Stopping the Coast Starlight for Vandenberg A.F.B. activities

[skyguy]

Has the CS ever been stopped for rocket launches (or etc.)? If so, what have been your experiences, did you see a launch?

I was lucky enough to see a Space Shuttle launch and since I'll b e on the CS in the near future, I was wondering what might the chances be of seeing a launch. If that were to be the case, how close do we get before they stop the train and are there any special security issues?

I've travelled the CS a number of times and really enjoy going through VAB and seeing the hardware (mostly through the fog).

Thanks for your comments.

David

 

[TinCan782]

I believe they do stop the trains. Will you actually see something? Probably not up close!

Your chances of being on the CS and passing by Vandenburg at the time of a launch is probably a crapshoot!

The same applies to the Pacific Surfliner.

 

[SP&S]

I've heard that during the height of the cold war when sensitive activities were taking place MP's enforced the closing of curtains on the Vandenburg side. I've always wondered if this were true or just an urban legend.

 

[Alexandria Nick]

I've heard that during the height of the cold war when sensitive activities were taking place MP's enforced the closing of curtains on the Vandenburg side. I've always wondered if this were true or just an urban legend.

I know from some people that have been on-site for launches at Vandenburg that the site itself is still super-locked down.

Now, there's virtually no utility to making someone close their curtain during a launch. Not to say its true or false, but that I'm skeptical. You can't hide a launch. I mean, it's just not possible. Even if you made everyone within 30 miles of the place close their eyes so they couldn't see what type of lift vehicle was going up, anyone within 100 miles and a pair of decent binoculars could tell you. Hell, they could guess even without the binoculars. A monster like the good old Titan IV (which is what you'd have been using to put Keyhole birds up) could be seen for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

I have vivid memories of seeing a few launches back in the mid 80s as a very small child. We lived in Tampa.

 

[Ispolkom]

Now, there's virtually no utility to making someone close their curtain during a launch. Not to say its true or false, but that I'm skeptical. You can't hide a launch. I mean, it's just not possible. Even if you made everyone within 30 miles of the place close their eyes so they couldn't see what type of lift vehicle was going up, anyone within 100 miles and a pair of decent binoculars could tell you. Hell, they could guess even without the binoculars. A monster like the good old Titan IV (which is what you'd have been using to put Keyhole birds up) could be seen for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Or heard for 50 miles.

 

[railiner]

It would not be quite the same thing, but it would have been interesting to be on the Zephyr as it passed by the end of the runway at Offutt AFB south of Omaha during a full SAC O.R.I. (if you don't know what that entails, I recommend seeing the old movie: "A Gathering of Eagles".....

 

[NW cannonball]

It would not be quite the same thing, but it would have been interesting to be on the Zephyr as it passed by the end of the runway at Offutt AFB south of Omaha during a full SAC O.R.I. (if you don't know what that entails, I recommend seeing the old movie: "A Gathering of Eagles".....

Some of those B-52's are still flying. And they still have really really non-stealth engine noise.

When ,my auntie was some kinda senior enlisted at Offutt back early 60's -- she called it "offal AFB on the Misery River".

 

[rrdude]

It WAS practice to stop the CS is a launch was imminent, don't know if they still do that.

 

[yarrow]

i had a ppc attendant on the cs tell me that he had been held at slo for launches and that when it happened it "shook the train".

 

[Paulus]

Any holding of the train is almost certainly just a range safety issue. I'd be a bit surprised if they didn't do that actually.

 

[leemell]

It would not be quite the same thing, but it would have been interesting to be on the Zephyr as it passed by the end of the runway at Offutt AFB south of Omaha during a full SAC O.R.I. (if you don't know what that entails, I recommend seeing the old movie: "A Gathering of Eagles".....

I saw several (it is about 20 minutes of constant roaring) and participated in a MITO once. Even at that young age, I was smart enough not to do that again! There are still several wings of B-52s and they are still at the tip of a very big spear.

 

[xyzzy]

A major reason to launch from Vandenberg instead of an east coast site is that a rocket can take a southern or southwest heading without overflying any land other than the AFB itself -- just like launches from Cape Canaveral can go northeast (constrained by the Outer Banks of North Carolina), east, or southeast for the same reason. Southern and southwest headings allow the very useful polar and sun-synchronous orbits that cannot be achieved from the east coast.

But if you look at a map of Vandenberg, a southern or southwest heading will overfly the railroad line. Ergo, no trains during launch for range safety reasons.

 

[Ocala Mike]

It would not be quite the same thing, but it would have been interesting to be on the Zephyr as it passed by the end of the runway at Offutt AFB south of Omaha during a full SAC O.R.I. (if you don't know what that entails, I recommend seeing the old movie: "A Gathering of Eagles".....

I don't have to see an old movie to know what an ORI is. Our first child was born at Portsmouth Naval Hospital DURING an ORI that I went through as Chief of Communications-Electronics Maintenance, Pease AFB, NH, 1967. Also, my wife is well familiar with "Offull" AFB, NE where she "hung out" while I was in Korea, 1966.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Since I grew up on SAC Bases all over the map (my dad was Career Air Force) I have vivid memories of Alerts, ORIs etc. And I was a Radioman in the US Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, High Stress Times indeed during the Cold War!!

 

[TinCan782]

Since I grew up on SAC Bases all over the map (my dad was Career Air Force) I have vivid memories of Alerts, ORIs etc. And I was a Radioman in the US Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, High Stress Times indeed during the Cold War!!

Whoa there Jim...I was RM2 '68-72! (DD-782)

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Since I grew up on SAC Bases all over the map (my dad was Career Air Force) I have vivid memories of Alerts, ORIs etc. And I was a Radioman in the US Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, High Stress Times indeed during the Cold War!!

The Halcyon Days of America when we knew EXACTLY who are enemy was and they knew EXACTLY who we were.

 

[BCL]

It was the secondary launch site for the Space Shuttle, although they never did an actual launch. I heard that Enterprise was on the pad there for testing. Supposedly the Challenger explosion derailed the plans to use it for Shuttle launches even though I think it was still a backup site. It was supposed to be used for Air Force specific missions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandenberg_AFB_Space_Launch_Complex_6

I remember it was used as the backdrop for an episode of JAG as a plot device where they're investigating an incident there involving a Navy officer in the Shuttle program. I think it allowed the writers to come up with a plausible reason why he'd need to borrow an F-14 to fly cross-country. At that point it wasn't even authorized as a Shuttle launch site any more, but it was just a TV show.

 

[FriskyFL]

When I lived in SLO in the early 80s, launches from Vandenberg were quite visible. Hard to keep those a secret once they "light that candle".

 

[skyguy]

VAB was, for the most part, re-engeneered to service the Shuttle but there were too many obstacles to overcome including, but not limited to, the incessant fog; engineers could not see or video all aspects of the launch, and to comply with flight regulations there must be an abort to land option. On the east coast range there were two sites, one in Spain and one in northern Africa. No such land mass was available to the western range. Although NASA/USAF were very seriously considering levelling Easter Island for the purpose.

There were complaints.

 

[calwatch]

They close the Surf station area during launches as well, which removes a nice location to watch. I saw a launch a couple of years ago from one of the hills overlloking Vandenberg and it was worth the three hour drive from the LA area.