Famous Weapons Forgotten:

[FastEd]

During the Cold War not all our ICBMs were in Silos or in the air.
Air Force Museum Display:

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I remember seeing pictures of those flip top boxcars.

Hey buddy can you spare an ICBM?

 

[jlmtr6]

I don't recall this. And, yes, I'm old enough.......wait, maybe that's the problem. I do think that is a great concept though.

 

[finesse_r]

I don't have enough room for and ICBM silo as I live in a patio home. Any suggestions for some thing a little smaller for home defense.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I don't have enough room for and ICBM silo as I live in a patio home. Any suggestions for some thing a little smaller for home defense.

M1A1 MkVII Mod4 mid-range black-tactical pea-shooter with high-capacity clip and shoulder thing that goes up.

 

[mohavesam]

An effective military tool, the concept was taken from the USSR, which employed railway launchers since the 50s. Also goes back as far as WWII...

Hint: once the evil empire knew what to look for, it became clear that an empty rail-launcher car required the same intel resources as a loaded one, to monitor and track 24/7/365. We discovered this also during the cold war. Regan was very fond of mis-direction on a global scale...! Considering all USAF bases are first-volley targets, the museum legend above would prove purposefully-misleading insofar as storage and deployment...

The missles could be raised and launched from the middle of your city, or from a remote seemingly abandoned siding. Some say the launchers have been upgraded over the years to enable remote (unattended) operation as well as the ability to fire from within special "warehouses" with collapsing roofs...? Huh. I've also read that the railway launchers had self-detonation devices to destroy any equipment that might not be melted in a blob upon firing. Make good magazine article fodder but it is still a viable strategy worldwide, and not just for nuclear weapons.

Working closely with ATK Thiokol in the last decade, I could find no one willing to say if any active solid-fuel vehicles were deployed/serviced in railcar launchers. Good way to end a conversation.

 

[WAYNO]

Yep, the concept of railroad-mobile weaponry goes back a ways and is an effective concept.

I was stationed twice at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The entire post is a museum. Up and down the thoroughfares, there are examples of weapons from the entire world...Prototypes, experimental, captured, and just plain retired. The post was pretty much open to the public the last time I was there in '82, but I imagine civilians with no business there are no longer allowed, as is the case with other military installations.

I remember very well, the Leopold rail-mounted cannon.


WAYNO.