The Peacekeeper Rail Garrison was a
railcar-launched ICBM
A railcar-launched ICBM is an intercontinental ballistic missile that can be launched from a train. The first operational example, and the best-known, is the Soviet RT-23 Molodets. The United States planned and started development of an analogue, ...
that was developed by the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
during the 1980s as part of a plan to place fifty
MGM-118A Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
on the rail network of the United States. The railcars were intended, in case of increased threat of
nuclear war, to be deployed onto the nation's rail network to avoid being destroyed by a
first strike counterforce
In nuclear strategy, a counterforce target is one that has a military value, such as a launch silo for intercontinental ballistic missiles, an airbase at which nuclear-armed bombers are stationed, a homeport for ballistic missile submarines, or ...
attack by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. However, the plan was canceled as part of defense cutbacks following the end of the
Cold War, and the Peacekeeper missiles were installed in
silo launchers as LGM-118s instead.
Development
On December 19, 1986, the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
announced that U.S.
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Ronald Reagan had given approval to a plan for the development of a railroad-based system for basing part of the planned
LGM-118 Peacekeeper
The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1985 to 2005. The missile could carry up to twelve Mark ...
– originally referred to as MX for "Missile, Experimental" – intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force.
Intended to increase the survivability of the force in the event of a
counterforce
In nuclear strategy, a counterforce target is one that has a military value, such as a launch silo for intercontinental ballistic missiles, an airbase at which nuclear-armed bombers are stationed, a homeport for ballistic missile submarines, or ...
nuclear attack by the Soviet Union, the 50 train-based missile launchers, fitted two to each of twenty-five trains, would supplement a force of 50 silo-based missiles that would replace existing
Minuteman
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...
missiles.
Each train was planned to
consist
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...
of two
locomotives (appeared to be
EMD GP40-2
The EMD GP40-2 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as part of its Dash 2 line between April 1972 and December 1986. The locomotive's power is provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine which generates ...
in unclassified diagrams), two cars for housing security forces (using a modified box car), two launchers each holding a single missile (using a modified box car), a launch control car (using a modified Westinghouse box car), a
fuel car, and a maintenance car (using a modified box car).
Each launching car would carry one missile in a tube that, upon the receipt of an authenticated firing command, would elevate to fire the missile from the bed of the car. The launch cars were long, and when loaded with a missile weighed over or .
A crew of 42 people—including the train commander, four launch control officers, four railroad engineers, one medic, six maintenance personnel, and 26 security police—could live in the launch control and security cars for up to one month.
[Vandenberg AFB 30th Space Wing History, 1992-1993, p. 136]
Following testing in 1989 at Hudson, CO, two ex-
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
locomotives, an
EMD GP40-2
The EMD GP40-2 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as part of its Dash 2 line between April 1972 and December 1986. The locomotive's power is provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine which generates ...
and an
EMD GP38-2
The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 16-cyl ...
, were sent to Precision National in Mount Vernon, IL for modification to GP40-2DE (Dynamic braking, Extended range) with bulletproof glass in the cab windows. The trains were expected to be in service within about two years.
Strategic Air Command wanted the first trains stationed at
F. E. Warren Air Force Base near the
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
mainline at Cheyenne, WY. The expected in-service date was December 1992. Rail Garrisons would resemble small freight yards with four spurs leading to slant-sided steel and earthen hardened shelters to house the trains.
Two hi-cube boxcars were constructed by St Louis Refrigerator Car Company. They were modified at
Westinghouse, receiving bogie trucks, distributing their of weight over 8 axles. Low-slung beams were added to the underside to level the car against the track during launch. roof panels were designed to fall off when the missile was erected. The Air Force sought US$2.16
billion
Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:
*1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English.
* 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...
in fiscal year 1991 to purchase the first seven MX trains.
The deployment plan called for the trains to be permanently based in shelters that would be constructed on
Strategic Air Command bases throughout the United States, with the missile crews on continuous alert.
Ten bases were in the running;
Fairchild Air Force Base (Spokane, WA),
Malmstrom Air Force Base
Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place (CDP) in Cascade County, Montana, United States, adjacent to the city of Great Falls. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom. ...
(Great Falls, MT),
Minot Air Force Base
Minot Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation in Ward County, North Dakota, north of the city of Minot via U.S. Route 83. In the 2020 census, the base was counted as a CDP with a total population of 5,017, down from 5,521 i ...
(Minot, ND),
Grand Forks Air Force Base
Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and west of Grand Forks.
The host unit is the 319th Reconnaissance Wing (319 RW) assigned to the Air Combat Co ...
(Grand Forks, ND),
Dyess Air Force Base (Abilene, TX),
Whiteman Air Force Base
Whiteman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located just south of Knob Noster, Missouri, United States. The base is the current home of the B-2 Spirit bomber. It is named for 2nd Lt George Whiteman, who was killed during the attac ...
, (Knob Noster, MO),
Blytheville Air Force Base
Blytheville Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base from 1942, until it closed in 1992. In 1988, the facility was renamed Eaker Air Force Base in honor of World War II General of the Eighth Air Force, Ira C. Eaker. It was located n ...
(Blytheville, AR),
Little Rock Air Force Base
Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Little Rock AFB is the primary C-130 Hercules training base for the Department of Defense, training C-130 pilots, naviga ...
(Little Rock, AR),
Barksdale Air Force Base (Shreveport, LA), and
Wurtsmith Air Force Base
Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base in Iosco County, Michigan. It operated from 1923 until decommissioned in 1993. On January 18, 1994 it was listed as a Superfund due to extensive groundwater contaminatio ...
(Oscoda, MI). Upon the receipt of a signal indicating an increase in alert level, the trains would be "flushed", dispersing onto the American railroad network, thus making it difficult for an enemy to determine where the missiles were at any given time to target them.
Major contractors for the rail garrison system were Boeing Aerospace Corporation, Westinghouse Marine Division and Rockwell International Autonetics. The proposed main garrison for the weapons deployment system was to be
F.E. Warren Air Force Base in
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
, with each selected garrison hosting up to four trains.
Testing and termination
![Peacekeeper RGC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Peacekeeper_RGC.jpg)
After several years of development, the prototype Rail Garrison Car was delivered to the U.S. Air Force on October 4, 1990. After undergoing initial evaluation at
Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to:
* Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name
* USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida
* Vandenberg Sp ...
, the car was then sent to the
Transportation Test Center in
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most populo ...
for further testing on the
Association of American Railroads
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight Rail transport, railroads of North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States). Amtrak and some regional Commuter rail in North Am ...
' test track.
In 1991, with the end of the Cold War, the Peacekeeper rail garrison system was canceled. As a result, all operational Peacekeeper missiles produced were installed in former Minuteman silos. Following termination, the prototype rail garrison car was delivered to the
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...
at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...
, Ohio, in 1994 for public display.
See also
*
BZhRK Barguzin
*
LGM-30 Minuteman
The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and ...
*
Minuteman Mobility Test Train - preceding pilot scale development in the 1960s.
*
Railway gun
A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval artillery, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best-known are ...
*
RT-23 Molodets
The RT-23 Molodets (russian: РТ-23 УТТХ «Мо́лодец», lit. "brave man" or "fine fellow"; NATO reporting name: SS-24 Scalpel) was a cold-launched, three-stage, solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile developed and produced ...
- equivalent operational Soviet system.
*
Transporter erector launcher
A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles.
History
Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to- ...
- A road-mobile missile launcher.
*
White Train
For most of the Cold War the United States Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Transport Train, known as the White Train, transported nuclear weapons from the plant where they were constructed. From 1951 to 1987 The Department of Energy's Office ...
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
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External links
*
*
{{coord missing, Wyoming
Missile launchers
Railway weapons
Rocket launch sites in the United States
Rolling stock of the United States
Abandoned military projects of the United States
Cold War military equipment of the United States
Nuclear warfare
Weapon fixtures