Tooele Rail Shop

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This page was last updated on June 30, 2022.

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Overview

The Tooele Army Depot rail shop at Hill Air Force Base was officially known as the Defense Generator and Rail Equipment Center, or DGRC.

"DGRC is the only facility of its kind in the Department of Defense (DoD). It is the only organization in DoD that performs all levels of rail maintenance. DGRC currently services 80% of the Army's rail fleet. It is the only facility in DoD that provides overhaul and modification of Non-Tactical Generators. September 28, 1999 was another mark in DGRC history. Again, this mission transferred to a new Command. The US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren, Michigan will take command and control effective October 1, 1999. The 39 civilian employees at DGRC remained at the facility located at Hill Air Force Base, Utah."

"The Defense Nontactical Generator and Rail Equipment Center is located at Hill Air Force Base, located 70 miles north of Tooele. This the only rail overhaul facility in the Department of Defense. Locomotives for military services are overhauled at this location, as well as large rail mounted non-tactical generators which are capable of powering small cities. The facility also provides on-site maintenance of Department of Defense locomotives and rolling stock for all services across the nation with its mobile and rail maintenance contract teams"  (Site survey, Tooele Army Depot)

The following comes from Anniston Army Depot Combat Vehicle Support Center Installation Familiarization Reference Book.

Physically located at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, Anniston Army Depot is also responsible for the Defense Generator and Rail Center (DGRC) that provides both large generator and locomotive overhaul and field support to Army, Navy, Air Force, USMC, and the Corp of Engineers.

The maintenance mission located at Hill Air Force base was established in 1942 under Ogden Arsenal. In 1944 the mission was transferred to the Transportation Corps and expanded to all DoD rail equipment The mission transferred again in 1956 to Utah General Depot and in 1964 to Tooele Army Depot. In the early 1970's the mission was expanded to include non-tactical generators. In 2000 the mission was transferred to its current headquarters, Anniston Army Depot. The operation resides at its original location on Hill AF Base on 28 acres with 6 major maintenance structures encompassing 55,243 square feet of production space.

Timeline

1942
Opened as the Transportation Depot Maintenance Division of the Ogden Arsenal, which was located adjacent to the Army's Hill Field (which itself was opened 1 December 1939). An eight-track brick structure ("Building 1701") was constructed along with a mechanical shop. The facility initially shared Army major railroad maintenance duties with Ft. Holabird, Baltimore, Maryland with each shop handling roughly half of the country.

January 13, 1948
Hill Field was transferred to the new United States Air Force and renamed Hill Air Force Base. The Maintenance Division continued in its role by providing service to both the U. S. Army and newly created U. S. Air Force. The Army functions became tenants on the Air Force Base while remaining under Army command and control.

November 1949
Ogden Arsenal subordinated to newly named Tooele Army Depot (TEAD).

1955
Ogden Arsenal closed; Tooele Army Depot took over direct control of remaining activities, including the rail shop. (note: some sources list 1964 as the transfer year to TEAD)

1964
The Army closed the eastern rail maintenance activity at Ft. Holabird, Baltimore Maryland, making the Utah operation the sole location for locomotive maintenance across both Army and Air Force.

September 1, 1964
The Transportation Maintenance Division was renamed the Rail Equipment Division of the Tooele Army Depot (TEAD).

October 1,1994
The Rail Equipment Division was renamed Defense Non-Tactical Generator and Rail Equipment Center (DGRC).

(The rail shop had been a satellite of Tooele Army Depot, performing its rail equipment function as part of Tooele Army Depot's overall troop support mission, and maintenance and storage missions. On October 1, 1994, the troop support mission, and maintenance and storage missions of Tooele Army Depot were transferred to other locations as part of a national 1993 Base Closure and Realignment action.)

September 28,1999
Administration of DGRC was transferred to US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM, Warren, Michigan)

September 2000
The non-locomotive portion of the DGRC workload was transferred from Hill AFB to Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, Alabama.

Hill AFB Rail Operations

Rail operations at Hill AFB, separate from the Army shop and serving the various locations on base (warehouses, etc.) was closed in May 2011. The locomotives (USAF 1864, a Baldwin S12, and USAF 1606, a GE 80-ton centercab) were kept and maintained in an area about 1/2 mile south of the Army's DGRC locomotve shop. The Baldwin was scrapped on site in November 2015, and the GE was sold as surplus in early 2017.

September 26, 2017
The Army announced that the rail portion of the DGRC workload, known as the Rail Center, would be moved to Anniston Army Depot. The move was initiated because the Army lease of Air Force facilities at Hill AFB was due for renegotiation, and with the planned changes for non-governmental development along the western edge of Hill AFB, the rail shop needed to be moved.

July 2020
There were reports that the last three locomotives to be rebuilt by DGRC at Hill AFB were completed in late July or early August 2020. When the last three locomotives were completed, the rail center was closed and all activity (tools, machinery, spare parts, etc.) was formally moved to Anniston, although a large portion of the move had slowly been taking place over the previous two years. Because a new facility at Anniston was not yet ready due to budget constraints, rebuild work was put on hold. Maintenance of rail equipment located at various military bases across the nation continued using mobile repair crews working out of Hill AFB, then out of Anniston.

Construction began in July 2020 at Anniston Army Depot "to convert three existing buildings to the mission of overhauling, repairing and maintaining rail stock, rail equipment and large-scale non-tactical generator equipment for the Department of Defense."

The following comes from Army.mil:

The three buildings are currently used as warehouse and production facilities. Two rail lines and eight work bays will be constructed in one building, to facilitate the mission.

Parts storage and component repair will be housed in the other two buildings.

In an open area currently used as a storage field, an electrical load bank wash rack, blast booth and paint booth will be added to clean and paint the locomotives.

The construction contract was signed Feb. 27, 2020, and it is expected to be complete in the spring of 2022.

According to Smith-Lindsey, however, the DGRC mission will vacate from Hill Air Force Base by Jan. 1, 2021.

The construction and relocation of equipment from Utah is projected to cost $24.5 million.

ANAD (Anniston Army Depot) received the DGRC mission as a result of the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure process, assuming control in 2000.

DGRC is designated as the Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for maintenance and overhaul of non-tactical generators, including locomotives and rail equipment, by the U.S. Army and is the sole Department of Defense facility capable of overhauling locomotives for the DOD.

(https://www.army.mil/article/237094/construction_begins_for_dgrc_relocation)

October 2021
The buildings formerly occupied by the DGRC Rail Center at Hill AFB were demolished during October 2021.

More Information

Baldwin RS4TC -- Information about the U. S. Army's RS4TC locomotives, completed in 1954 as a global design for military railroad locomotives

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