Minuteman Mobility Test Train facts for kids

During the Cold War, the United States wanted to protect its powerful Minuteman missiles. One idea was to put these missiles on special trains. This way, the trains could move around, making it harder for the Soviet Union to target them.

The Minuteman Mobility Test Train was a special train used for testing this idea. It was part of a plan by the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to keep the missiles safe. These test trains had some of the heaviest railroad cars ever used on regular tracks. In 1960, during an exercise called Operation Big Star, engineers checked out many rail sidings (places where trains can pull off the main track). These spots were later used by other SAC trains to practice aiming bombers.

Operation Big Star: Testing Missile Trains

Operation Big Star was a series of important military tests. It happened in the summer of 1960. The US Air Force Ballistic Missile Division ran these tests. They used four special trains, even though six were originally planned. These trains traveled across "21 railroads in the Northwest and Midwest" of the United States.

The main goal was to see if trains could really carry and launch huge missiles. The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was in charge of the trains during these tests. Military people, along with engineers and other experts, rode on the trains. They watched how everything worked.

First Test Train: June 1960

The very first test train had 14 cars. It left Hill Air Force Base on June 21, 1960. This train traveled on tracks belonging to the Union Pacific Railroad, Western Pacific Railroad, and Denver & Rio Grande railroads. It covered about 1,100 miles.

Second Test Train: More People, More Tests

The second test train also left from Hill Air Force Base. It had 31 airmen and officers from SAC. There were also 11 civilian experts on board. They were all there to help with the engineering, maintenance, and logistics of the train. This train traveled about 2,300 miles over 10 days.

Third Test Train: Carrying a Rocket Motor

The third test train left Hill Air Force Base on July 26. This train was even more special. It had an extra flatcar carrying a maintenance van. Inside the van was a real Hercules solid rocket motor (SRM), which is a part of a missile.

This train also had the first "pre-prototype" launch car. This car was 80 feet long and had special shock absorbers. These "three-way stretch" shock absorbers were designed to protect a missile from bumps and shakes. The launch car carried a fake missile load made of sand and concrete. This third train had 13 cars in total. It was planned for a 3,000-mile trip over 14 days, using seven different railroads.

Fourth Test Train: Final Checks

The fourth and final test train for Operation Big Star ran in August 1960. These tests helped the Air Force understand the challenges of moving large missiles by train.

By December 1960, the idea of using Minuteman missile trains was canceled. It was decided that building and operating these trains would be too expensive.

The Minuteman Train Fleet Idea

Before the train idea was canceled, there were big plans for a whole fleet of Minuteman trains. Each operational train was supposed to have 10 cars. Five of these cars would be living and working quarters for the missile crews. This included a special control section where two launch officers would sit.

The plan was to rebuild existing Army rail cars to carry the crews and equipment. The actual missile launch cars would be specially built. For example, one test launch car weighed 127 tons. It had extra wheels to handle the weight of a 30-ton Minuteman missile. It also had 12 hydraulic jacks to hold the missile steady for firing. The first real operational train was planned for June 1962.

Why Trains Were Considered

The idea behind the Minuteman trains was to make it very hard for an enemy to destroy the missiles. If the missiles were always moving, an enemy would need to fire thousands of missiles to hit them all. The plan was for 150 missiles to use 100,000 miles of the US's 218,000 miles of tracks by 1963.

Companies like American Machine and Foundry and American Car and Foundry were going to develop these special railroad cars. There was even a plan for a "radio-launch network" with antennas buried underground near control towers.

Why the Train Plan Was Canceled

However, by May 1961, the Minuteman train plan was put on hold. Then, on December 14, 1961, the Pentagon officially ended the rail program. The main reason was the high cost. Building and maintaining these trains and the special tracks they needed was simply too expensive.

Instead of trains, the first Minuteman missiles were shipped to underground silos in July 1962. They were moved in a special 63.5-foot "transport-erector vehicle" on an 85-foot flatbed railroad car. Years later, in 1986, the Reagan Administration announced a similar idea called the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison, but that plan was also eventually canceled.