MORE AGILE POWER PROJECTION
Te system provides flexibility to offload heavy vehicles anywhere along a rail line, in order to keep an enemy guessing. It also allows for much quicker transport to remote locations than current methods that would require tanks to be carried by train to the nearest railyard and then driven by trucks to their final destinations, perhaps hundreds of miles away from the railyard. And if a train were to be inca- pacitated along its journey—such as if its tracks were destroyed—the RAIL system would still allow its cargo to be offloaded, a capability that currently does not exist. Tese mid-line offload points are typically along uneven terrain with minimal foun- dation preparation, and RAIL’s ability to be used in these settings sets it apart from other market solutions.
GIRDER LIFT
Soldiers from the 757th Expeditionary Rail Center lift a girder as part of a demonstration of the RAIL system at Anniston Army Depot, Alabama, in April 2021. (Photo by Mark Cleghorn, Anniston Army Depot)
“Te problem with fixed facilities is they are easily targetable,” Strickler said. “If you can only offload at point B and an adver- sary can stop you from getting to point B, they can stop you from transporting that equipment and ultimately accomplishing the mission.”
TURN PAD PLATFORM
Workers guide an M1A1 Abrams tank onto a railcar using the RAIL turn pad platform configuration during a demonstration at Anniston Army Depot, Alabama in April 2021. (Photo by Mark Cleghorn, Anniston Army Depot)
Te RAIL system contains six basic build- ing components that can be assembled into various configurations, allowing for equip- ment to be offloaded from either the side or the end of the train. Tis sideloading capa- bility is significant because in most cases, tanks are loaded and unloaded from the back of the train. It’s a time-consuming process in which the vehicle moves along a special ramp that takes it from ground level to the back of the last railcar and then advances toward the front of the train, in a first-in, last-off configuration. If changing circumstances mean you need to offload a vehicle from one of the front railcars, the only way to get it out is by first offloading all of the vehicles behind it. With RAIL’s sideloading capability, it can be set up next to any rail car and allow you to offload the vehicle directly from that particular car.
50 Army AL&T Magazine Fall 2022
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