Eglin Air Force Base Railroad

Col. George P. Kendrick, chief of installations of the Air Proving command, announced on 11 August 1949, that negotiations were underway between the U.S. Air Force and the chief of the U. S. engineers relative to salvaging railroad materials at Camp Claiborne and Camp Polk, Louisiana, the Playground News, Fort Walton, Florida, reported on 18 August 1949.

Kendrick stated that Third Army headquarters had indicated that the 44th Engineers Construction battalion, now in training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, would do the work on moving the railroad materials to the new location.

The line, nicknamed the "B & F" (for back and forth), began operation on 1 February 1952[2] as part of the transportation division, Air Proving Ground Command, and utilised two ALCO RSD-1 military diesel-electric locomotives for road work and one 80-ton General Electric centercab for switching the yard.

[3] Part of the main base track and spur to the ammunition dump was realigned in 1956 with the construction of the 12,000-foot-long (3,700 m) runway 32/14 and the Strategic Air Command dispersal area.

Much of the trackage remains in place from the former L&N (now CSX) interchange to just south of Bob Sikes Road, about 11 miles (18 km) long, albeit overgrown.

Evidence exists that #32 was expended in a test of air-to-ground rockets on the Eglin range circa 1967, probably conducted on the rail spur into Aux.

[8][9] A similar item dated 22 March 1967 carried by the Associated Press stated that the control system was designed by Leon Caver, task engineer for the project, and that the 60-year old, 180-ton locomotive had been reactivated to perfect railroad bombing techniques for North Vietnam.