Going into the shipyard, those cars are empty - they are spent fuel cars. The absence of the associated security caboose (the reporting number they had on one of them during pre-delivery testing when it was widely photographed is VWXX-800 and it looks DAMNED SPOOKY) supports this. In an actual loaded consist, you get a maximum of 1 of the fuel cars and a security car to 2 locomotives.
The caboose was left in the yard in Portsmouth, NH and the locomotives and the empty spent fuel cars did the remaining few miles to the shipyard without it. Here is a picture I took of it in Portsmouth, NH photos.nerail.org/s/?p=265729.
lol no. Oops. Some people have called it clickbait but this load is known locally as the nuclear train as it moves spent nuclear waste to and from the shipyard. Thanks for your comment!
Actually... No. When comes to nuclear energy, Americans are pretty pessimistic about it because of Chernobyl and Fukushima. Which is understandable but still nuclear is a better option. Since there's nuclear ships and nuclear subs.
The fact that the cars have double the usual number of axles despite having not all that mush superstructure tells you they're planing on hauling particularly dense cargo.
spooky looking cargo, thanks for sharing. wonder if those are cooling fins on that upright cylinder, sure looks like it, wonder if it still gives off heat?
It would definitely give off a bit of heat, and those fins are almost certainly not for structural integrity, since the walls are 14 inches thick stainless steel, so if you get in a situation where 14 inches of steel isn't strong enough to keep everything structurally sound you _probably_ have bigger problems on your hands. It probably is for better air cooling since, although it has ports and integrated channels for water cooling of the cylinder, those ports are only used when loading and unloading the fuel and are sealed before mounting to the railcar.
It is PSNS if you are talking Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. My reactor made this journey except at that time the cores were buried at Hanford. Now they go to Idaho. I wish I could have seen my reactor make this journey and paid my respects. Thanks for posting this.
@@LukasLobmann going to go out on a limb and say he was in the navy on a sub. He probly was one of these. EMN MMN ETN. for the people wondering it means he took care of the reactor and its systems on the boat. A very under appreciated job because when done right no knows you are even there. Its when shit goes bad they notice. But thats my opinion and guess
I was surprised to see the PanAm globe logo on the front of an engine, that company has not been in business for ages now. Even their building lost its name is now MetLife. Or did someone buy the trademark?
At least you've got tracks into your nuclear power station, up here in New Brunswick, the Lepreau Nuclear station doesn't even have a good road into it anymore.
@@lethargicmotorsport2025 Then at least you've got a shipyard, our's got closed down by the Irvings in a fight with the union and moved to Halifax, they make wallboard in the assembly building now.
@@lethargicmotorsport2025 Then why the big container? Unused fuel can be transported in plain briefcase. Or is that some pre-activated RTG or something?
@@dioclescissoid I am be no means well versed on this but based on the few things that I have seen it several fuel rods housed in there . As far as how it all works is well beyond me . I’m still trying to master carburetors and now I’ve discovered carburetors are obsolete .
If there are live rods in the casks while shipping with no circulating cooling system then there would be nothing keeping it from melting down or is there just the wrong sequence of rods during shipping to halt reactivity?
Fair question. No neutron moderator so only fast neutrons hence no fission 👍👌 If it’s waste there’ll still be decay heat but it will have been in cooling lagoons for some time after removal from the reactor itself. The fins on the container are probably for heat dissipation………
Jonathan- M426 through east Brookfield this morning had a department of defense CABOOSE AND TWO drop deck six axle flats!!!! Something is coming off a ship or a sub in Portsmouth/Kittery soon!!!!!
That’s great, thanks. No sign of anything in Portsmouth yet but I’ll keep an eye out. This spent containers have not returned yet so it might be those.
In this particular case, this low-volume line serves a very specific and important function. The government and the Navy will pay someone to keep it in service.
The Navy cask cars are only used to transport spent fuel rods to be recycled. They only carry rods from the ship reactors. Sub reactors are removed in one piece and replaced with a new reactor. They are moved in a different type of cask when they are recycled. New fuel rods don't need to be carried in the casks.
Just no. US naval ship and submarine reactors are refueled the same way and the fuel is transported identically. The only difference is the size and amount of fuel. This particular car was filmed going to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard which only services submarines and their reactors.
@@jr798 This is the correct response. Also, for naval reactors up until, at least, S9G, which is the extent of my knowledge, it is inappropriate to call spent fuel, rods. That ain't how they are made. Rods in this case are for control rods. Civilian reactors use fuel rods.
@@jr798 He may be referring to Reactor Compartments from subs. Once the fuel is removed, the rest of the reactor compartment is cut out whole and packaged, and sent to Hanford where it is buried. The core is sent to Idaho. Incidentally, after the RC is cut out the sub is usually welded back together waiting to be scrapped depending on if the schedule. At least that is how it was done at PSNS. They float the RCs on barges up the Columbia River to Hanford.
very true but most people don't know is the panam railway contract stays in effect for 3 years after the merger becomes official, you don't see it in new Jersey but a lot of states you see a one man crew working on a road job or in the yard using a remote control belt pack to operate the engine, even track inspectors are going to get cut due to track being inspected by electric devices not to mention road trains or being condensed into be very long trains by the use of dpu engines.
Where I used to work, they went from 2 man crews to one, when working with the remote controlled locomotives. One of the best operators was crushed a week before his retirement!
No one said anything. At the end of the day they transport it through public land in broad daylight :-) Plus it’s empty cask and even when full there is no real danger.
Yeah, let's just leave it scattered all over the country instead of storing it in a safe, highly secure underground location. Better to let the power plants and the Navy just hold on to at their plants, unsecured. Educate yourself before you speak.
For everyone that wants to cut carbon emissions, Nuclear base load is what we real need to be building. Even if we build them in the middle of no where and put in the transmission line infrastructure, it still won’t satisfy the Green crowd.
fun fact: that stainless steel looking thing is in fact stainless steel and its almost 1ft thick and weighs ~200 tons (hence the double bogies). its physically impossible for anyone or anything to damage it in such a way that it would release material. litteraly not even setting a nuke right above it would pierce it.
@@AndyZE123 not even a lockpicking lawyer is going to pick his way in or out of having the litteral millitary guarding it when its filled and will shoot anyone that gets funny ideas.
@@SupremeRuleroftheWorld Guessing you don't know who THE Lockpicking Lawyer is. Pretty cool channel, but it's a running joke about how he could pick his way in and out of wild places. Jail cells, Area 51, Ft. Knox...
@@Nareimooncatt i know him. and he cant pick his way into something that does not have a key. he would need a 2" head and a breaker bar. and magical armour to prevent from getting his ass shot.
I have a question when the train passed through that first Crossing and the nuclear device that is being transported touched the tree branches and leaves if that thing is nuclear shouldn't those branches and leaves be taken care of
The CSX unit was supposed to take the casks to the Navy yard but the crew couldn’t get it to start. Not sure what the issue was but they definitely couldn’t get it started!
I mean that's pretty much how anything dangerous and domestic is moved. Implying far to much drama here. Obviously the thing is not fueled and likely has never been with this low level of security, so basically this is a steam vent with a thick bottom.
@@RayoAtra this is a transport cask for navy ship reactors. Basically in indestructible container with a lid on top. It’s also what is know as “self guarding”. Meaning nobody can steal what’s in it. You would need a massive crane with special equipment to even remove the lid. Even if you got the lid off you are not going to carry off fuel rods. And if you did this outside of a containment facility it would be lethal. These shipments are not guarded like you think. The shipments with armed escorts are nuclear warheads. Not fuel rods.
If the placards on the car are anything to go on, the cars are empty. If there where fuel rods inside then the placards should be labeled as nuclear not do not hump. The lettering on the cars are Department of Defense (DODX), a little reminder that all our nuclear power plants are under control of DOD in some way.
These cars are not going to a power plant. They are going to the Portsmouth Navy yard. These cars are for military use. Not civilian power plants. Nuclear energy facilities are under control of the DOE (Department of Energy), Not the DOD.
It's the difference between the driver barely pulling on the whistle lever in an attempt to keep it quiet while still meeting the FRA's road crossing whistle code, and other drivers on mainline runs at mainline speed
How they do it in Belgium with the nuclear transport is actually the highest safety standard I know for external safety as it is done. They first send a locomotive followed by the short train with a wagon of highly armed police and some wagons with the nuclear waste. Those trains(light engine and train with nuclear waste) get the highest priority existing on the Belgian railway network. Here is a video of someone who captured the transport some time ago czcams.com/video/M4Rjnifthic/video.html
In Britain they're relatively unguarded (sometimes they have a carriage for personnel, but not always), but the nuclear flasks are built (and tested) to take a direct hit from an incoming train, survive a tunnel fire, and a fall off a cliff. So even if someone did get their hands on it, they wouldn't be getting it anywhere or doing anything with it
Well, this one belongs to DoD (military), so it is OK. Doing something unthinkable like protesting it would be unpatriotic. OTOH, preventing nuclera _power plants_ from being built is the pinnacle of societal consciousness, apparently. Bah!
@@theyeetus1428 In a rational world, they wouldn't. But there are idiots eager to demonstrate just how "dangerous" nuclear power is - with a bomb of something.
Really interesting. Never seen this before. So, honest question, am i seeing cooling fins on the cask? Looks like rods on the top part with fins between. On the bottom, it looks like just fins. I would imagine the cargo is going to be quite warm. Also, is the car itself a cooling situation? Internally? Any mechanical engineers in the house?
Yes, they're cooling fins. The center of the assembly is a bunch of rectangular baskets that hold the rod bundles. There's layers of neutron shielding that's encapsulated by some sort of cooling filler. It's a really...really...strong assembly. Like, you know how there's not much on the road or in the way that could stop a locomotive going full clip dead in it's tracks? These casks could, easily. Like they'd smash the crap out of the train and bounce away and maintain integrity. They really are the strongest conceivable shipping container that has ever been created by humans.
@@shauny2285 haven't heard this but do realize how expensive that would be. Maybe trying it out at base ? Nuclear power is the way to go but just doesn't seem cost effective to do it on a base size power supply.
@@longwindingroad There are several companies developing SMR (small modular reactor) nuclear power generating systems. They have fully enclosed reactor + genset units. Multiple units can be chained to get to whatever power output you need. NuScale Power in Oregon is one company I am aware of in the US. They are designed for specifically what Shaun mentioned above. Backup power, or main power for areas without power service.
Look up the testing on those transport casks. You can run it into a concrete wall at 100 MPH and end up with a demolished wall and bent fins on the cask.
Ah ok. Yes it came into Portsmouth with Engine-BoxCar-Mushroom-Mushroom-Caboose. It left Portsmouth for the Navy yard with Engine-Engine-Mushroom-Mushroom. The Navy switcher then met it and brought each Mushroom into the yard one at a time.
I miss the tonners but those trackmobile nockoffs ( boss rail car movers ) are pretty interesting. I don’t know how that company is going to survive with track mobile taking up most of the market.
The submarine or other nuclear naval vessel pretty much is built around the reactor. Once the reactor system buildout is completed and gone through rigorous QC checks and pressure checks, then the fuel bundles are carefully loaded into the reactor and tested, and operational parameters are established.
This mode of transport is far better than having it moving across out streets and highways. Try to imagine that. Especially with all the outright stupid and reckless behavior of motorists. Yeah we’d have a nuclear accident for certain.
The construction of those casks carrying the nuclear material world survive a highway wreck. Those containers are highly resilient. The likelihood of radioactive material being released is highly improbable, although not impossible. I'd worry more about a petroleum or other chemical tank failing before these casks.
If I recall rated to be dropped 10m? On unyielding surface after being in a full speed collision with unyielding sharp object, then a certain time in a hot fuel fire. Same container, All in same test. Have to pass all tests with damage from previous test. Now you know where some old locotives go. Not much left of the locomotive except scrap. So rated for a train Head on collision on a elevated tresle with the othe train derailing and rupturing its tankst carrying gasoline. With cask landing on structural steel.
@Sean Embry you don't know what the hell you are talking about. if that containment vessel is breeched, it is by something that we should be more worrried about than what is in the vessel. O.o
@@JM603 Ah gotcha. I live in Maine and that Pan Am engine looked like some of the former MEC etc. stuff, but I don't know much about the trains. If that's coming out of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard it must be spent fuel from USN submarines. They do refueling and overhauls there. I know a lot more about naval stuff than railroad stuff.
So where exactly is all this going on (geographically) ? Also, get used to this, people. In the UK, the movement of nuclear flasks by rail is a big event for trainspotters and these trains make for real good videos.
Came thru elyria Ohio at 79 miles per hour. Arrived at 2am when some local wanted to protest within the tracks at the announced 5 am scheduled arrival at 25 mph. I had built and tested the double articulated fuel rod cars in the early 1990’s. Three hundred witnesses watching and not one looked over my soldier as I increased the load of lotta tons atop the car. No springs and had zero deflection.
@@larselder874 Hello. Just one question. I'm planning on building these cars in H0 scale. Do you know where can I get information on sizes ? Are there any blueprints available? Thank you.
@@jagc1969 I do not have drawings. There are two designs. One with 12 axles, double articulated with fore and aft bolster higher than the 8 axle design. The 12 axle May already be out of DOD service. I will try to find photos for you to print and scale from. Will add below.
@@jagc1969 I tried google and found photos of 8 axle and HO Models that are not that good for the price. I did not find dimensions. The 8 axle May be a British design and build. Our DOD purchased? Not sure. I will try again with yahoo.
@@larselder874 Hi Lars. Thanks again for your efforts, but please don't waste your time on that. I have found many pictures of the container and the railcar, and I think I can guess the dimensions by comparing items like the wheels, brake wheel, etc. And this video will also help me a lot. But I have found very interesting information on the container itself: size, construction, requirements... I thought all of that would be classified information... But please, Lars, don't waste your time on this. I indeed appreciate your efforts. Thanks a lot !.
No, DOD shipments are exempt from DOT placard requirements. All shipments classified (security) and invoke the Department of Transportation (DOT) National Security Exemption (49CFR173.7b).
Interesting. I weld at nukes. The last one I was at 2 years ago had tracks leading in the building. The tracks haven’t been used many years according to a full time employee of the plant. A semi truck showed up with a typical container, no markings no escort etc. the nuclear fuel was in several steel boxes that were approximately 8’ by 3’ wide by 2’ tall. We walked pasted em several times in to couple days the boxes just sat on the lot.
Power plants usually get fuel rods by truck. Because the truck can be unloaded in a secure building. These rail cars are for fuel rods for Navy ships.they use rail cars because they can be brought right onto the dock next to the ship or submarine.
It's empty, but on the return journey will contain nuclear waste. The train itself is not nuclear but the payload is spent nuclear. We call it the Nuke Train.
Additional info here. www.nwtrb.gov/docs/default-source/meetings/2016/august/miles.pdf?sfvrsn=12
Thanks a lot! Very interesting and very useful. I think I'm going to scratch-build a couple of these wagons...
@@jagc1969 that’s awesome! Hope they come out good!
@@JM603 I'll let you know.
@@jagc1969 please do! Am interested to see it :-)
@@jagc1969 would love to see your trains
Going into the shipyard, those cars are empty - they are spent fuel cars. The absence of the associated security caboose (the reporting number they had on one of them during pre-delivery testing when it was widely photographed is VWXX-800 and it looks DAMNED SPOOKY) supports this.
In an actual loaded consist, you get a maximum of 1 of the fuel cars and a security car to 2 locomotives.
The caboose was left in the yard in Portsmouth, NH and the locomotives and the empty spent fuel cars did the remaining few miles to the shipyard without it. Here is a picture I took of it in Portsmouth, NH photos.nerail.org/s/?p=265729.
When I read the title I thought there are nuclear-powered trains running in the US.
lol no. Oops. Some people have called it clickbait but this load is known locally as the nuclear train as it moves spent nuclear waste to and from the shipyard. Thanks for your comment!
Yeah, I wanted to see that too. Seems like it'd be possible.
@@bluejar5614 We know you're pathetic. Title isn't really clickbait, it is a "Nuclear Train" as it's carrying nuclear cargo.
@@bluejar5614 who cares. cool video regardless.
Actually... No. When comes to nuclear energy, Americans are pretty pessimistic about it because of Chernobyl and Fukushima. Which is understandable but still nuclear is a better option. Since there's nuclear ships and nuclear subs.
0:47 there I go on my bike. It was cool seeing that train go through town.
Where was this particular location in this clip?
Thanks ...so is the shot at 0:22 to the shot at 0:47 still the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area?
Ain't that adorable. Keep on peddling for better health.
The fact that the cars have double the usual number of axles despite having not all that mush superstructure tells you they're planing on hauling particularly dense cargo.
spooky looking cargo, thanks for sharing. wonder if those are cooling fins on that upright cylinder, sure looks like it, wonder if it still gives off heat?
If it’s an isopod being transported, then yes, it will definitely be giving out heat. Temperature dependent on its stage of degradation
It would definitely give off a bit of heat, and those fins are almost certainly not for structural integrity, since the walls are 14 inches thick stainless steel, so if you get in a situation where 14 inches of steel isn't strong enough to keep everything structurally sound you _probably_ have bigger problems on your hands. It probably is for better air cooling since, although it has ports and integrated channels for water cooling of the cylinder, those ports are only used when loading and unloading the fuel and are sealed before mounting to the railcar.
The leaves on the trees wilt as the cargo moves past 😂🤣🤣
@@MoreFormosa I hope your joking, mate
@@chriscousin7378 gotta be careful transporting those crustaceans.
Fun fact: I'm pretty sure the bridge from porstmouth to Kittery has a railroad just for this train.
You are correct. The only customer across the bridge is the PNSY and entire years pass between trips.
You wouldn't even know the tracks were there, as they're below the road deck.
@@pseudotasuki the center span of the bridge has them set into the road and they lower it to the center section to let the train over.
Is there any photos or videos of bridge would like to see it
@@FROG1150 It's the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge. Annoyingly, the only pictures of the lower level on Street View show the old bridge.
Awesome job. I recently found your channel and it is really cool! Just subbed. Keep up the great work!
Thanks!
Amazing video, liked 👍👍👍
Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.
No problem! Thanks for watching!
Wow amazing catch
Amazing video Jonathan!! Definitely lucky to catch this rare move!!
Thanks! Wish I had seen it move over the bridge but I couldn’t find parking! Oh well.
@@JM603 Theres always the return trip! Hearing it may be a month or so until it does
@@rusticrailproductions4804 Yes that’s true. Harder to know when that one will happen though I am guessing!
@@JM603 most likely unfortunately, but you never know! I had wish this waited til Monday, I would have my license for then! 😂
Great Job! I was hoping that you would be able to catch it! Steve
Thanks Steve! Hopefully some pictures going up on NERAIL later.
It is PSNS if you are talking Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. My reactor made this journey except at that time the cores were buried at Hanford. Now they go to Idaho. I wish I could have seen my reactor make this journey and paid my respects. Thanks for posting this.
Oh I see this is Portsmouth not PSNS. My bad. By the way, say PSNS really fast and it sounds like penisinus which is the way we referred to it.
What do you mean with your reactor ?
@@LukasLobmann it was my baby
@@LukasLobmann going to go out on a limb and say he was in the navy on a sub. He probly was one of these. EMN MMN ETN. for the people wondering it means he took care of the reactor and its systems on the boat. A very under appreciated job because when done right no knows you are even there. Its when shit goes bad they notice. But thats my opinion and guess
Wow! Nice catch
Thanks...the sound is really good🍻🍻👍👍
Jeez man, nice catch and upload
Those wide cabs are neat looking
They have Canadian blood, that makes them look good!
I was surprised to see the PanAm globe logo on the front of an engine, that company has not been in business for ages now. Even their building lost its name is now MetLife. Or did someone buy the trademark?
Yes. The PanAm name colors and logo were purchased by Guilford Rail Systems in 1998.
At least you've got tracks into your nuclear power station, up here in New Brunswick, the Lepreau Nuclear station doesn't even have a good road into it anymore.
It’s a power /fuel cell for a naval ship or submarine .
@@lethargicmotorsport2025 Then at least you've got a shipyard, our's got closed down by the Irvings in a fight with the union and moved to Halifax, they make wallboard in the assembly building now.
@@lethargicmotorsport2025 Then why the big container? Unused fuel can be transported in plain briefcase. Or is that some pre-activated RTG or something?
@@dioclescissoid I am be no means well versed on this but based on the few things that I have seen it several fuel rods housed in there . As far as how it all works is well beyond me . I’m still trying to master carburetors and now I’ve discovered carburetors are obsolete .
Yeah, that's the source of power man! Great work, keep it up :)
If there are live rods in the casks while shipping with no circulating cooling system then there would be nothing keeping it from melting down or is there just the wrong sequence of rods during shipping to halt reactivity?
Fair question. No neutron moderator so only fast neutrons hence no fission 👍👌
If it’s waste there’ll still be decay heat but it will have been in cooling lagoons for some time after removal from the reactor itself. The fins on the container are probably for heat dissipation………
The casks are usually filled with helium.
rods are pre-cooled for about a year before transport. There is no danger of a meltdown.
The spent fuel is not critical. No reaction taking place. The radiators on the casks are dissapating radioactive decay heat.
Can they go back in time if they get it up to 88 mph?
Only forward sadly. Ever heard of the Eastwood Bridge?
Over Eastwood Ravine yes lol
Jonathan-
M426 through east Brookfield this morning had a department of defense CABOOSE AND TWO drop deck six axle flats!!!!
Something is coming off a ship or a sub in Portsmouth/Kittery soon!!!!!
That’s great, thanks. No sign of anything in Portsmouth yet but I’ll keep an eye out. This spent containers have not returned yet so it might be those.
@@JM603 thank you Jonathan
I’m going to Portsmouth tonight to see Larry Carleton @ Jimmy’s
I probably won’t see any spent casks
Very good video!
panam railway employees aren't going to be to happy when CSX takes over and starts cutting jobs and train crew sizes!
CSX is going to cut all the branch lines like this, Likely will sell the freight rights to a third party or abandon these low-volume lines.
In this particular case, this low-volume line serves a very specific and important function. The government and the Navy will pay someone to keep it in service.
@barnabyjoy It's all just a money machine to them.
@barnabyjoy Because they keep subbing things out that used to be done by military personnel. Construction, police, food service, etc...
@barnabyjoy Who do you think were doing resupply convoys in Iraq??
My uncle used to do work in subs at psny he passed away a few years ago but worked there for many years
I see both the loaded cars heading out to the National Lab, and the empty cars pass right through town where I live.
Very interesting wagons for my H0 collection...
Man, I make my HO's buy they own wagons XD
Great catch 👍
Thank you very much!
@@JM603 You're very welcome
Good catch, nice vid.
Thank you!
That is the burliest trackmobile I've ever seen!
anything that works in the plant or near, has to be 3-4 times stronger than normal because they dont want things to break down mid movement.
it is BOSS ZX model - not Trackmobile.
The Navy cask cars are only used to transport spent fuel rods to be recycled. They only carry rods from the ship reactors. Sub reactors are removed in one piece and replaced with a new reactor. They are moved in a different type of cask when they are recycled. New fuel rods don't need to be carried in the casks.
Just no. US naval ship and submarine reactors are refueled the same way and the fuel is transported identically. The only difference is the size and amount of fuel. This particular car was filmed going to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard which only services submarines and their reactors.
PSNY only works subs Norfolk And PSNS work both CVNs and subs.
@@jr798 This is the correct response. Also, for naval reactors up until, at least, S9G, which is the extent of my knowledge, it is inappropriate to call spent fuel, rods. That ain't how they are made. Rods in this case are for control rods. Civilian reactors use fuel rods.
@@jr798 He may be referring to Reactor Compartments from subs. Once the fuel is removed, the rest of the reactor compartment is cut out whole and packaged, and sent to Hanford where it is buried. The core is sent to Idaho. Incidentally, after the RC is cut out the sub is usually welded back together waiting to be scrapped depending on if the schedule. At least that is how it was done at PSNS. They float the RCs on barges up the Columbia River to Hanford.
@@micromario technically civilian nuclear power plants use fuel assemblies.
Awsome vid!
very true but most people don't know is the panam railway contract stays in effect for 3 years after the merger becomes official, you don't see it in new Jersey but a lot of states you see a one man crew working on a road job or in the yard using a remote control belt pack to operate the engine, even track inspectors are going to get cut due to track being inspected by electric devices not to mention road trains or being condensed into be very long trains by the use of dpu engines.
Where I used to work, they went from 2 man crews to one, when working with the remote controlled locomotives. One of the best operators was crushed a week before his retirement!
It is certainly very heavy and compact.
Well I can imagine the cars are lead or concrete shielded. Plus uranium is pretty heavy as well
M-140 Naval Spent Fuel Shipping Container. Cool.
Nice video! Thumbs up :)
Thank you!
Great video..
Appreciate it! thanks Johnny!
Nice catch!
Thanks!
Wow awesome video. There sure were alot of busybodies around. Did anyone say anything to those u recording? DOD is usually hush hush.
No one said anything. At the end of the day they transport it through public land in broad daylight :-) Plus it’s empty cask and even when full there is no real danger.
@@JM603 new subscriber here!!
@@dennisb-trains23 excellent thanks!
These same cars go in and out of Groton and New London Connecticut as well.
Nice 👍
What is that lead locomotive 00:49? It looks like an sd60 with B axles. Or is it an gp30 with a safety cab?
It’s a GP40-2L
Imagine what we will see on our rails if Yucca Mountain _(Yuck! A Mountain!)_ ever comes back into play again!
Yeah, let's just leave it scattered all over the country instead of storing it in a safe, highly secure underground location. Better to let the power plants and the Navy just hold on to at their plants, unsecured. Educate yourself before you speak.
For everyone that wants to cut carbon emissions, Nuclear base load is what we real need to be building. Even if we build them in the middle of no where and put in the transmission line infrastructure, it still won’t satisfy the Green crowd.
Yucca mountain has been in operation since 2015 !!! Hundreds of tons of radioactive waste has already been deposited in the mountain !!!!
There is something to be said about keeping that waste accessible for use in breeder reactors later, if the technology matures.
@@tomjoad6270 Correct. its just able to store the very low and low level materials right now, IIRC...
fun fact: that stainless steel looking thing is in fact stainless steel and its almost 1ft thick and weighs ~200 tons (hence the double bogies). its physically impossible for anyone or anything to damage it in such a way that it would release material. litteraly not even setting a nuke right above it would pierce it.
You haven't accounted for the Lock Picking Lawyer
@@AndyZE123 not even a lockpicking lawyer is going to pick his way in or out of having the litteral millitary guarding it when its filled and will shoot anyone that gets funny ideas.
@@SupremeRuleroftheWorld Guessing you don't know who THE Lockpicking Lawyer is. Pretty cool channel, but it's a running joke about how he could pick his way in and out of wild places. Jail cells, Area 51, Ft. Knox...
@@Nareimooncatt i know him. and he cant pick his way into something that does not have a key. he would need a 2" head and a breaker bar. and magical armour to prevent from getting his ass shot.
looks like a diesel train to me lol
Aw how nice! *explodes cutely*
I have a question when the train passed through that first Crossing and the nuclear device that is being transported touched the tree branches and leaves if that thing is nuclear shouldn't those branches and leaves be taken care of
The material is safe. In this case the casks are empty but when they are full it is still pretty safe.
Thank you for your input that's really good to know
without demonstrations?
What's the information on the former CSX unit in the beginning of the video?
The CSX unit was supposed to take the casks to the Navy yard but the crew couldn’t get it to start. Not sure what the issue was but they definitely couldn’t get it started!
@@JM603 because its a POS
Nope! I'm pretty sure that's a normal diesel-electric train.. lol
lol yes it is just a diesel.
America does not want to know what the DOD moves across the country by rail or truck. Don't ask.
I mean that's pretty much how anything dangerous and domestic is moved. Implying far to much drama here. Obviously the thing is not fueled and likely has never been with this low level of security, so basically this is a steam vent with a thick bottom.
@@RayoAtra this is a transport cask for navy ship reactors. Basically in indestructible container with a lid on top. It’s also what is know as “self guarding”. Meaning nobody can steal what’s in it. You would need a massive crane with special equipment to even remove the lid. Even if you got the lid off you are not going to carry off fuel rods. And if you did this outside of a containment facility it would be lethal.
These shipments are not guarded like you think. The shipments with armed escorts are nuclear warheads. Not fuel rods.
so weird that the only vestige of the great PanAm is a railway...
If the placards on the car are anything to go on, the cars are empty. If there where fuel rods inside then the placards should be labeled as nuclear not do not hump. The lettering on the cars are Department of Defense (DODX), a little reminder that all our nuclear power plants are under control of DOD in some way.
Yes it’s empty
If they are rods or a reactor in them, the train would have armed guards
These cars are not going to a power plant. They are going to the Portsmouth Navy yard. These cars are for military use. Not civilian power plants. Nuclear energy facilities are under control of the DOE (Department of Energy), Not the DOD.
They could be used for refueling of nuke power subs or ships of the DoD
nope they are not, commercial plants have their fuel delivered by truck. They are not radioactive until inside a reactor...
Even an Em chord played on the horn(s). Great! Now if only more US locos had musical tones fitted instead of the ear-shattering blast most have.
It's the difference between the driver barely pulling on the whistle lever in an attempt to keep it quiet while still meeting the FRA's road crossing whistle code, and other drivers on mainline runs at mainline speed
No Huge, no.
I like ear-shattering horns
All 3 and 5 chime horns are designed to make a chord. But how in tune the horn is after years of service is why the just sound like noisy blasts
Those look like small reactor vessels. Is this for an SMR?
Not reactors. Fuel storage casks for bringing in new fuel and taking out spent fuel.
How they do it in Belgium with the nuclear transport is actually the highest safety standard I know for external safety as it is done. They first send a locomotive followed by the short train with a wagon of highly armed police and some wagons with the nuclear waste. Those trains(light engine and train with nuclear waste) get the highest priority existing on the Belgian railway network. Here is a video of someone who captured the transport some time ago czcams.com/video/M4Rjnifthic/video.html
In Britain they're relatively unguarded (sometimes they have a carriage for personnel, but not always), but the nuclear flasks are built (and tested) to take a direct hit from an incoming train, survive a tunnel fire, and a fall off a cliff. So even if someone did get their hands on it, they wouldn't be getting it anywhere or doing anything with it
Well, this one belongs to DoD (military), so it is OK. Doing something unthinkable like protesting it would be unpatriotic. OTOH, preventing nuclera _power plants_ from being built is the pinnacle of societal consciousness, apparently.
Bah!
I don't see why they need so much security for nuclear *waste*
@@theyeetus1428 dirty bomb
@@theyeetus1428 In a rational world, they wouldn't. But there are idiots eager to demonstrate just how "dangerous" nuclear power is - with a bomb of something.
Cool!
Really interesting. Never seen this before. So, honest question, am i seeing cooling fins on the cask? Looks like rods on the top part with fins between. On the bottom, it looks like just fins. I would imagine the cargo is going to be quite warm. Also, is the car itself a cooling situation? Internally? Any mechanical engineers in the house?
Yes, they're cooling fins. The center of the assembly is a bunch of rectangular baskets that hold the rod bundles. There's layers of neutron shielding that's encapsulated by some sort of cooling filler. It's a really...really...strong assembly. Like, you know how there's not much on the road or in the way that could stop a locomotive going full clip dead in it's tracks? These casks could, easily. Like they'd smash the crap out of the train and bounce away and maintain integrity. They really are the strongest conceivable shipping container that has ever been created by humans.
Have you heard that the USAF plans to deploy small nuke reactors at air bases as backup power?
@@shauny2285 haven't heard this but do realize how expensive that would be. Maybe trying it out at base ? Nuclear power is the way to go but just doesn't seem cost effective to do it on a base size power supply.
@@longwindingroad There are several companies developing SMR (small modular reactor) nuclear power generating systems. They have fully enclosed reactor + genset units. Multiple units can be chained to get to whatever power output you need. NuScale Power in Oregon is one company I am aware of in the US. They are designed for specifically what Shaun mentioned above. Backup power, or main power for areas without power service.
@@timothypayne4259That's good stuff. I will look it up, Thank you.
Are those old style axle bearings? Not roller bearings?
No idea! I know very little about these things, just like to watch them. :)
These are timken roller bearings.
What a sight! Just wouldn't want to live near the tracks if there was a mishap. Interesting though.
Only one movement every 3-4 years at least :-)
Look up the testing on those transport casks. You can run it into a concrete wall at 100 MPH and end up with a demolished wall and bent fins on the cask.
This is an irrational fear
Why weren't there any buffer cars between the Locomotives and the mushroom car?
There was a box car buffer as far as Portsmouth but the last mile or so into the yard there was no buffer car.
@@JM603 Wondered because my outfit use to pull out the mushroom cars out of Mare Island here in California.
Ah ok. Yes it came into Portsmouth with Engine-BoxCar-Mushroom-Mushroom-Caboose. It left Portsmouth for the Navy yard with Engine-Engine-Mushroom-Mushroom. The Navy switcher then met it and brought each Mushroom into the yard one at a time.
Is this a spur track? I notice no crossing signals.
Yes. Years go by at a time with no trains down this section of track.
Is that some kind of Track Mobile???
@@kevinwynott7755 ?
@@kevinwynott7755 sorta. Track mobile is a brand I do beleave but, is a larger class of rail car mover.
Right near Rogers Road in Kittery
Escape pods from the Dalek ship that blew up?
Nailed it!
I miss the tonners but those trackmobile nockoffs ( boss rail car movers ) are pretty interesting. I don’t know how that company is going to survive with track mobile taking up most of the market.
It'll all work out.
They look like a modernized Shuttlewagon to me
@@r.w.7232 we used to call the track mobiles the chicken, IE they are going to switch it out with the chicken
if it's going to a naval ship yard, is it some sort of nuclear reactor for a ship ?
They are casks for transporting nuclear fuel rods.
Yes for submarines. They are empty but will transport spent nuclear material back out west soon.
The submarine or other nuclear naval vessel pretty much is built around the reactor. Once the reactor system buildout is completed and gone through rigorous QC checks and pressure checks, then the fuel bundles are carefully loaded into the reactor and tested, and operational parameters are established.
In the 1990's In Germany you need 5000 police officers to save the rail track, and next 5000 officers to chase away of the demonstrations.
Ok das ergibt sinn
With Pantex (Amarillo) so close these trains got to be a common thing...
...but where are the armed DOD agents...?
There is a nuclear core on a frigging train??!! In the U.S.??!! Are they nuts?
No just spent nuclear waste…. But yes we are crazy :-) haha
Sub or Aircraft carrier fuel?
Sub
I wonder how they transport the waste from the Seabrook plant?
Spent fuel? They don’t. It’s still there. Other waste such as low level contaminated equipment is transported by truck.
This mode of transport is far better than having it moving across out streets and highways. Try to imagine that. Especially with all the outright stupid and reckless behavior of motorists. Yeah we’d have a nuclear accident for certain.
The construction of those casks carrying the nuclear material world survive a highway wreck. Those containers are highly resilient. The likelihood of radioactive material being released is highly improbable, although not impossible.
I'd worry more about a petroleum or other chemical tank failing before these casks.
If I recall rated to be dropped 10m? On unyielding surface after being in a full speed collision with unyielding sharp object, then a certain time in a hot fuel fire. Same container, All in same test. Have to pass all tests with damage from previous test. Now you know where some old locotives go. Not much left of the locomotive except scrap. So rated for a train
Head on collision on a elevated tresle with the othe train derailing and rupturing its tankst carrying gasoline. With cask landing on structural steel.
@Sean Embry you don't know what the hell you are talking about. if that containment vessel is breeched, it is by something that we should be more worrried about than what is in the vessel. O.o
One of the few things I've never hauled, and to be honest, i could go the rest of my career without it and be just as happy as could be
Why? It's 14 inch steel
anyone else notice that they may have lost a car along the way. JK
In the beginning there were two and real engines.
The engine 5972 was due to take the cars over the bridge but it wouldn’t start so the two geeps took it over :-)
The Naval Shipyard trackage usually only takes one at a time.
Where was this located?
Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, ME
@@JM603 Ah gotcha. I live in Maine and that Pan Am engine looked like some of the former MEC etc. stuff, but I don't know much about the trains. If that's coming out of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard it must be spent fuel from USN submarines. They do refueling and overhauls there. I know a lot more about naval stuff than railroad stuff.
@@nomar5spaulding it was heading into the shipyard empty but would love to see it make its return journey! No sign of that yet. Thanks for watching!
So where exactly is all this going on (geographically) ? Also, get used to this, people. In the UK, the movement of nuclear flasks by rail is a big event for trainspotters and these trains make for real good videos.
The yard is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the load was taken over a bridge (only used every few years) over into Kittery, Maine.
The yard is actually in Kittery.
@@alan.macrae the yard at the start of the video is in Portsmouth. The small yard at the end is in Kittery.
This has been going on for decades in the US as well. Nothing to get used to.
@@peterbrayshaw3548 true. Here is some more info www.nwtrb.gov/docs/default-source/meetings/2016/august/miles.pdf?sfvrsn=12
What was she carrying?
Nothing on this train, spent nuclear fuel on the return.
I wonder if that is a ship's reactor?
No, just a cask to take the spent nuclear waste away.
“ are you telling me that this sucker is nuclear” this is the future…? Lets hope this type of transport is as safe as advertised.
you should watch the video of the train hitting a civilian nuclear pack. damn safe.
The new 2021 atomic train be like
If this was the UK it would be sent straight to Sellafield.
No headlights are needed. GLOW IN THE DARK!!
rail car belongs to the Department Of Defense ?
Yes :-)
They own a bunch of cars
What’s it for?
Empty casks to move spent nuclear material out west for disposal.
when I was working they were limited to 35 mph . because that was the speed that the container bucket could protect against a leak in case of a wreck
Came thru elyria Ohio at 79 miles per hour. Arrived at 2am when some local wanted to protest within the tracks at the announced 5 am scheduled arrival at 25 mph. I had built and tested the double articulated fuel rod cars in the early 1990’s. Three hundred witnesses watching and not one looked over my soldier as I increased the load of lotta tons atop the car. No springs and had zero deflection.
@@larselder874 Hello. Just one question. I'm planning on building these cars in H0 scale. Do you know where can I get information on sizes ? Are there any blueprints available? Thank you.
@@jagc1969 I do not have drawings. There are two designs. One with 12 axles, double articulated with fore and aft bolster higher than the 8 axle design. The 12 axle May already be out of DOD service. I will try to find photos for you to print and scale from. Will add below.
@@jagc1969 I tried google and found photos of 8 axle and HO Models that are not that good for the price.
I did not find dimensions. The 8 axle May be a British design and build. Our DOD purchased? Not sure. I will try again with yahoo.
@@larselder874 Hi Lars. Thanks again for your efforts, but please don't waste your time on that. I have found many pictures of the container and the railcar, and I think I can guess the dimensions by comparing items like the wheels, brake wheel, etc. And this video will also help me a lot. But I have found very interesting information on the container itself: size, construction, requirements... I thought all of that would be classified information...
But please, Lars, don't waste your time on this. I indeed appreciate your efforts.
Thanks a lot !.
I was training on this job today. One in a million shot!
Excellent! What kind of work were you doing? Navy or Pan Am?
@@JM603 Pan-am. Conductor-in-training. Been training in the field for 5 months now. It's been quite the experience!
@@SMIFFTV ah excellent! Good luck with the training! Awesome job choice!
@@SMIFFTV any idea when they will return from Kittery?
@@JM603 completely unpredictable. Could be a week from now, could be many months.
At first I thought he meant the train was nuclear powered.
Why aren't they required to have the nuclear radiation signs painted on them?
Likely because it’s not radioactive. They transport spent nuclear fuel.
No, DOD shipments are exempt from DOT placard requirements. All shipments classified (security) and invoke the Department of Transportation (DOT) National Security Exemption (49CFR173.7b).
@@JM603 uh, spent nuclear fuel is still very much radioactive, and will be for thousands of years.
@@FFred-us9tw ah ok thanks for the correction.
For get about the nuclear car. Look at the new pusher unit BOSS 3:20. That is new.
Yes very new. It was delivered April 27th 2021.
@@JM603 Damn, and plus its road friendly as well.
I have a question why does it have a nuclear device
The casks car spent nuclear waste. They are empty on the way to the Navy Yard but will leave full.
Sorry to be dumb, but what exactly are we watching?
Nuclear train stuff. Says in the title.
Two casks being delivered to the Portsmouth Navy Yard to be filled with spent nuclear material.
@@JM603 I think you will find they are 'cassette' nuclear reactors, being delivered to either fit or exchange with a reactor that is spent.
@@Geebax2 Thanks for the clarification! Appreciate it!
Those are not "cassette reactors". They are travel flasks that can withstand a major derailment intact.
The moment you realise you can still work for PanAm
Atomic Train!
Where are the protesters? 👍😂😂😂
Interesting. I weld at nukes. The last one I was at 2 years ago had tracks leading in the building. The tracks haven’t been used many years according to a full time employee of the plant.
A semi truck showed up with a typical container, no markings no escort etc. the nuclear fuel was in several steel boxes that were approximately 8’ by 3’ wide by 2’ tall. We walked pasted em several times in to couple days the boxes just sat on the lot.
Power plants usually get fuel rods by truck. Because the truck can be unloaded in a secure building. These rail cars are for fuel rods for Navy ships.they use rail cars because they can be brought right onto the dock next to the ship or submarine.
Nuclear powered train. The answer to our energy crisis
As we already have nuclear subs and nuclear ships.
👍👊😎
what is nuclear about that train?
It's empty, but on the return journey will contain nuclear waste. The train itself is not nuclear but the payload is spent nuclear. We call it the Nuke Train.