Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car

cascaderailroad

New member
Peacekeeper Rail Garrison car ... The ultimate missile rocket launcher boxcar
q7nnl.jpg


800px-Convair-General_Dynamics_Plant_and_Personnel-Peacekeeper_Rail_Garrison_%288126202147%29.jpg


Peacekeeper_1.jpg


Nuke+Train+US.jpg

Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car
Car length 87 ft (26.52 m)
Width 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)
Height 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m)
Weight 550,000 lb (250,000 kg) or 275 short tons (246 long tons; 249 t)

How would one create this monster ?

I have never seen an image with the top opened, and a missile raised to the launch position
 
Last edited:
I like how that's the Union Central and the track makes that really steep 15% grade dip around the corner. :)

How would someone make this?

I would make a long boxcar with animated top doors.
The missle inside would then be a commodity, or built as an attachment inside the boxcar.

To animate this, that would be a challenge, but I think that would need to be done in multiple parts. The static load would animate upwards as it replaces the inside load, and then the rocket launch part would be a single animation for it taking off into space.

But...

I do wonder how they can fire off the missile without completely melting the boxcar and the track underneath.
 
I would imagine the launcher car is totally scrap able after use ... after all, it's launching would trigger global WW

The point of possessing such a doomsday device, would be the deterrent of not actually using it

I doubt very much that they would have roamed a quarter mile from the camouflaged hidden base bunkers

It is unknown just how many were manufactured, but I would guess it was One experimental prototype
 
Last edited:
Very true. Who would care what we had leftover once the thing was fired.

We once had a missle bunker located about 8 miles from my old house. The old bunker was dug up once the people found out about it and raised a stink sometime in the 1970s. With this being an outlying suburb of Boston and having a nuclear warhead or two in the ground is not a good combination!

The road still exists and it's called Missle Site Road. There are now some industrial buildings on one part and a bunch of small lakes where they filled in the old missle bunker sites. The north side of the site is now fancy schmantzy houses built by developers and bought by people who have no clue what used to be there in the past.
 
With the current poor international relations between certain countries, I can see round two starting......
 
Fortunately the idea (in the 1980's under the Regan years) of the planned 50 railcars was scrapped, as being very complex to maintain and operate. Rolling about in the field in the open enviornment, requiring thousands of support personnel. The whole mobile idea was very unstable, as they planned to "flush" them all into undisclosed locations throughout the rail system, on any given minutes notice. It was not very practical, as there would not be enough time, once an alarm was sounded. It would be too late to dispatch them, within a sudden 36 minutes time period
 
Last edited:
I've actually done a -ton- of research on this project. I'd be happy to help anyone who seriously wants to build a model of the whole thing.

The consist included two GP40-2s (with bulletproof plating), a parts car (fairly standard 86' high cube with added plating), fuel tank car (bulletproof), a security car, launch car, command car, another launch car, and another security car. The security cars, command car, and launch cars all used sets of four 100 ton trucks with span bolsters. Each car had its own generator, and included fuel, communication, and hydraulic lines to the other cars.

The locomotives could in fact be controlled from a trailing car in case of emergency; the security cars included living quarters, decontamination airlocks, and 80mm retractable gun turrets. The command car included a recessed roof for communications equipment, covered with a plastic cover.

USAF actually built a mile or so test loop at Vandenberg Air Force Base to train on, including a bunker to store the train with roof doors in case of a parked launch situation.

They ran it with a snoot nose ATSF SD40-2 as far east as Dodge City Kansas on a month long test run in 1990. I'm still researching details of that test run, but that'd give you an opportunity to toss it onto an ATSF route as a special.

I have nearly complete dimensioned plans for the entire train, detail photos I shot of the remaining launch car in Ohio, detail photos of the fuel tank car (now used to train firefighters at Elmendorf AFB in Alaska), photos of the cab interior modifications, and a bunch of physics test data (including poor braking ability due to weight and instability of the fuel tank car!). It'd be possible to build an -extremely- accurate model of the train down to operations.

Let me know!
 
Animating the rail clamp blocks, the top doors, the missile tube raising device, and installing 4 trucks under it, would be a major undertaking ... Go right ahead with it ... Please

I seriously doubt that armor plating was involved, as if an enemy fighter strafing attack was underway, the Country would be already gone

The railcar was only intended to last 36 minutes from the alarm sounding ... A one time use "Hail Mary Pass" last ditch effort to counter a barrage of multiple incoming ICBM missiles
 
Last edited:
I would imagine the launcher car is totally scrap able after use ... after all, it's launching would trigger global WW

The cars were theoretically designed to be able to move again after a launch. I doubt that would be practical considering the force of ejecting the missile from the car, but who knows. They used the same launch tubes as other methods of launching so theoretically the cars would be reusable. I can go into further detail if need be.


I doubt very much that they would have roamed a quarter mile from the camouflaged hidden base bunkers

It is unknown just how many were manufactured, but I would guess it was One experimental prototype

Here's the list I've compiled of the locomotives and cars that I have proof of construction for:

EM - Engineering model, i.e. a functional version of the car with all features working but not necessarily indicative of a finished car in weight or center of gravity.
EMS - Engineering Mass Simulator, aka a car with a huge weight in it simulating a missile or other load. Indicative of a finished car in train handling but not functionality.

TRAIN 1

Locomotives:
Off base: TBCX 4900, TBCX 4901 - to Ft. Eustis, then MOT Sunnypoint
On base: VMV 6692, 6713 - 6713 to Sunnypoint, 6692 to Fort Worth & Western
Control car: DAFX 0001 -- EMS-2
Control car: DAFX 0002 (HTCX 402) - to Elmendorf AFB
Security car: DAFX 0003 - to Elmendorf AFB -- EMS-2
Security car: DAFX 0004 - to Elmendorf AFB -- EMS-1
Control car: DAFX 0006 - to Elmendorf AFB
Parts car: TBCX 90050 - to Elmendorf AFB -- EM-1
Tank car: TBCX 90001 - to Elmendorf AFB
Launch car: WECX 1001, 1002 (possibly 1002R) -- 1002R to USAF Museum -- EM-1

TRAIN 2
Locomotives: TBCX 4902, 4903 - to Eielson AFB
Control car: DAFX 0007 (HTCX 407)
Security car: DAFX 0008 & 0009
Parts car: TBCX 90051 - to Fort Eustis
Tank car: TBCX 90002 - to Fort Eustis
Launch car: WECX 1003 -- EMS-1
 
I think I could do the wagon at least in part, it would be closed and later opened but without animation in the floodgates (I am very bad with the animations), of course it can also be done without gates for some member of the forum to make the missile and those gates with animation to unite it as a product.
It is necessary to have pictures of the top and bottom of the wagon, the inscriptions to see that it is written, etc.
I do not commit to more, I have my limitations.

I hope that never, never, never use a weapon like that.

regards

Javier
 
The cars were theoretically designed to be able to move again after a launch. I doubt that would be practical considering the force of ejecting the missile from the car, but who knows. They used the same launch tubes as other methods of launching so theoretically the cars would be reusable. I can go into further detail if need be.




Here's the list I've compiled of the locomotives and cars that I have proof of construction for:

EM - Engineering model, i.e. a functional version of the car with all features working but not necessarily indicative of a finished car in weight or center of gravity.
EMS - Engineering Mass Simulator, aka a car with a huge weight in it simulating a missile or other load. Indicative of a finished car in train handling but not functionality.

TRAIN 1

Locomotives:
Off base: TBCX 4900, TBCX 4901 - to Ft. Eustis, then MOT Sunnypoint
On base: VMV 6692, 6713 - 6713 to Sunnypoint, 6692 to Fort Worth & Western
Control car: DAFX 0001 -- EMS-2
Control car: DAFX 0002 (HTCX 402) - to Elmendorf AFB
Security car: DAFX 0003 - to Elmendorf AFB -- EMS-2
Security car: DAFX 0004 - to Elmendorf AFB -- EMS-1
Control car: DAFX 0006 - to Elmendorf AFB
Parts car: TBCX 90050 - to Elmendorf AFB -- EM-1
Tank car: TBCX 90001 - to Elmendorf AFB
Launch car: WECX 1001, 1002 (possibly 1002R) -- 1002R to USAF Museum -- EM-1

TRAIN 2
Locomotives: TBCX 4902, 4903 - to Eielson AFB
Control car: DAFX 0007 (HTCX 407)
Security car: DAFX 0008 & 0009
Parts car: TBCX 90051 - to Fort Eustis
Tank car: TBCX 90002 - to Fort Eustis
Launch car: WECX 1003 -- EMS-1
Where'd you find all this info? I've been looking for years and have gotten nowhere as close. Sent ya a PM too, not sure if it went through
 
Robbie, myself and a few other members have spent a few years now slowly gathering information about the PKRG. Even going as far as reaching out to people who used to work on it & submitting FOIA requests.

peter
 
I've actually done a -ton- of research on this project. I'd be happy to help anyone who seriously wants to build a model of the whole thing.

The consist included two GP40-2s (with bulletproof plating), a parts car (fairly standard 86' high cube with added plating), fuel tank car (bulletproof), a security car, launch car, command car, another launch car, and another security car. The security cars, command car, and launch cars all used sets of four 100 ton trucks with span bolsters. Each car had its own generator, and included fuel, communication, and hydraulic lines to the other cars.

The locomotives could in fact be controlled from a trailing car in case of emergency; the security cars included living quarters, decontamination airlocks, and 80mm retractable gun turrets. The command car included a recessed roof for communications equipment, covered with a plastic cover.

USAF actually built a mile or so test loop at Vandenberg Air Force Base to train on, including a bunker to store the train with roof doors in case of a parked launch situation.

They ran it with a snoot nose ATSF SD40-2 as far east as Dodge City Kansas on a month long test run in 1990. I'm still researching details of that test run, but that'd give you an opportunity to toss it onto an ATSF route as a special.

I have nearly complete dimensioned plans for the entire train, detail photos I shot of the remaining launch car in Ohio, detail photos of the fuel tank car (now used to train firefighters at Elmendorf AFB in Alaska), photos of the cab interior modifications, and a bunch of physics test data (including poor braking ability due to weight and instability of the fuel tank car!). It'd be possible to build an -extremely- accurate model of the train down to operations.

Let me know!

We are researching the Rail Garrison program for our virtual museum. Specifically any photos or description of the security cars interior that were developed. Can you assist? Feel free to contact me via email.

Greg Autry Co-Chair
USAF Police Alumni Association
www.usafpolice.org
greg.autry@usafpolice.org
 
Back
Top