Brian Norden Wrote:
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> in the middle of nowhere there was a double-track
> grade crossing! Well it is part of the
> [url=https://public.nrao.edu/visit/very-large-arra
> y/]The Very Large Array Radio Telescope
> facility.[/url]
Brian,
I was on the initial construction crew for the VLA radio telescope; worked there 40 years until retirement (electronics and the receivers). Those double tracks run in three directions for 13 miles for moving the VLA antennas along the array, about 80 miles of track. Track was purchased across the country from Puerto Rico to the sugar cane rails in Hawaii. We were sued by the railroad union, claiming if we were building a railroad, then we must pay union wages. The court ruled in our favor. The reason the crossing on Hwy. 60 does not say "Railroad Crossing" - but "Special Use Crossing." When we moved the first antenna across US60 ca. 1978, we had all sorts of transportation people there to approve our method of stopping traffic and getting the antenna across the highway. We waited 15 minutes for a car to come down the road so we could stop it!
Photo is to match your C130 shot on the C&TS (great shot, BTW). It was a B17 doing a "bombing run" along the east arm. You can see what the desert heat does to the tracks in places. The reason the antenna transporters are limited to 5 mph.