Naval Weapons Staton, Earle, NJ

[Bob Bufkin]

A navy reservist I work with sent me this photo.  He said that one of his reserve sailors is a railfan.  Not sure of the date but that's the USS DETRIOT (AOE-4) in the background and it was decommissioned in 2004:

[asciibaron]

that is awesome - i lived in Monmouth County, NJ for a time and used to drive along the Navy's ROW - never saw a weapon's train though.  Did see plenty of Conrail action near the Collingwood Flea Market.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=qq3rms8tnj19&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=8894663&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

-Steve

[RockGp40]

This shot reminds me when I was on Mare Island, CA, in 2002 visiting a "friend" at her medical school. There was a Navy switcher at a base that decomissions and salvages old Navy warships. The thing that struck me as odd were the "cryogenic" reefers in their yard. Can anybody make an intelligent guess as to why those kinds of cars would be there?

[wm3798]

Thems was space aliens... They froze 'em right up, they did...

[Bob Bufkin]

Navy closed down Mare Island in 1996.  Don't know why they would even have a switcher there in 02.  Might have been sold to whoever is now using the yard and never repainted.

[RockGp40]

OK, I didn't pay enough attention to the locomotive as it was in the middle of the bridge I was driving on with freight, so it may not have been DOD. However, the railyard was bumping a few cars around. There were still some hulls of ships docked, including what looked like a WWII era aircraft carrier without tower. It was the carrier and flight deck.