In the early 1960s, a plan was made to realign Route 66 and the railroad through California’s Bristol Mountains by blasting a path using 22 nuclear bombs. This sounds completely crazy today, but it was under serious consideration at the time.
In December 1962 the Santa Fe Railway contacted the United States Atomic Energy Commission and asked about the possibility of blasting a path through the mountain with hydrogen bombs. The government was all in, they had actually been waiting for an idea like this.
The California Department of Public Works also was interested in building a road through the same area to realign and shorten Route 66, so they also joined what was to be known as Project Carryall.
In 1957 the United States began Project Plowshare in order to investigate the peaceful use of nuclear bombs. Project Carryall was an extension of Plowshare.
Of course using nuclear bombs to blast a path through the mountains wasn’t without its drawbacks. The town of Amboy would have surely been destroyed not to mention the radiation, but it was an acceptable risk to the government.
In this video we head to Amboy, look at the Bristol Mountains, drive roughly the same path that would have been blasted (Interstate 40 follows the same route), and visit the Project Carryall Monument in Ludlow.
To read the railroad’s preliminary report from 1964 head here: https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1964/50/50-003.pdf
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45 Comments
There were plans to use nuclear bombs to clear the rapids in Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River. This would allow houseboats to float from Moab UT to Lake Powell. Moab was a U2 town in those days so there was a lot of local support. I think even better would have been to nuke the rapids of the Colorado in the Grand Canyon to allow house boats to admire the scenery…or what would be left of it.
Excellent video. Extraordinarily well explained with both maps and visuals.
The gubmint JUMPED at the idea. LET'S BLOW SOME CRAP UP!!
….and democrats tell us we should trust the government……HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW!!! Thank the good lord that never happened!
This guy comes up with great subjects that no other YouTuber does. He also has a soothing voice. If he wasn't a YouTuber, he could be a great late night FM DJ.
Ridiculous, do you really believe the Government would sacrifice the lives of thousands of Americans just for a little profit and experimentation. 😂
What a crazy story! Thanks for sharing this with us! Wow! I'm still thinking about Mrs. Orcutt's driveway!😆
the idea sounds like its just land demolition but its more than that the radiation and fallout would be spread by winds
Good thing they didn't do that. The radiation would make it unusable after all the work.
You rock brother! Another fascinating bit of forgotten history, well played sir!
OMG! The government had a plan to kill and maim citizens. Geez. We all fear nuclear ☢️ attacks. How could they casually disregard the potential ecological disaster this would cause? Just another reason why I don’t trust the government ☠️. Thanks for telling us about this. 👍☮️🌞☢️
Crazy story. Thanks for bringing it to us. Remember, the government is here to help.
In the 1950's San Francisco bay was a cesspool. It stunk. There was all kinds of unspeakable things floating about in & on it. It really was a disgusting pit. Most of the residents all around the bay were behind the Army corps of engineers plan to fill the bay in leaving only a channel for the river which flowed into the south bay near San Jose. John Rockafeller, yeah the Standard Oil guy, saw real estate prices in California had began to skyrocket so he devised the cockamamie plan to REMOVE San Bruno mountain, dump the dirt into the bay & build houses upon the fill. Yeah, never happened. They cleaned up the bay instead.
!
CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY!!!
Probably would have triggered bad earthquakes as well.☹️
If they had gone through with the bomb idea, place would be uninhabitable due to the amount of radiation.
The real question is, “Would Amboy School be any worse off today, had Project Carryall blasted through the Bristol Mountains? Plus, driving at night would have been aided by the glowing green sand and rocks liming the highway!” :<)
Well, now I want to visit the Sedan Nuclear Test Site
There was some plan to throw nukes at egypt to allow the sea to flood into a depression in the desert
We just left San Diego CA and are heading back to northern WI. Told my daughter who lives in San Diego about your channel. We have been to Amboy. And spent time at amorosa hotel not far from there.
It’s crazy how much people loved nukes back then. I’ve been visiting atomic sites and museums in the West and it’s pretty interesting. If you haven’t been up to Atomic City and Arco, you should go.
For all the times I've stopped in Ludlow and run film, I had no idea. Another excellent vlog
C'est fou ce projet. Heureusement que cela n'a jamais eu lieu.
Leave it to the feds to think up a dumb idea like that. Pffft!
What a moronic idea.
Here about three weeks ago I went around the barriers on closed Rt 66 and took the old road for the first time since they closed it. My Mom used to work at the 29 Palms Marine Corps Base and coming from Searchlight I've traveled that road more times than I can count. Definitely Amboy and Roy's are very special places. Totally enjoy your site. Thank you.
I'm waiting to see you get 90.0k subs! 😂❤😅
Otherwise known as, how I learned to stop worrying and love using nuclear bombs to build roads.
Sometime around this time, Robert Welch, the founder of the John Birch Society, brought my parents a book with plans to build a new canal using nuclear explosives. It was very detailed. I don’t know what happened to it. I enjoy your videos. Keep it up.
I hope all your videos go viral like Highway 39 did.
Huell Howser would be proud of you.
Another great video! Looking forward to the next one.
Incredible story, San Diego Steve! Thanks for doing the research and sharing. I would like to know more about the Soviet Union's attempt to do the same. Any plans to travel there? 😂
Very informative….I enjoyed this video a lot.
Thank God that fell flat.
I never knew this. Driven by the plaque many times. Thanks.
I drive that stretch several times a month. What a fascinating back history. Thanks again Steve, for an excellent video!
Very interesting, thank you for sharing
Fun fact, the creator and ex CEO of Juan Pollo owned/owns the city of Amboy. The gentlemen has since passed in early January of this year thus not certain what will become of Amboy, but no doubt something to keep an eye on
What a stupid idea. Well, we always hear how not the smartest people go to work for the government, and this time I guess that would include working for that railroad too.
That’s not the craziest civil project in our countries history. That honor solely belongs to a project in the 1800s (or maybe late 1800s) when a plan was derived to move Manhattan Island. Investors lined up to fund this project. Look it up, it’s fascinating history.
Among all of the crackpot ideas that never were , this is right up there as a contender for first place . I remember hearing about this at the time but was too young and ill informed to know it to be a dumb idea , really dumb.
A Nuclear bomb in our backyard…no problem barely an inconvenience!
i kinda wish it actually happened. seeing an entire mountain being carved out by a nuke sounds cool
What a great story. . . so crazy that people may not believe it– but you include proof! Thanks, Steve, for another fascinating video!