Hawthorne US Army Depot railroad, 1999

Hawthorne Nevada is a small town of around 2700 people that lies between Reno and Las Vegas south of Walker Lake.  The highway from Reno to the area I was working in near Tonopah (one of the last gold rush towns in the US) runs through Hawthorne.  

Hawthorne was primarily a railway town from the arrival of the narrow gauge Carson and Colorado RR in 1881.  The Southern Pacific purchased the C&C in 1900, and there were hundreds of miles of SP narrow gauge in the area to serve the mining boom towns of Tonopah, Goldfield and elsewhere.  The SP converted the line to dual gauge and/or standard gauge in 1905.  Most of the narrow gauge was abandoned by the late 1940's.   

The Army purchased most of the branchline from SP in 1991, with the SP (now UP) providing service on the line as the US Army is now the only customer on the branch.  Many years ago there was a bunch of slides of SP cab forward locomotives running freight trains along the shores of Walker Lake.  I didn't win the auctions for the slides, but they were some very interesting views.  

The main reason for Hawthorne's existence now is the US Army Depot just outside of town.  The depot produces and stores ammunition for the US military.  The highway runs right through the middle of the storage facility, with bunkers full of exploding stuff as far as the eye can see.  It is quite interesting to drive through, although I suspect it would be a very big explosion if everything stored there was put in a big pile and blown up at the same time.  

Regularly driving through Hawthorne I would check to see what was lurking around the railway tracks in the area.  Generally there was nothing other than the odd flatcar or boxcar in the facility, and I thought it wise not to be taking photos of the Army facility through the fence from the highway.  

On one occasion I saw two locomotives sitting besidea brick building in the Army base just north of Hawthorne.  "What the hell" I thought, "I'll drive up and ask if I can take some photos of the locomotives. What's the worst that could happen?"

I wheeled up to the base gate, rolled down my window and asked the civilian guard in the shack if I could go take some photos of the locomotives.  "Sure, no problem." was the answer.  I gave them my drivers license to make a photocopy, and off I went.  

A dark grey black GE 80T and a former Illinois Central GP10 (ex 8010) sat in nice light on the base track, and I took a few shots of the locomotives.  Both were immaculate and likely only saw limited use on the base switching cars.  

I am somewhat doubtful that in this post 9/11 world I would be able to wheel up to an army base and take photos of trains.  I'm glad I did so when I had the chance.