Western Railroad Discussion > Dept of Energy Car Called Atlas Moved over Joint Line 9 June 2024

Department of Energy moved their recently built 12-axle nuclear waste rail car named 'Atlas' from Denver south to Avondale, CO, on Sunday, 9 June 2024.  Two nuclear waste cars were in Denver last week for the demonstration held at BNSF's Denver Locomotive Shop area along Denver RTD's North Line.

NO sound video.

The other equipment was called a cask car on DODX labeled equipment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/24 05:20 by cozephyr.

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Excellent catch!

Ted Ferkenhoff
Flagstaff, AZ

Pretty neat - thanks for sharing.

Question:  What is inside the stretch-limo looking 'caboose'?  No windows except in the cupola - not even the end doors have windows.  Is it built that way to protect crews from some sort of accident?

rbenko Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pretty neat - thanks for sharing.
>
> Question:  What is inside the stretch-limo
> looking 'caboose'?  No windows except in the
> cupola - not even the end doors have windows.  Is
> it built that way to protect crews from some sort
> of accident?

Not a "caboose" but a "security car".

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rbenko Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Pretty neat - thanks for sharing.
> >
> > Question:  What is inside the stretch-limo
> > looking 'caboose'?  No windows except in the
> > cupola - not even the end doors have windows.
>  Is
> > it built that way to protect crews from some
> sort
> > of accident?
>
> Not a "caboose" but a "security car".
That narrow door on the side that shows up best in the video is where the Pinkerton Posse comes riding out on their horses. " You think you got enough dynamite Butch."

engine crapped out at Palmer lake

I am surprised that there are no extended steel skirts covering the equipment under the
car to protect it from gunfire or anything bigger.  They must figure with 8 gun ports they can 
manage anything.  

 

I'll bet security is very much armed.

Victor Baird

Thanks for sharing.

I saw one of these trains out my way with the real thing a few years ago. I wanted to get some photos, but the fact that there were cops at about every crossing deterred me. IIRC, they were doing about 45 mph and didn't look like they were going to stop for anything or anyone. If you see one of these it might be a good idea to post it after the fact. There are some demonstrators that would try to stop the train even if it involved laying down on the tracks. That could get messy.

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/24 13:38 by wabash2800.

Info below from: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39654/wait-this-mysterious-heavily-armored-blue-train-caboose-belongs-to-the-navy from March 8, 2021

The railcar series described (VWXX-800) was currently being built, outfitted,and certified by Vigor Works LLC under contract to the U.S. Government and will be used as a courier escort vehicle by the (Naval) Nuclear Propulsion Program to support spent nuclear fuel and other national security shipments,"a spokesperson for Naval Reactors told The War Zone. "The first railcar was expected to be delivered at the end of 2021 and placed into service shortly thereafter. The railcar replaces similar escort vehicles the Navy uses that were near the end of their service life.

The exact specifications of VWXX-800 are unclear. A spokesperson for Vigor Industrial confirmed that Vigor Works, a wholly-owned subsidiary previously known as Oregon Iron Works, had designed and built VWXX-800, but could not offer any additional details. They also did not say if any division of the company had previously built any similar kinds of specialized railcars in the past. A picture of this particular car is featured on the company's nuclear products page.

An online database available through railroad company CSX says that VWXX-800 is just under 69 feet long, nearly 16 feet high at its tallest.

Pictures show it has a typical caboose configuration, in general, with a cupola on top and access doors and the front and rear. There is also what may be large door at least on one side of the car, which could allow personnel inside to rapidly disembark in an emergency or some other kind of contingency.

There are no traditional windows on the body of the car, but there are 10 windows with firing ports on the cupola, two each at the front and rear and six on each side. These would allow individuals to fire small arms at hostile individuals outside while remaining protected inside the railcar's armored shell. What might appear at first glance to be additional firing ports on the body of the car look more likely to be floodlights, which would offer valuable illumination on either side during any incidents at night.

NOTE: Looks like the car has been re-numbered from VWXX-800 to DODX-800 since the article above published in 2021.

looks like a rook in the chessgame is being moved into position or out of the game.