Military bases/RR's in the midwest

The book "Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War" by R. Tourret lists a GE centercab locomotive USA 8533 (s/n 18041, built 1944) as being stationed at Carteret Ordnance Depot in 1945. Perhaps this is the base you're looking for? More on the Tourret book here:

http://www.tourretpublishing.com/Allied ... sOfWW2.htm

Further information on USA 8533: It was assigned to Carteret Ordnance Depot by May 1945 after having been used in Iran in 1944-45. It was at the locomotive maintenance depot at Hill AFB in Ogden, UT, in March 1968 and by July 1970 had become USAF 8533 at England AFB, LA. From there it was sold to the South Coast Corp - Whitegold Pure Cane Sugar in Mathews, LA.

Excellent Recon Rail Vet!

I have done a number of variable searches on-line for the carteret facility, but all I have found so far under an inventory of former military sites in NJ (work in progress) is a possible brief mention of Carteret Sto. Activity and a reference number CO2NJ0816 which is the USACE DERP/FUDS Inventory project number.

Here's a picture of sister unit USA 8537, long after retirement from Army use:

http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr1201/us8537.jpg

A check of the library at the US Army Center of Military History turned up mention of the Carteret Ordnance Motor Reception Park under the Army Service Forces command. Units listed as assigned to the installation were the 4202nd Service Command Unit and the 9314th Technical Service Unit. No mention of which organization operated the locomotive.

Fort Leonard Wood, MO ("Lost in the Woods" to anyone who has been marooned there) still has a very active rail service aboard base.

Fort Leonard Wood operates two GP10s (USA 4606 and 4607) and a G40-2 (USA 4654). At last report, traffic levels are low, with months sometimes passing without moving a single car.

SemperFidelis wrote:Fort Leonard Wood, MO ("Lost in the Woods" to anyone who has been marooned there) still has a very active rail service aboard base.

While stationed there 20 years ago I had to guard part of a yard on post. I don't recall much traffic then either but I was not free to move about as I would have liked to check things out.
Mike

While I was at Ft "Lost in the Woods" in '87 attending the Sapper Leader Course, we stopped by the Engineer museum and was stunned to see that they had, as a static display out front, a newer model of the M342 2-1/2T dump truck than we had on our motor line. That meant our equipment at the 101st ABN was older than museum pieces. That's what I call a warm & fuzzy feeling

Departed Ft. Leonard Wood in late February, 1956 on a troop train, destination Kansas City. If recall is near correct, it seems that the power for the train was one or two EMD GP7s.

Summer, 1986 found me at the post for the first time in over 30 years. Walked a short section of the spur out of the base and was surprised to see semaphore block signals. The only locomotive observed was a EMD SW-type

Up in Minnesota, the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant has been slowly shutting down since the 1980s - there's no more production there anymore - but still has rail access via the Minnesota Commercial (former Minn. Transfer) Railway. Mostly it's waiting for the cities, the corporations and the government to decide who has to clean up the groundwater, and how much of it can be carved into subdivisions. I think the Army had a switcher in the arsenal, as there are several miles of track serving the now-abandoned buildings, but towards the end I'd guess Minnesota Transfer did most of the work.

Fort Leonard Wood used to have a pair of SW8s (USA 2002 and 2024) but they're long gone. The former reportedly went to the Saint Louis Transportation Museum.

Further information on Twin Cities AAP is available here:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... cities.htm

The Richmond, VA-based Old Dominion Chapter, NRHS, has a locomotive that was once used at the Carteret depot in NJ. For more information, click here:

http://www.odcnrhs.org/060rebel.htm

Rail Vet, I am real impressed with your research abilities.

The Delaware Ordnance Depot at Pedrickson, NJ was classified as a sub-post of Raritan Arsenal and remained active after WW II.