points intersection in Oxnard, the train then turned south in preparation to back into the VCRR yard.

7: One of the Abrahms tanks on the train, securely tied down.
8: Looking NW on Oxnard Blvd, the train is backing up north.
9: A look at the traffic buildup after the train has cleared the Oxnard Blvd crossing. The rear of the train is crossing Wooley again and entering the VCRR yard just south of the UP connection at Oxnard station.

This train was picked up by the UP and is heading east to 29 Palms today.

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Wow, haven't seen an SP plow around here in quite some time.

 

That M-109A7 Paladin has been to Germany. Has the German slow vehicle markers on the back.
Pretty much required for just about any tactical vehicle used in NATO.

Nice series of shots!

That unit is a GP38-2.  Their GP15-1 is #1560.

They also have warnings in Germany on some bridges about tank weights.
I got to drive an M1A1 Abrams at Aberdeen Proving Ground years ago. Really neat - would be fun on the 405 in LA at rush hour...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Nice photo's , but since 29 Palms has no Rail connection, if maybe these will be sent to the Rail Head at the USMC Supply Depot at Yermo ?

miralomarail Wrote:
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> Nice photo's , but since 29 Palms has no Rail
> connection, if maybe these will be sent to the
> Rail Head at the USMC Supply Depot at Yermo ?

There is a road/tank trail between Yermo and 29 Palms. Unload at Yermo and drive to 29 Stumps.

Great series, the VC is an interesting little railroad.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

There's a cell phone video of this train at a grade crossing in Northridge making the rounds on Facebook leading to a lot of paranioa & doomsday speculation amongst the non-railfan & non-military crowd.

Desmond Praetzel, "4451 Puff"

PHall Wrote:
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> miralomarail Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice photo's , but since 29 Palms has no Rail
> > connection, if maybe these will be sent to the
> > Rail Head at the USMC Supply Depot at Yermo ?
>
> There is a road/tank trail between Yermo and 29
> Palms. Unload at Yermo and drive to 29 Stumps.

The tank trail goes to Fort Irwin.

Posted from iPhone

Cool pics, how busy is the VCRR!

Posted from Android

I like those DOD heavy-duty flats with Buckeye trucks. I see the 1981 NEW date.  I was still  in the USAR at that time and remember such cars were being assembled at Ft. Eustis from kits.  My recollection is that the kits actually dated from the Korean War era, but memory fades.

Gordon

Alco251 Wrote:
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> PHall Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > miralomarail Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Nice photo's , but since 29 Palms has no Rail
> > > connection, if maybe these will be sent to
> the
> > > Rail Head at the USMC Supply Depot at Yermo ?
> >
> > There is a road/tank trail between Yermo and 29
> > Palms. Unload at Yermo and drive to 29 Stumps.
>
> The tank trail goes to Fort Irwin.
>
> Posted from iPhone

There is also one to 29 Palms. It intersects The National Trails Highway, aka US 66, at Lavic. 

I deleted my earlier post which said this was likely the 3rd ABCT of the 1st Armored Division. They indeded are on the way home and the equipment is likely already on shore or about to be.

But a new video conclusively proves that this move is actually the 3rd ABCT, 1st Calvarly Division returning from Korea to Fort Hood, TX.

Sorry for any confusion.

Kris