Nuclear Armageddon on Rails: The TOP SECRET US Peacekeeper Program

[@willh1933]

Secret? I had a Lionel train set that had a Minuteman Missile car that actually shot missiles, totally badass.

[@JDA2185]

And what year was that? I'm asking because the first such system that was proposed in the US was based around the Minuteman missile. It was in 1959. The system however was cancelled by the Kennedy administration. Who vastly increased government spending while decreasing defense spending and while Kennedy is now being hailed as the President who made America more secure while Eisenhower risked destroying it in a "nuclear war"... LOL.

[@JDA2185]

@@chloeholmes4641 He's a con. He's not a "marketer" of any kind lol. What he advertises here is fake. He's a con.

[@justindunlap1235]

I remember seeing one of those miniature missile cars and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

I actually brought my Lionel model to see the real one, they have the prototype on display in Dayton.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

The Lionel minuteman missile car with the actual Peacekeeper Rail Garrison: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGiYfKSPicqsldk

[@LastGoatKnight]

Honestly, every time I see the USA and the peacekeeper words together it's going to be nuclear weapon carrier

[@pedrovascodeoliveiraveriss6293]

The "Peace of the Grave", apparently.

[@chaos.....]

obama winning the nobel peace prize by drone striking east or smth like that:

[@louiewaddington]

You have a point

[@ltcuddles685]

I believe its generally a reference to it being deterrence. Nobodoes gonna break the peace to just both die.

[@Jedi.Toby.M]

😂 my American neighbors have a very "interesting" way of deploying peacekeepers.

[@aguywhothinks]

Imagine chilling at a railroad crossing, and a train stops in front of you and just casually launches an ICBM.

[@jayshartzer844]

It'd be the bomb

[@aguywhothinks]

@@jayshartzer844 We need more people like you out there

[@Okayihaveone]

Imagine a truck stuck on that same crossing. Train hits it, and derails. A train is the last place a nuke needs to be.

[@VietnamKermit]

@@Okayihaveone I think I’d rather have a nuke in a train than in the hands of a terrorist

[@Phenixtri]

@@Okayihaveone tank could maybe derail a train not a car or truck xD those things are wet paper compared to a speeding train.

[@siliconvalleyengineer5875]

not top secret, it was called Rail Garrison and just a couple of prototypes were built. Let me tell you they looked badass. I worked at the Westinghouse Marine Division in Sunnyvale, CA where the Rail Garrison was built from 1982 until 1994

[@Man_Emperor_of_Mankind]

The Airforce Museum in Dayton Ohio has one of those cars on display

[@alanrogers7090]

I saw the decommissioned train cars at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. They are sitting outside away from the main buildings near the outdoors aircraft display area. If you didn't know what they were, you would wonder why train cars are sitting next to a Boeing B-52 Bomber.

[@deptusmechanikus7362]

Oh boy, trains with toxic chemicals derailing on a nearly weekly basis in US. Now imagine this bad boy flipping over and catching fire in your town centre. Rocket fuel and weapon-grade plutonium all over

[@FoundAndExplained]

Honestly that’s a great point I should have mentioned it

[@clan_houltz]

Mmmm yummy

[@LoremIpsum1970]

Just another broken arrow to add to all those 'lost' warheads buried all over the place. Not sure how much it would take to ignite solid rocket fuel or how robust each warhead is... in the UK warheads are regularly transported by train for refurbishment...

[@M1chael42O1]

If in a town the government would absolutely evacuate the whole town and keep it hush hush just what it is their cleaning up. No one allowed ten feet to the perimeter, military locking the area down, and so on

[@301syedfaizansattar5]

Don't worry, emperor protects.

[@gabrielb9010]

I guess it could now be called AtomTrack instead of Amtrack.

[@Phrancis5]

Given the number of rail accidents recently, this seems really dangerous to have a bunch of these trains just constantly patrolling around the country.

[@THE_IRON_HORSE]

Trains derail all the time you just don't here about it because of the news

[@Artyomthewalrus]

Most train derailments are pretty safe. The nukes would probably be well protected even in a major derailment. There are only an average of 4 rail derailment related deaths in the usa ever year.

[@FoxtrotYouniform]

ffs. People see three news stories and think that there's something going on where there isn't. The US has the largest rail network in the world, 160k miles, hosting nearly 30k locomotives each making on average hundreds of trips per year, and there has been about 1-2k derailment per year for a long time. There is no "suddenly more derailment happening" there is only "I was unaware of this phenomenon till a month ago and since _I_ just became aware of it that must mean it just started happening."

[@THE_IRON_HORSE]

@Defective ong bruh, if the news would have never coverage east palestine nobody would have even payed attention to it, one idiot person on tiktok blamed NS 32N crew for the east palestine derailment like are you kidding me, damn conspiracy

[@TheNemosdaddy]

Recently? Trains have derailed constantly and less now, than ever since their invention. Stop listening to the hyperbole.

[@daanvos194]

the one who made the picture for the vid deserves an award, it looks great

[@FoundAndExplained]

I made it!

[@daanvos194]

@@FoundAndExplained nicely done

[@richardconway6425]

@@FoundAndExplained the desert train video cgi is superb.

[@nhansen197]

This was never developed past the planning stage. The reality is that with rail fans it would have been impossible to keep the location of the trains a secret.

[@dmacpher]

The MX Basing study is a phenomenal bit of reading

[@bretmarstellar603]

'Thomas the Apocalypse Engine' lol The first 'cold launch' ICBMs were carried on Navy submarines back in the 1950s- USS George Washington SSBN598, carrying 16 A1/A3 Polaris missiles.

[@06colkurtz]

Go look at multiple protective shelter basing Go look at Hard Mobile Lancher Go look at crawl on warning Go look at the frog basing mode. The purpose of these different basing modes was to cause the Soviets to spend money to counter them all and go broke. It worked.

[@raincoast9010]

Guess who else went broke?

[@chris52209]

​@@raincoast9010 must of been andorra since america is still here goin strong (we dont talk about california and NYC) and the USSR aint

[@raincoast9010]

@@chris52209 You don't think the USA is broke?

[@animo9050]

@@raincoast9010 Considering how we're still here and going strong (despite what any idiot might want to say), I'd say we aren't broke.

[@echomande4395]

The problem with rail garrison is that the rockets can only go where there are tracks, so they will always be somewhere along long, defioned, open stretches of the country. A few nukes or conventional strikes at key junctions cuts the problem of where they can be down to size. The USSR IMO got the mobile nuclear missile question right with the Topol roadmobile missile even if the carrier/launcher is huge.

[@leonfa259]

The US uses ballistic submarines for that purpose, in the end both have second strike capabilities.

[@michaelanuradha-khufu74]

I'd honestly be terrified if Russian and American Scientists collaborated with each other for War or something 😂

[@johnadler6987]

They did. Back when they were all still Nazi Germans.

[@MartiensBezuidenhout]

Russia has been trying to copy the Americans for so long, what would change if they started working together? 🤔😂

[@Tonius126]

Competition is far better in the long run. 😂

[@michaelanuradha-khufu74]

@@Tonius126 Whaaa why

[@crimeinal]

@@michaelanuradha-khufu74 without competition there isn’t much motive for development

[@lightspeedvictory]

Requesting videos on the following: -switchblade aircraft designs such as the FA-37 Talon from the ‘05 movie “Stealth” or the X-02 Wyvern from the Ace Combat franchise (the concept, not the actual fighters I mentioned) -Super Tomcat-21 and ASF-14 -the NATF program as a whole -early ATF proposals -Sea Apache -F-20 Tigershark -Bae SABA -Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Bomber proposal -Northrop’s proposal for what would become the F-117 Nighthawk -Interstate TDR -JSF proposals OTHER THAN the X-32 and X-35 -XFV-12

[@Mobius118]

X-02 Wyvern has been mentioned *I have been summoned*

[@realherobrine5636]

@@Mobius118 YOOO ITS YOU!?!?????

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

3:57 Those are not GP40-2 locomotives, and CSX ones, which have ntlhing to do with the project. CSX didn't even have that paint scheme until well after the program was over. 4:03 Those are autoracks, for carrying automobiles. The actual launch cars looked nothing like that.

[@SleepySalad]

4:02 those aren’t GP40-2 locomotives, those are GE AC4400CWs

[@trekkeruss]

Scrolled through the comments to see what other railfan would pick up on this rather glaring error.

[@Santaanacanyon]

So glad SOMEONE pointed this out.

[@06colkurtz]

Having worked on this program, the PK was contained in a strongback cover that prevented it from being damaged. Sandia ran trains into SST containers and crashed a commercial airliner into the containers and they prevented any escape of radioactive material. The PK basing was studied for years. They had at least 50 different concepts that were studied. This was just one. It was never seriously considered viable. The Multiple Protective Shelter basing mode was seriously considered and under development for about a decade when the Soviet Union failed. The real purpose of PK and Ballistic Missile Defense was to cause the Soviet Union to go broke which it did. It achieved its mission.

[@zh84]

"The real purpose of PK and Ballistic Missile Defense was to cause the Soviet Union to go broke which it did." Much the same has been said of SDI, which was far further from practicality but worried the Kremlin in case it came true.

[@pedrovascodeoliveiraveriss6293]

But how close did the USA itself got to going Broke?

[@Rampant16]

By the 1980s the US defense spending was about 6 - 7% of GDP, a little less than double what it is today. But the USSR was spending 15 - 20% of their GDP on defense, 2x-3x the percentage of what the US was spending. So the US was spending a lot of money but it was mostly manageable, the USSR was just on another level.

[@pedrovascodeoliveiraveriss6293]

@@Rampant16 So, where's the "Peace Dividend" that was promised? Oh wait, that's why the never-ending "War on Terror" was invented, to keep the Pentagon & the Military Industrial Complex fully funded.

[@nikerailfanningttm9046]

The GP40’s used were classified as GP40-2DE “Dynamic Braking, Extended Range”. These were fitted with bulletproof glass, both are still in service. These units were numbered TBCX 4900 and 4901. (TBCX: The Boeing Company). When the Peacekeepers Rail Garrison was scrapped, the Air Force moved the units from Vandenberg AFB to their second home; US Army Base FT Eustis, Virginia. They have also since been renumbered to USAX 4646 and 4647 respectively. Currently both 4900 and 4901 (now 4646 and 4647 respectively) work together still and are assigned to the MOTSU Base.

[@randycampbell6307]

The "Peacekeeper" rail garrison concept was itself based on the late 1950s "Minuteman" rail garrison and much of the hardware for that test program was studied and some recycled to promote the later program. MRG was to be run out of Hill AFB in Utah due to the nexus of available rail lines in that area and the rail infrastructure located there ane we have several of the prototype rail cars in our local (Ogden) rail museum. The major issue with the MRG was launch accuracy which would require the trains to travel between pre-surveyed points which greatly reduced the ability of the 'mobile' launchers by restricting them to only be able to launch from those points. Along with a general issue of providing security and servicing the more conventional silo program was chosen instead.

[@gravelydon7072]

Much like the Mobile RADAR Bomb Scoring trains, most of the cars for that were built out of 1945 Army Hospital Unit Cars in the 89400 series. One of the Command and Control cars was at Crane NWC when I was there in the late 80s. I didn't get to go in it as I was there to get USA 89436 moved for eventual restoration. Did you all ever get your Hospital Car restored? Also the cream colored car looks like one of the Generator cars for the MRBS train or one of the cars that served as parts/supply cars. It would have been either an 894X1 or an 894X2 car depending on which it was. The X in the number was in our case, 89441 and they ran up to 89471 as generator cars or 89472 as support cars. One car not used for that was 89449 nor was 89499.

[@nemesis7774]

Peacekeeper ? I'm sure Crimson one would appreciate such a nice train...

[@richardparsons7012]

You should watch the movie 'Atomic Train'. Not exactly a militarily movie. But, a low budget disaster movie, with a train carrying a nuke.

[@ykd0011]

Nuclear Armageddon on rail and US peace keeping! Perfect title describing USA

[@acorgiwithacrown467]

Ah yes, the nuclear Quartet. Silos, Subs, Planes and Trains

[@nenuu91iscool]

of course the US calls anything related to nukes "peacekeeper" or "peacekeeping"

[@clan_houltz]

They should call it “Lost” or “MIA”

[@shmulyitzkowitz6479]

It is moron tree hugger it’s called PEACE THRU STRENGTH

[@dreamingflurry2729]

It is true however! Without nukes, you bet Warsaw Pact and NATO would have fought each other by now!

[@fordlower2527]

​@@dreamingflurry2729yeah, a twist of irony

[@teomartini1105]

Ironic is that they call an instrument of war like PeaceKeeper

[@jasperdoornbos8989]

Orwellian.

[@Artyomthewalrus]

I mean they are designed to keep the peace. Nukes are one of the main reasons why none of the major powers have come head to head in the last half century. There are still minor wars, genocides, and proxy wars, but no superpowers in direct combat. This is one of the longest periods of relative peace known to mankind.

[@deus_ex_machina_]

It makes sense, though. The threat of mutually assured destruction kept the cold war from heating up. That's why Reagan's SDI “Star Wars” program was so dangerous for the world, it promised to tip the balance of power to one side.

[@teomartini1105]

@@deus_ex_machina_ Common sense would have been another option..

[@Wstarlights]

All wars should be 100% train based and fought entirely from and by trains.

[@brileymitchell2632]

“Thomas the apocalypse engine” made me laugh way more than I should have

[@toruscharge984]

"Thomas the Apocalypse Engine" 😂

[@catgirltransit]

lol nice job with the retextured auto racks

[@zakksrage]

As someone whose been in weapon storage facilities. America is definitely not “unprepared”. Also the start treaty was mostly satisfied by placing tape over canon plug receptacles…

[@nx9100]

One of the Peacekeeper missile cars can be seen on display outside on the grounds of the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH.

[@williamwilde141]

The Trident II missiles out at sea are enough to always make an aggressor think twice.

[@Molten_Slugger]

Every American Vehicle that has "Peacekeeper" in it:

[@RR-us2kp]

Been waiting for this since the video on Russian molodets train. Love your stuff man. Can you please make a video on the f20 tigershark?

[@CatalinElton]

The submarine based Trident missiles are still MIRV carriers.

[@highrisk8]

There are a few inaccuracies in the story, but it’s good to know that it wasn’t forgotten.

[@Geworfenheit]

Modern silo-based ICBMs have excellent reaction time. So excellent that even if first strike occurred, it would hit already empty silos. In this case, such trains are needed no more.

[@pedrovascodeoliveiraveriss6293]

Maybe the USA would have properly maintained its railway system if this had become real, at least one would hope so...

[@nomobobby]

What makes you think we would have passenger rail in this scenario? They could've just maintained some more N-S fright lines and get what they wanted.

[@スガル]

Rather than launching a retaliatory nuke from a train hundres of miles away from moscow, the US used submarine to launch it from their doorstep

[@Dennis-uc2gm]

Given the current status between "us and them", maybe we should of kept a few of these. Sometimes that loaded pistol tucked under the counter might just save you some day.

[@iainpaton1865]

Please keep the great videos coming friend from Scotland

[@PilotPhotog]

Another great video about a little-known cold war program, thanks for sharing this and I can't unsee Thomas The Apocalyptic Train 😂

[@stefanschleps8758]

This was interesting. I lived through the cold war and there was no time in our nations history where we were so close to nuclear disaster. I remember that the MX missile program was to be an underground system, that would have tied up a considerable percentage of Soviet missiles trying to figure out just which branches of the MX rail line carried missiles at any given time. By the way, let me assure you, the United States is far from "undefended". Make no mistake about it we are more than capable of defending our nation. Support your local Union. Semper Paratus.

[@glhx2112]

Rail Garrison storage structure and assorted support buildings are still present at Vandenberg AFB.

[@emmyturner7385]

All they have to do is sabotage any part of the huge track to make this weapon unusable

[@HammerOne]

2:10 Nuclear Train....a very deadly train even worse if it derails and explodes!

[@mill2712]

That isn't how nuclear weapons detonate. They need to be activated and then the force of a drop is needed. A crash from a train won't set it off.

[@Artyomthewalrus]

Nuclear weapons are generally relatively safe. They probably wouldn't be armed most of the time and have very little risk of being a hazard. An explosion won't kickstart a nuclear reaction.

[@orandor1]

If you want to see a surviving missle car, the US Air Force Museum in Dayton has one parked outside near the AC-130 and replica WWII Airfield.

[@tsarfox3462]

Actually the Minute Man III can hold more than 3 IRVs, it just doesn't...officially... due to treaties.

[@whatsreal7506]

The rail garrison project... Seemed like a good idea at the time. Crazy stuff

[@watchthe1369]

If you have ever ridden Amtrack, you know why the program fell through. The SALT Treaties had something to do with it too. Heck you could probably fit something in double deck container freight right now. Send them around the country and park them on sidings and move them about.

[@BandanRRChannel]

Seem to recall Tom Clancy mentioning this concept, or something similar, in his novel "Debt of Honor", saying the US Govt studied it back in the 50's or 60's. In that case it was found that because the cars would jostle around, the missiles could be damaged in transit. The solution would be to operated them much slower, which would utterly clog up the rail network. Also, just want to point out at 3:58 that those are very much not GP40-2's (four axle standard nose from EMD). They look more like ES44AC's (six axle wide nose from GE).

[@nikolausbautista8925]

Also, the locos you used are not GP40-2 locos. They're all modern "comfort cab" locos of either GE or EMD manufacture.

[@jeffreyskoritowski4114]

A man of a culture I see.

[@nikolausbautista8925]

@@jeffreyskoritowski4114 I am a "man of culture", but I am not the one who sponsors those 3-Minute History videos.

[@draysoncrook4898]

FULL SPEED AHEAD *missile pops out of carriage*, *missile fires* the Russians: uh oh

[@jamesa2961]

20 years ago they said they were a billion dollars behind in track repairs and upgrades. I see we are still at the same place

[@HandsWithLegs]

Probably a good thing we never actually put these into service with all the trains we’ve been accidentally dumping on the ground all over lately

[@FoxtrotYouniform]

People see three news stories and think that there's something going on where there isn't. The US has the largest rail network in the world, 160k miles, hosting nearly 30k locomotives each making on average hundreds of trips per year, and there has been about 1-2k derailment per year for a long time. There is no "suddenly more derailment happening" there is only "I was unaware of this phenomenon till a month ago and since _I_ just became aware of it that must mean it just started happening."

[@amentco8445]

@@FoxtrotYouniform How many of these previous train derailments were of vehicles carrying excessive amounts of toxic chemicals?

[@FoxtrotYouniform]

@@amentco8445 don't have the data in front of me, but you could find it more easily by searching if you actually cared to learn, as opposed to try to be seen to visibly score a point against a youtube commenter like the gigachad debater you are.

[@storm_shadow78]

To quote Henry Kissinger. "We could hit them at any time on any level!"

[@Per-MichaelJarnberg]

The voice behind the KZbinr sounds spooky and really good at the same time, well explain video

[@awkwardgamer7759]

I don't want to think about what would happen if one of these things derailed

[@digger105337]

There's one on display at the Museum of the Airforce in Dayton Ohio, way out away from the main entrance at the end of the flight line. 🚂🚀 A strange long box car with way to many wheels.

[@EmihleSibiya_144]

The amount of uploads this week has been very good , keep it up 👍👍👍

[@terrymcintosh1842]

😂 So it’s gonna derail

[@richardyoung8036]

Or is it?

[@danielescobar7618]

"our train gap with the reds is unacceptable!" "General Asperger, what are you talking about?" "TRAINS. WE NEED TRAINS."

[@Ben-sh1dl]

"arnesal" Jared: yup, that's fine, just send it.

[@nando11220]

These videos are super fascinating and entertaining, but what if other countries are just watching these videos and getting ideas?

[@andreypavlov8702]

Ты опоздал. Такой поезд давно на вооружении России.

[@beornthebear.8220]

If you're going to do this, make sure the trains can stay on the tracks and not derail. Over the past months the track record of shipping dangerous cargo via rail is not good.

[@Kehteron]

Some train spotter: Woo wheee. GP-40 there! Beautiful carrying machine- (Train fires nuclear missile) (Train spotter runs away as fast as he can)

[@smileyeagle1021]

Not doing this is the greatest mistake we've ever made... not because it has left us vulnerable to nuclear attack, but because if we had these rolling around the country, our government would actually care about rail safety enough to require the preventative maintenance and safety procedures that would have prevented incidents like what happened in East Palestine OH, because the last thing they would want is something like that interfering with their ability to deploy these trains.

[@biddygames]

Now they no longer do it in Trains have them in semi trucks now

[@captain_commenter8796]

*Thomas the rocket launcher*

[@Train_Tok_Man]

Those locomotives look nothing like the real GP40-2’s.

[@Windows98R]

when you consider the time reliability of services like Amtrak, these would work wonderfully. USSR: "Ah, the american train will be arriving at Point A on 12:30" Meanwhile... "Hey Dave, you think we can leave by 12:55?" "Naw, I think realistically, 1:43"

[@IONindustries627]

Make a video on the Club-k System

[@MoondogBongwater]

Subbed! Early Congrats on 500k subs!

[@watchvideosok7441]

Please do a video on the MAZ-7907

[@sergeantwolf8018]

EMD GP40s Shows GE Dash-9s Small gripe, but one as a railfan is very noticable

[@miketeeveedub5779]

Wow! Now that is a train you do not want to drive in front of at an unmarked railway crossing!

[@danielkennedy5602]

Imagine a derigible that had nuclear power, and was designed with on-board drones, fighters and even a laser system designed to detonate the warheads in flight.

[@keyera1378]

They should have added legs and an electro magnet to fire warheads to eliminate the need for rocket propellant.

[@RedRyan]

I hope you break 500,000 subscribers today!!

[@ronaldgustafson3073]

This system had major capability shortfalls and vulnerabilities. I could not met operational requirements.

[@joshuabessire9169]

Been hilarious if those Operation Lifesaver locomotives hauled the Peacekeepers. Would have gone well with the Navy's giant robot shark program Project Lifeguard.

[@carldebellis7310]

That would be hilarious

[@michaelcap9550]

Need to bring this back.

[@2БП-430]

В США этого не было. А в СССР - было!

[@aidpool]

Something seems eerie about carring dozens of nuclear warheads all around your country crossing populated cities.

[@newenglandexpansionistsoci2613]

Attempt # 8, The Bugatti 100 P

[@mitchellcowel]

Bet we still have them but now more technical and advanced!!! We're ready at anytime any moment!!!

[@jonathangoode546]

The us needs to STOP RETIRING OUR WEPONS …NOW !

[@Glocktopus1]

My man these things cost money to keep up

[@mustaffaleak9247]

5:34 "Soviet Nuclear Arnesal" you say? 🤣Ooops!

[@ne1k812]

TOP SECRET!!!!!!

[@kelbybrewer2038]

When Thomas has had enough of all your shit.

[@drip_behemoth]

Picture this you just railfanning and a train passes by and shoots a Nuclear Warhead at you

[@Tim_Thaler]

В Советском Союзе был такой же проект. В видео он называется "призрачный поезд", но это был БЖРК «Молодец», который в НАТО получил наименование СС-24 «Скальпель».

[@tommysimmons5266]

United States only have 4 main ( east/west) train tracks. 5 if you count the New Orleans run.

[@austinhughes1924]

It wouldn’t surprise me.If they secretly kept the project going.And have a more modern version of the system.Still active in the military.

[@KeyboardWarrior101st]

Look into the miniature nukes that can be jumped in by HAHO teams. I guess they could do HALO as well but that can't cover the same distance.

[@scamhunter2346]

So ironic that the nuclear train has a name "Peacekeeper".

[@privacylock855]

This idea was a TwoFer. ( two for one). Expensive and dumb.

[@mkvenner2]

You should see what they proposed before they settled on railroad garrison.

[@danielbrowniel]

With the Poseidon system, If Russia can manage to stalk all of our nuclear subs and their first move is to nuke all the subs, we lose.