VLA Rail System, 2012
Subject
Description
The rail system of the VLA, used to transport the 230-ton antennas, was built in the 1970s using rails and ties salvaged from railroads that were going out of business. Many of the steel rails are marked with their year of manufacture. At least one of those rails now has reached centenarian status. This rail, on the VLA's West Arm, was manufactured in 1912, the same year that New Mexico achieved statehood. The state-of-the-art technology brought by the VLA expansion now works alongside a 100-year-old, functioning component to provide cutting-edge research capabilities!
Creator
Records of the NRAO
Type
Still Image
Identifier
rail1912.jpg
Location
Start Date
2012
Photographer
Series
Photographs Series
Unit
VLA Unit
Citation
Records of the NRAO, “VLA Rail System, 2012,” NRAO/AUI Archives, accessed August 17, 2024, https://www.nrao.edu/archives/items/show/35217.