The Indian Head White Plains Railroad, which became the current rail trail, connected to an internal railroad system at the Indian Head Naval Proving Ground, where rail transport was chosen over roads because it provided smoother movement of explosives and a safe, cost-efficient, reliable, and effective way to move raw materials and finished products throughout the proving ground. The railroad system at Indian Head reflected four periods of development: the Naval Proving Ground around 1900, World War I expansion, World War II expansion, and developments during the 1950s. The first tracks were laid during construction of the proving ground in the early 1890s and followed a curvilinear design that allowed traveling cranes and flat cars to transport materials back and forth; as the proving ground expanded to include smokeless powder production, the railroad grew to reach new areas. When the United States entered World War I and demand for smokeless powder increased, additional buildings and warehouses were constructed, and in 1918 President Woodrow Wilson's Presidential Proclamation #1458 authorized the addition of 1,239 acres at Cornwallis Neck, where new tracks with a linear design connected the area to the rest of the proving ground because they were easier to maneuver and allowed buildings to be oriented to minimize damage from explosions. At the start of World War II, Indian Head was one of two military installations equipped to produce explosives, and the Powder Factory expanded in 1943 with an Extrusion Plant for small-rocket propellant production as well as hundreds of new research and development facilities. The Korean War brought another period of increased activity, with old facilities reactivated and new ones established, making further railroad expansion a priority. Railroad use later declined as truck shipping became more economical, parts of the extensive track network were paved over, and newer plants relied less on rail transportation.