Large Scale Central

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General Discussion
#21

From the description in your article Steve, and from what I’ve seen , I think Ft. Rosencrans is now used by the Navy to service Submarines. I’ve seen them leaving from there and heading to sea. Though I can’t tell from a Google Earth photo, it doesn’t appear that any track exists now.

(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/Point%20Loma/004.jpg)

(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/Point%20Loma/011.jpg)

Photo from Google Earth:

(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/Point%20Loma/PtLoma.jpg)

#22

You are right, Ken. The track is all gone, now. The Sub Base has been there since the 20’s at least.

But, if you look hard enough, you can still see the remnants of the narrow gauge rr that usta was.

#23

I’ll have to check that out. I couldn’t tell on the Google Earth pic…

#24

Small point Ken: It’s “Fort Rosecrans,” with no “n.”

It’s named for William Starke Rosecrans, a Union general in the American Civil War. It was a U.S. Army fort until the late 1950s, then was turned over to the U.S. Navy.

The Fort Rosecrans Military Reservation runs along the spine of Point Loma with spectacular views of San Diego and the bay. It is home to the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. An absolutely amazing site to sit and reflect on the people who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our great country. Some of the earliest graves are from the war with Mexico, declared in 1874.

The reference Steve gave above, Cabrillo National Monument’s The Guns of San Diego (link) is a very thorough and detailed account of Fort Rosecrans, but I haven’t seen any reference to the railroad that ran to Ballast Point. Didn’t find anything on the included drawings or maps either.

I did thoroughly cover lots of Fort Rosecrans and the Cabrillo National Monument as I was growing up in San Diego, and again later when the microelectronics manufacturing equipment company I worked for was providing silicon wafer processing equipment to the Naval Electronics Laboratory that was actually built inside the remains of Battery Ashburn.

Lots of history at Point Loma!

Happy RRing,

Jerry

#25

Thanx, Jerry for the spelling correction (I shoulda known that) and the link.

Pt.Loma is one of my favorites spots to visit when we go out there to see my brother. Balboa Park is probably my No.1 spot with Pt. Loma and Torrey Pines a real close second. Fascinating history out there.

#26

I have just spent an entertaining couple of hours (plus lunch) closely inspecting the Google Earth piccie of the Rosecras area , and have identified a large amount of track traces .
Also , there are several Ammo Bunkers from which the guns were fed via the NG .
An instance of what to look for is if you look at the east/west portion of Ashburn Rd , it runs to the north of a 4 bay ammo store . Look at the se and sw corners , and you will see what appears to be a ng feeder going straight through the stores , and curving off to the guns .
As there are 4 x gun positions down on the south east shore of Point Loma in the curve where it joins the mainland (they look like modern apartment buildings ) , there had to be a rail feed to there , I think traces of the track bed are visible . The most southerly gun plarform is visible as two Capital ‘D’ lying on their backs . Or one capital B . Follow the track trace from there to the Ashburn Rd ammo store .
The whole lot would be rail interconnected , so there is plenty to find .
I have identified more , but don’t wish to bore you , or spoil your game of “find the guns”

Many thanks for pointing me to a very interesting area .
Anyone know of more ?

Mike M

edit . Harbour entrance batteries usually have a complementary battery on the opposite shore . Have a look in the sw corner of the aifrield on the opposite point .

#27

A quick look at San Francisco entrance shows three forts which would be good candidates for ng stuff , especially the older gun positions near Lobos Rock (south entrance shore)

Mike M

#28

There are three forts guarding the entrance to Puget Sound in Washington State, Ft Warden (B), Ft Flager (F) and Ft Casey©. All are maintained as State Parks, so there is still a lot to see. I’ve been to Ft Casey once, a long time ago, well before any interest in railroading surfaced, so I didn’t look for any rail, but there might be some narrow gauge stuff there. Perhaps some of the folks who live in the area can shed some light on the subject.

Anyway, here is the link for Fort Casey. If you scroll out, you will see the other forts and outlying batteries. They had the entrance pretty well covered.

Take a look out by Port Angeles along the Straights of Juan de Fuca. There is a large gun emplacement there, too. I guess they were supposed to soften up the enemy before they got to Ft Casey.

#29

Steve ,
That’s an interesting set of forts .
Fort Casey’s layout , and the relationship between the guns and ammo bunkers points to it being a candidate for NG .
If you look at the lower sw facing guns—there are four—you will notice that guns are still emplaced in the top two . These two guns look to be ’ Disappearing Carriage ’ types . Clever design , they were loaded behind the parapet , then popped up over the parapet to fire . Then popped down into cover . A few tons of metal to be doing that with .
If you look at the loading ramp behind the guns , just out of the shadow of the back wall of the bunker there appears to be 18" gauge rails set in the concrete . I am not talking about the shadow of the railings atop the bunker .
Back to the piccies .
Mike M

#30

Mike,

I see the two guns, one in battery, and one in recoil. I see the rails, too. I’ll have to go there this spring and take some pics for you. The weather now is quite nasty, but in a month or so, it should mellow out. I plan on taking my 4.5 year old grandson on his first train ride then. It won’t be much of a stretch to include Ft Casey in the tour. He will get a bang out of that, too, if you will pardon a bad pun. :stuck_out_tongue:

#31

Charelston,SC had several forts. Fort Moultrie on Sulivan’s Island had an active battery into the 1940’s. I don’t remember any rail.
However, the Naval facility in North Charleston might have some rail. The facility was recently in the news. It’s Naval brigg a possible destination for Gitmo guests.
Ralph

#32

Charleston looks interesting . Thanks .
If you want to see a very good example of a rail fed fort , Google Earth “Hanstholm DK” will put you to the town centre . Go 1250 yards ENE and you will land near a large gun pit . Surrounding this is a still running NG railway , complete with tunnels , and so on . It is run as a museum by the Danes and a look at the website ----Hanstholm Kanone Museet ---- will provide pretty good pics .
The rails are rusty , not surprising really , but makes them easier to find .

Mike M

#33

Here is a view just to the SE of the naval facility. You can pretty well follow it on to the base. Tracks have been gone for a bit. Quite a few trees grown in the old rail bed. Ralph

(http://www.lscdata.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/CHNAVALMedium.jpg)

#34

Zoomed in.

(http://www.lscdata.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/CN2.jpg)

#35

Ralph ,
That was an interesting line to follow . It looks to have been quite comprehensive at one time .
Any more ?
Anyone ?
D’ya want me to give more Google Earth details ?

Mike M

#36

I took a look at Fort Sumpter, but what ever was there was destroyed by the Yankee barrage.

#37
Steve Featherkile said:
I took a look at Fort Sumpter, but what ever was there was destroyed by the Yankee barrage.
Did you look at Fort Moultrie and the gun battery on Sullivan's Island? They have several very cool beach houses on Sullivan's Island that were converted from a gun battery. I'll have to see if I can find one. Ralph