@railvet ah yes i am sorry i thought you were talking about the shipyard and not the other installation.
There's nothing confirming that all of it, or even any of it, should go by rail if it's not doing so already. It would really have to be judged on a case-by-case basis, and long ago bases switched to trucks for most of their freight shipment needs. I've liked trains all of my life and, while I hate to admit it, often trucks are the better option.lets ignore fuel for now though not all bases have them piped in. the three biggest things to be shipped to an installation are Household goods (smallest base can have 5 soldiers a day leaving and another 5 inbound), Food (by far the hardest and yes most expensive to set up), and Battalion movements. now there are more to ship by rail which adds on to the the other three, though not as often. consumable parts, yes a bag of 500 screws and another bag of 1000 cotter pins dont sound like a lot but that is just from one company from a battalion. aviation units alone eat through tons of POL (petroleum, oils, and lubricants) safety wire, cotter pins, ect and that isnt even touching on Company level supply rooms. now add to that every battalion on an installation to repair all the vehicles in it and yes one to two boxcars a week could be very possible. this is not even adding on to the more specialty parts like Rotor blades (common over sized load shipped), wheels, engines, axles, doors, tents, tarps, ect and those as well get used quite often. now all specialty parts are usually shipped from an Army depot, and most Depots have rail access already installed and rusting away. the only depot that needs a rail head added is corpus christi and that rail line is close by. when all these goods get added together for each installation then it does become apparent that installation can receive a lot of goods, now add on top of that military manufacturers that are close by. why Ft Bliss has at least 5 close by in the City of El paso. to facilitate the goods being shipped the goal is to get all common items in one place including issued goods to make shipping easier and more reliable which is why the Joint Support Supply Center was proposed.
Very small companies are common in Aviation. In rail units, not so much. They're not heavy in flying officers (or officers of any time) so their manning is completely different. Honestly, why would a 14-man unit of railroaders require a captain or even a lieutenant? An NCOIC would be quite sufficient, and it wouldn't need to be called a "company." A "detachment" is more like it.there is no reason that a railroad company cant be small, remember you need a maintenance company, MOW Company, Operations Company, and an admin company. these were made to be at their smallest number until a time of conflict then they will grow. the point is to have highly train soldiers in their profession, if they are untrained then they are useless which is what caused the fall of the Railway Operating battalions in the first place. Having entry level training and nothing else afterword doesn't work.
You'll need better and far more detailed numbers than those provided in the ROB Revival Project paper. I just don't see the real savings yet but I do see enormous expenditures proposed.which is what I am doing no bt slow moving however no matter how many people i contact and math i do the answer is always that rail is better