Seneca Army Depot-Anything RR left to view?

[SST]

Next week I'll be taking a tour on the depot property for white deer and other things. Just curious if anything is left to view in regards to the railroad. Are rails still in the ground? Rail cars land locked?

Its been a very long time but I seem to remember flying over/near the depot and seeing boxcars on the southern end. Back in the days when it was still operational, I remember flying home at night and seeing the fence lighting surrounding the property. Pretty cool from 5000 feet.

[nydepot]

It is not landlocked. Sorry I can't answer on anything else.

[BR&P]

I am no longer up-to-date on the latest goings on. But Charles is correct, the base is not landlocked, Finger Lakes Ry still accesses it. Until recently Anderson's Inc had a car repair facility there but I understand that has closed. I don't know what else is there at present, ideas and possibilities have come and gone and not sure which if any came to fruition. Ten years back, FGLK was being paid to store surplus railcars and had over 1,000 cars in the base at one time.

The trackage at that time resembled a giant "U" with the open end to the north, and a couple connections between the sides of the U. There was a yard at the south end, either 12 or 13 tracks. All along the U there were many small spurs about 3 or 4 cars long each with a concrete loading dock and small brick buildings, for transloading munitions from the various bunkers. And lots of double-ended runarounds each holding roughly 10 - 12 cars. There also were a couple branches off the main U, one of them about a mile long which went down a long hill on the west side and led to 10 more runarounds. It was a fascinating and intricate place. There were two wyes, and a 3-track engine house. The engine house was much larger than what FGLK has at Geneva, but being in such an out-of-the-way location that was not much help to them.

Pulling cars west off the "North Loop"

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The yard at the bottom of the "U"

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At the engine house. Loco was posed for pictures, normally that track was not in use

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[TB Diamond]

The Andersons railcar repair facility at the former Seneca Army Depot has indeed closed down.

Was fortunate to visit and photograph the facility in the fall of 2016, said visit being arranged by a friend who resides in Binghamton, NY. Was able to catch the FGLK job enroute to the depot on the former LVRR main along side the depot fence. Photographed the job entering the depot at the railroad entrance gate and then followed it through the depot to the car repair facility.

One proposed use for the depot was to grow and harvest fast growing willow trees for use in a ethanol refinery. Needless to say, this proposal went nowhere.

My wife and I went on the white deer tour in the fall of 2006. Included in the route back then was the "Q Area" where nuclear weapons were stored and maintained. This facility was protected by a triple electric fence. Believe the "Q Area" has now been demolished.

[BR&P]

Hey SST - here, I'll save you the trip!

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[NYCRRson]

I have a special recipe for gravy that goes exceptionally well with "white deer"...... PM me....

Urban legend has it that the "Q" area was surrounded with three rings of electric fence with signs stating that; "Use of Deadly Force is ENCOURAGED"......

Funny thing about those multiple rows of fencing; once the USA had "spy satellites" that could look into Russia and see their "military targets" the first "clue" was to look for anything that had two or three or four rings of fencing around it.... That was the stuff the Ruskies really really wanted to protect and our intelligence analysts immediately zoomed into those areas to see what the "REDS" where up to.....

If you want your enemy to ignore your "important" stuff don't put multiple rows of fencing around it.....

Kidding just a little bit, I have been on military sites with VERY CLEAR signs stating that "Unauthorized Entry is Forbidden and Use of Deadly Force is Authorized", it does make you think twice about your next moves... It's pretty clear that the "Q" area was not for storage of bottled water or "C" rations...

[nessman]

Q-area hasn't been demolished. It's owned by the Seneca County IDA and has been leased out.

http://senecaarmydepotreuse.com/

Got a personal tour of the Q-area in 2007. It was indeed a nuclear weapons storage and maintenance facility. The fence was indeed electric. There were indeed shoot to kill orders of anyone trying to enter the area without authorization. Took a bunch of pictures... enjoy.

https://goo.gl/photos/XWKZmYMWWyHLc14z9

[nessman]

The Andersons railcar repair facility at the former Seneca Army Depot has indeed closed down.

Wonder if this was the reason...

April 18, 2019 – Romulus NY – An employee of Andersons Rail Group was killed after being struck by a train. Thomas J. Horn, 46 of Romulus, and another employee were moving rail cars at the former Seneca Army Depot when possibly fell and was struck. The FRA and NTSB are investigating.

[videobruce]

Is any of what was the entire 'base' still under federal ownership/control? If not, when did the feds leave and turn it over to whomever?

[BR&P]

Wonder if this was the reason...

April 18, 2019 – Romulus NY – An employee of Andersons Rail Group was killed after being struck by a train. Thomas J. Horn, 46 of Romulus, and another employee were moving rail cars at the former Seneca Army Depot when possibly fell and was struck. The FRA and NTSB are investigating.

The shut-down was already in progress at the time of the tragedy.

[tahawus84]

Great photos thank you for sharing nessman

[TB Diamond]

Google satellite view sure makes it appear that the Q Area has been demolished with a lot of bare earth showing.

[nessman]

Google satellite view sure makes it appear that the Q Area has been demolished with a lot of bare earth showing.

Still looks pretty much intact to me.

[TB Diamond]

Possibly I am looking in the wrong place.

[Mike Doughney]

Possibly I am looking in the wrong place.

It's less obvious because the perimeter is overgrown and it now blends in with the rest of the terrain. The sally port is here, and the "special" area extends to about a mile south of there.

https://goo.gl/maps/qVrZz5puaa8Zg6jf9