I remember talk about the Lionel-esque ICBM cars at the time, even that the cars would be painted to look like common boxcars to further hide their purpose. Railfans correctly joked that they'd be able to spot these cars in an instant.
What I noticed about those ICBM cars is... Truck-mounted couplers!!! Well, there's a prototype for everything...
It is truly a strange arrangement. Normally drawbar pull is carried through the center sill. Otherwise, with truck mounts, you can yank the truck assembly out from under a car. Probably set up this way, due to the span between two truck bolsters, causing carbody ride height above normal. I must believe these trains were handled very gently.
Only one car was built, but dozens were planned until the plug got pulled on the Peacekeeper rail garrison concept. It would be cool to see, but again terrifying....
There was also exploration of a plan to move ICBMs about in submarines within the Great Lakes. That too was shelved.
The Erie's massive mainline station in Susquehanna, PA was built in 1863 in an era before dining cars and sleepers were common. As such, it contained the "Starrucca House" to feed and lodge passengers. Adjacent to the station, the Erie built a large shop complex. The shops are long gone, but the station still stands. [Kodachrome, May 1983]
From April 1989 are these two Kodachromes at South Fork, PA on the former PRR main where SO Tower stood at the time. Note the PRR compressed air actuated turnouts, a common feature on the road. SO Tower met its fate at the hands of arsonists in November 2008 and it was then razed. South Fork was in the path of the great Johnstown Flood of 1889 when the dam holding South Fork Lake burst.
When was this shot taken ? I believed all NS's standard cab Dash9s have been upgraded to wide-cab, or even have been refurbished into ES44ACs... ? The C-141 probaly comes from or is bound to Edwards AFB ? Any way this pic must have been taken before 2006, indeed. Dom
