The Fort Eustis Military Railroad is an intra-plant United States Army rail transportation system existing entirely within the post boundaries of the United States Army Transportation Center and Fort Eustis (USATCFE), Fort Eustis, Virginia. It has served to provide railroad operation and maintenance training to the US Army and to carry out selected material movement missions both within the post and in interchange with the US national railroad system via a junction at Lee Hall, Virginia. It consists of of track broken into three subdivisions with numerous sidings, spurs, stations and facilities.
This article concentrates on the height of US Army rail operations on the Fort Eustis Military Railroad from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s prior to divestiture of the rail operations and maintenance missions in the 1970s when they were turned over to civil servants and later to contractors, and the rail training mission transferred to the 84th Training Command. The Utility Rail Branch (URB) of the Fort Eustis Military Railway continues to operate today under the command of the 733RD Logistics Readiness Division (LRD), Joint-Base Langley Eustis. The Utility Rail Branch of the Fort Eustis Military Railroad joined Operation Lifesaver in 2010.
Physical layout
The general layout of the Fort Eustis Military Railroad (FEMRR) is that of a loop within a loop, with a long track leading to the junction with the CSX (former Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad) line at Lee Hall. The smaller, inner loop is the Mulberry Island Subdivision, the larger, outer loop is the James River Subdivision, and the track to the Lee Hall Junction with CSX is the Industrial Subdivision. There are several spurs and one large branch, the Port Branch off the Industrial Subdivision, leading to the "Third Port" area of the post on the James River where the Army operates amphibious ships, landing craft and lighters. There are two wyes for turning equipment or whole trains: one at King Junction between the Mulberry Island and James River Subdivisions, and the other at the junction of the Industrial Subdivision with the Mulberry Island and James River Subdivisions. This latter wye was for years the site of a prominent Wye Tower that has since been removed, though the wye itself remains. The wye at King Junction served more as crossovers than as a wye; the turning of equipment and trains was normally performed at the Wye Tower Interlocking Plant.
Running directions
Though the railroad is generally oriented roughly northeast-southwest, it is run as an east-west road, with westbound trains superior to eastbound trains of the same class. On the Industrial Subdivision, "west" is toward the wye and "east" is toward the Lee Hall Junction; on the Mulberry Island and James River Subdivisions, which are loops, "west" is counterclockwise and "east" is clockwise; on the Port Branch, "west" is toward Third Port and "east" is toward the junction with the Industrial Subdivision.
Turning of equipment
The circular nature of the Mulberry Island and James River subdivisions meant that the running of trains would concentrate flange wear on the outer wheels of cars and locomotives. To minimize excessive and uneven flange wear, all of the FEMRR rolling stock had to be turned through the wye each quarter. Every piece of rolling stock on the railroad had a red disc painted on one side, about 18 inches from the right end of the equipment as seen from that side. During the first two weeks of each calendar quarter, all rolling stock was moved through the wye to reverse the orientation of the equipment.
In the first and third quarters of each calendar year, equipment would be turned so that the red disc faced away from the Hanks Yard office; during the second and fourth quarters, equipment would again be turned so the red disc would be visible from that office. If normal train operations resulted in rolling stock oriented with its red disc facing the wrong way, it would have to be turned as soon as practicable to face the proper way for that quarter. Proper turning of equipment was the responsibility of the Hanks Yardmaster.