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Narrator: NASA's space shuttles are some of the most high-tech and

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complex vehicles ever built, but they couldn't fly without the help

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of a much older technology: the railroad.

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This is no ordinary train -- it's the NASA Railroad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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It carries extremely dangerous freight... one of national importance.

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Chris Bryant, URS Locomotive Engineer/Mechanic: "It's not something to just kind of

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sneeze about, you know.

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When we're hauling in, we're hauling four to five million pounds of explosives."

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Narrator: One shuttle solid rocket booster contains four motor segments packed

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with a hard, rubbery, volatile solid propellant.

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Every space shuttle launches with two boosters, which give the vehicle the extra thrust it

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needs during the first two minutes of the climb to orbit.

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The large, heavy motor segments have to take a week-long, cross-country train ride

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from the ATK manufacturing plant in Utah to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Dave Hoffman, Former NASA Railroad Manager: "And shuttle of course,

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with the segments, it is absolutely essential, because you're looking at an average

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of approximately 150 tons per segment, and, with eight of them for launch,

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there really isn't any other, better way to get them here from Utah.

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It's just an essential lifeline, is what it boils down to."

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Narrator: Today this important, but hazardous, job is handled by URS Corporation

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engineers and mechanics in the railroad shop.

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The 11-member team takes care of all the rolling stock and the track system -- including

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electrical work, mechanics, painting, welding and even fabrication.

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That expertise is essential when it comes to handling the solid rocket booster segments,

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which travel to Kennedy on cradles inside custom-built railcars.

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During the trip to Florida, the segments are handed off

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from rail company to rail company, with the final handoff at

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NASA's Jay Jay Railroad Yard north of Titusville, Florida.

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The Florida East Coast Railway, or FEC, delivers the segments to

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Jay Jay, and that's when Kennedy's railroad team takes charge.

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After a thorough inspection, empty "spacer" cars are added to prepare the train for the trip

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across the Indian River to Kennedy.

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Will Eriksen, URS Mechanic: "The main purpose for us is to distribute the weight

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on our bridge coming across the Indian River. If you have all the heavy cars tied together,

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that puts a strain on the bridge. So, try and separate the weight."

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Narrator: The Kennedy rails can handle speeds of up to 60 miles an hour,

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just like FEC's mainline track.

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But because of the heavy and volatile cargo, the top speed here is only 25 miles an hour,

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and the trains typically move slower than that.

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All the work is done by a 1,500-horsepower locomotive known as the EMD SW-1500.

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NASA has three of these workhorses.

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They were built by General Motors between 1968 and 1970, and put to work

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for the space agency when shuttle loads demanded a lot more horsepower.

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Bryant: "They do have a lot of backbone. And again, when we bring in the segments

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and the spacer cars, we've got probably close to four-and-a-half to five million pounds

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that we pull with the one motor."

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Narrator: Once the train arrives north of the space center, the spacer cars are removed

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and taken back to the rail yard.

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The booster cars are kept at Suspect Siding, an isolated staging area

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near the shuttle runway, until they go to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility

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to start final launch preparations.

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When the boosters are recovered after launch, the same team loads up the spent segments

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and sends them back to Utah.

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Mike Stephens, URS Lead Mechanic: "We've got a great track record.

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It's basically a pretty simple process. All the way from Utah, all the way to here,

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to getting it on the launch pad. And the system has worked great."

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Narrator: Kennedy's rail system was activated in 1963 to bring in construction materials

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for the growing space center, as new facilities were built for the Apollo Program.

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But throughout the years, the Florida climate took its toll -- and hauling shuttle segments

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presented unique challenges of their own.

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Hoffman: "Well, fast forward 20 years, and the Space Shuttle Program was starting.

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We were looking at freight cars that were somewhat longer, and a lot heavier, and had a

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higher center of gravity as well."

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Narrator: FEC was paid to upgrade the aging system with heavier rail, welded joints

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and concrete crossties.

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Along with rolling stock standards, like hopper cars and gondola cars,

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Kennedy also has some cars that were modified or even designed here.

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In fact, Hoffman himself designed the "booster structures" car.

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Hoffman: "These are custom-built cars. It's a concept I came up with to improve

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on the delivery, or the movement, of the solid rocket booster aft skirts,

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the forward skirts and the frustums."

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Narrator: Many other commodities have traveled these rails,

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such as nitrogen tetroxide rocket propellant... Air Force Titan rockets...

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Navy Trident missiles... and the shuttle-derived booster segments

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for the Ares I-X test flight.

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Stephens: "It's not just moving segments. We've done so much more.

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We've rebuilt the Air Force locomotives. We've built rail cars. We've done painting.

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I mean, this locomotive here, you can see how much better it looks

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than the other two and everything. So we're a pretty diverse group and we stay busy."

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Narrator: The result is a vital and successful rail line that has stood the test of time.

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In May 2010, the last load of shuttle solid rocket booster segments came to Kennedy.

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Bryant: "For the most part, it's kind of like any other railroad, so to speak.

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We don't run the speeds. But the things that we do and have to do when we're loading and

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unloading demands your attention, demands respect."

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Narrator: The NASA Railroad at Kennedy Space Center has played a quiet but critical