Vehicle graveyard

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A car graveyard in Kaufdorf, September 2008 2008-09-22 Autopark Kaufdorf 5854.jpg
A car graveyard in Kaufdorf, September 2008

A vehicle graveyard, cemetery, or boneyard is a location in which several vehicles, often of the same type, have been abandoned. The vehicles might be awaiting dismantling or recycling, or may just be left to decay. Most sites are intentionally created and many have security to protect them while others are forgotten and lay undiscovered for some time. These sites can be popular destinations for urban explorers.

Contents

Specific types of vehicle

Aircraft

Aircraft in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Arizona Aerial view of Davis-Monthan AFB AMARG in March 2015.JPG
Aircraft in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Arizona

An aircraft graveyard, or boneyard, is a location where numerous aircraft have been stored. The largest of which is the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, a near 2,600-acre site containing around 4,400 aircraft. [1] There is an area in the southern Pacific Ocean, the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, in which over 260 spacecraft and satellites have been deposited after their working life, including the Mir space station. [2]

Automobiles

A car graveyard in Kaufdorf, 2008, before it was cleared AutofriedhofGuerbetalInBueschen1.JPG
A car graveyard in Kaufdorf, 2008, before it was cleared

An automobile graveyard is a location in which cars or other road vehicles are kept until they have decayed or been destroyed. One particularly noteworthy example is near Victorville, California where hundreds of thousands of cars bought back by Volkswagen after the 2015 emissions scandal now reside. [3]

Ships

A ship graveyard is a location where the hulls of ships are left to decay and disintegrate. The largest ship graveyard is in the bay of Nouadhibou, Mauritania, where more than 300 vessels can be found. [4]

Trains

A train graveyard is where trains and rolling stock are left to decay. The "Cementerio de Trenes" (train cemetery) near Uyuni, Bolivia serves as a tourist attraction with trains dating back to the 19th century left to rust in the extensive salt flats of the Salar de Uyuni. [5]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salar de Uyuni</span> Salt flat in Bolivia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotswold Airport</span> Civilian airport in Gloucestershire, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aircraft boneyard</span> Storage area for aircraft that are retired from service

An aircraft boneyard or aircraft graveyard is a storage area for aircraft which are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage continuing to receive some maintenance or parts of the aircraft are removed for reuse or resale and the aircraft are scrapped. Boneyard facilities are generally located in deserts such as those in the southwestern United States, since the dry conditions reduce corrosion and the hard ground does not need to be paved. In some cases, aircraft which were planned to be scrapped or were stored indefinitely without plans of ever returning to service were brought back into service, as the aviation market or the demands of military aviation changed or failed to develop as was anticipated.

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The spacecraft cemetery, known more formally as the South Pacific Ocean(ic) Uninhabited Area, is a region in the southern Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand, where spacecraft that have reached the end of their usefulness are routinely crashed. The area is roughly centered on "Point Nemo", the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, the location farthest from any land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ship graveyard</span> Location where scrapped ships are left

A ship graveyard, ship cemetery or breaking yard is a location where the hulls of scrapped ships are left to decay and disintegrate, or left in reserve. Such a practice is now less common due to waste regulations and so some dry docks where ships are broken are also known as ship graveyards.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staten Island boat graveyard</span> Marine scrapyard in Staten Island, New York

The Staten Island boat graveyard is a marine scrapyard located in the Arthur Kill in Rossville, near the Fresh Kills Landfill, on the West Shore of Staten Island, New York City. It is known by many other names including the Witte Marine Scrap Yard, the Arthur Kill Boat Yard, and the Tugboat Graveyard. Its official name as of 2014 is the Donjon Iron and Metal Scrap Processing Facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Train graveyard</span> Railway scrapyard

A train graveyard is where trains and rolling stock are discarded while awaiting collection, recycling, or destruction. They might be abandoned and left to decay. The term can also be used to include trams. Such vehicle graveyards are distinguished from an abandoned railway, which is a railway line that is no longer used for that purpose, and abandoned railway stations which are similarly disused. Some train graveyards attract visitors and can be a source of tourism, while others have had a role in preserving the history of the railways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automobile graveyard</span> Place where abandoned or discarded vehicles are present

An automobile graveyard or car cemetery is a place in which decrepit road vehicles reside while waiting to be destroyed or recycled or are left abandoned and decaying.

References

  1. Dowling, Stephen (18 September 2014). "The secrets of the desert aircraft 'boneyards'". BBC. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  2. Whitehouse, David (21 October 2017). "The place spacecraft go to die". BBC. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. Simon, Johnny (30 March 2018). "Photos: Volkswagen has bought back thousands of diesel cars in the US. Here's what that looks like". Quartz. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  4. "10 Largest Ship Graveyards in the World". Marine Insight. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  5. "Cementerio de Trenes". Lonely Planet. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2018.