The NASA Railroad is a Class III

Class III railroad

A Class III railroad, as defined by the Surface Transportation Board, is a railroad with an annual operating revenue of less than $20 million . The term only applies to United States railroads, but is sometimes applied to other countries...

 industrial short-line railroad

Industrial railway

An industrial railway is a type of railway that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics or military site...

 at the Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...

 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The railroad consists of 38 miles (61.2 km) of track connecting the mainline of the Florida East Coast Railway

Florida East Coast Railway

The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida; in the past, it has been a Class I railroad.Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Morrison...

 and trackage at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...

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Overview

NASA uses the railroad to transport equipment which cannot be transported over the road to and from other NASA locations. Rail transportation also offers cost savings over transporting bulky and heavy cargo via barge or aircraft.

Much of the rail traffic is devoted to segments of the reusable solid rocket booster

Solid rocket booster

Solid rocket boosters or Solid Rocket Motors, SRM, are used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from the launchpad up to burnout of the SRBs. Many launch vehicles include SRBs, including the Ariane 5, Atlas V , and the NASA Space Shuttle...

s (SRB) from the Thiokol

Thiokol

Thiokol is a U.S. corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems...

 plant in Utah back again for refurbishment after Space Shuttle launches and recovery. 24 cars are devoted to transporting the SRBs.

With the end of the Shuttle program in 2011, the railroad's future is uncertain. It's future is under review by the government, and a decision will be made in late 2011 or early 2012. It could possibly serve to deliver equipment for private space launches at Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...

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Equipment

The NASA Railroad currently operates three SW1500

EMD SW1500

The EMD SW1500 was a diesel locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between June 1966 and January 1974. 808 examples were constructed. It was closely related to the less powerful EMD SW1000 model, forming a line of switchers powered by the new...

 switchers, all of which are former Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway

Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway

The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway is a short-line railroad that operates of track from Mapleton, Illinois, through Peoria across Illinois to Logansport, Indiana, and includes a branch line between Logansport to Winamac, Indiana...

 units, and more than 102 rolling stock cars. The fleet is maintained by the NASA Railroad shop, which also maintains locomotives and cars for the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...

.

Model	Built	Acquired	Number
EMD SW1500 EMD SW1500 The EMD SW1500 was a diesel locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between June 1966 and January 1974. 808 examples were constructed. It was closely related to the less powerful EMD SW1000 model, forming a line of switchers powered by the new...	1968	1983	1
EMD SW1500 EMD SW1500 The EMD SW1500 was a diesel locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between June 1966 and January 1974. 808 examples were constructed. It was closely related to the less powerful EMD SW1000 model, forming a line of switchers powered by the new...	1970	1983	2
EMD SW1500 EMD SW1500 The EMD SW1500 was a diesel locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between June 1966 and January 1974. 808 examples were constructed. It was closely related to the less powerful EMD SW1000 model, forming a line of switchers powered by the new...	1970	1983	3

See also

• List of United States railroads
  • List of Florida railroads

External links

• Rockets and Rails: The NASA Railroad at YouTube.com