MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. --
"People get ready, there's a train a comin'," a song by Curtis Mayfield and Impressions from 1964, comes to mind when watching the train movements at the Yermo side of MCLB Barstow.
Several tons of steel, known in some circles as "whispering death," rumbling along at approximately 10 mph and loaded with cargo is no easy thing to stop once its momentum gets going.
Without the crew assigned to the Railhead Operations Branch of Installation Division, ever vigilant of their duties and the area around them, the whisper could possibly become a scream.
"Safety is our number one concern out here when we're dealing with the engines," said A. J. Williams, brakeman-switcher with Railhead Branch. "That's why we always have one guy in front of the train in a lead vehicle to stop traffic and one guy in the rear as a safety precaution."
The railhead team, consisting of the engineer, a master brakeman and two brakemen-switchers, really has a tough job when there's a rotating unit on board, according to Williams.
"We do a lot of stop and goes, because we want to make sure we don't hit anyone," said Williams. "We will not hook up a car unless we make sure there's no troops on those cars."
They all have previous railroad experience with Union-Pacific, Santa Fe and others, which reveals a lot about their expertise.
At MCLB Barstow the crew moves more railcars than anywhere in the continental United States because of all the unit rotations, according to Williams.
There have been 17,768 inner-base moves, 2,747 inbound moves and, 2,788 outbound moves this fiscal year with six rotations scheduled through October. When a unit comes in, its equipment usually has arrived beforehand by rail. The railhead crew is responsible for positioning the cars so the unit can offload without delay. Sometimes that requires moving a load from one track to another, unhooking the cars, and moving the engine around the base to hookup on the opposite end of the load.
To do this requires some maneuvering, throwing switches, and strict communication between the engineer and the master brakeman.
"When you're throwing switches out here, you move the track in the position you want the train to go," said Williams. "That may not sound like a lot but let's say you have about 20 to 30 M1s on the cars and that switch is not aligned to the track you want, but aligned to go somewhere else; you're going to have a crash."
While switches are being thrown and tracks are being aligned, Jeremiah Baca, the engineer, is receiving instructions from the master brakeman. Although his job may seem to be an easy task, it's far from it.
"This job is especially challenging when there's a rotating unit on board," said Baca, echoing the sentiments of Williams and stressing the need for safety precautions.
At every crossing he must sound the engine's horn to let traffic and pedestrians know the train is approaching. Additionally, the speed limit on base for the train is 10 mph, no easy task when he's moving a heavy load.
"These engines weigh approximately 120 tons each, and each one of the cars is about 90 feet long," Baca explained. "But two M1s on one car weighs more than one of these engines. It makes it really tough to stop the train when you're pulling 35 cars with two tanks each on it."
While receiving instructions from the master brakeman on how far to move the cars before he stops, for example, Baca is constantly monitoring the train's speed, wheel spin from applying too much throttle, and pulling brakes for both the engine and the cars.
"15 cars ...10 ... 7 ... 5 ... 3 ...1 ..." are the instructions Baca receives from the master brakeman letting him know how far to pull or push the cars before he has to stop. Baca repeats the instructions back to make sure he heard and is clear on what he has to do.
"Stop," says the master brakeman. As Baca applies the brakes to the engine and its cars, it moans, squeals and jolts several times before coming to a complete halt, it is in position to unhook.
This operation will be repeated several times throughout the day, moving cars into position for an incoming unit, to make it easier for offloading equipment and limit the amount of down time for that unit, according to A. J. Williams.
"We don't offload the equipment for the units," said Williams. "We just move the cars into position for the unit's loadmasters to take care of.
"If they want something moved, we're here to move it. When they're here on the weekends, we're here too."
When the crewmembers are not moving cars for a rotation, which has been rare lately, they are busy maintaining and repairing the tracks where needed.
"We have to make sure all switches are operating properly. And where there is a buildup of sand on our tracks, we bring out the blower trucks and remove it," said Williams about the team's routine.
The trend with the crew is to get the job done, and they will not stop until it is completed.
"It's a sense of pride in what we do, how well we work together, and how well we do our jobs," Williams concluded.