Victory in Europe WeeK, Veteran's & the Trains

[Anonymous]

Hello All: This week is the 60th anniversary of the victory in Europe. A lot of Canadian Veteran's have made the trip to France & Holland to take part in the ceromonies ( We honour these great Men & Women they honour their comrades & allied friends who didn't make it back). Please remember this great generation is 80+. I was sorting through my father's things & I found two Canadian National Railway Defense Dept. Issue Meal ticket's, One for a .75 cent meal & the other a $1.00 meal. I wonder what kind of a meal you would get back then? Do you have a Veterans story to pass along regarding rail travel in North America or Europe during WW2 ? Remember people we are losing this generation FAST. With full respect to all Armed Forces personal Past or on present Duty, I would like to keep this to the memories of the WW2 veterans. From the Son of a R.C.A.F. veteran to all veteran's of Canada & our Allied forces Thank you for all you have done for us.[tup][:)][angel][bow]. Kind Regards Steve

[Frank53]

My father was a WWII vet and I found this in a box of photos that had been in our attic since, forever. I believe my Dad took the picture somewhere in Europe while fighting in the war. I scanned the original jagged edged photo and I am certain it is original.

I think the lettering on the side of the train is particularly cool - "Allied Forces".

[Anonymous]

My grandfather was a naval doctor in the pacific during the war. He was also a train buff. I have his Lionel 224 set, which he took with him to guam. It travelled all over the pacific on the battleship Pennsylvania. I dont have a scanner, but i have a picture of it around a tree on the ship in 45.

[csxt30]

Well, where I work, our big boss from Indianapolis came down last year & saw this sign outside our bldg, and told us to get it in a frame and hang it inside somewhere, to preserve it. A big percentage of these guys I worked with & learned from when I got hired here over 30 yrs. ago. Many are gone now, sad to say, but many of these guys worked on the RR's over in Europe in the war. Many worked on wreck trains, rerailing etc. When I started, we still had a steam wreck train, and these were some proud guys with so much experience & memories. Back then we were still laying track panels down to get the wrecker in places to lift a car or engine. Imagine these guys did all that & a war going on , too. Thanks, John

[Bob Keller]

My father was in the Navy during WWII, a gunner on the USS New Mexico. He passed away many years ago, but I recall asking him if he had any railroad "troop train" stories. The only one that stuck in his memory was that at the end of the war he was sent from Seattle to be demobbed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Base in Chicago. He said he was with a group in a converted Great Northern (he recalled the road name) stock car. He said it was cold and miserable, but nobody cared because the war was over and everyone was heading home!

That's why I went into the Air Force - I figured they'd travel better!!

[FJ and G]

Too young for WWII stories but have visited military bases around the country where you still can see the remains of old RR tracks going to warehouses, where WWII gear and supplies were staged for overseas shipments; bases like Ft Belvoir, North Island, etc.

RRs really figured prominently in the war effort as FDR had gas rationing, which limited cars and trucks, and really gave rail a boost. That was perhaps the most golden era of railroads, and they really came thru for us.

[ChiefEagles]

Dad was in the 709 Tank Battalion and all his troop train talks were about the US. I guess that once the tanks got rolling, they did not ride the trains much. Mother still has his pictures of him in a tank and driving a jeep [he drove for the CO]. We still have his uniform and some other things. D Day, VE Day, Peal Harbor Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and others should be remembered more than they are. My parents use to "make a lot" of those days. Most folks now never realize when they come and go.

[lionelsoni]

My father talked about being in command of a troop train that crossed the country at the end of the war, from west to east. It carried miscellaneous soldiers from all the services, wandered all over the place, and gradually shrank to nothing as it approached the end of its travels.

[Anonymous]

Hello All: Thanks for the post's fellows, Can you Imagine a train pulling into town loaded with troops getting ready to ship out. They must of had some party if they had a day or two of leave. ( Lock up your daughters). Dad used to talk about riding the trains in England when he had a few days Leave, He felt they were way ahead of the North American Commuters. Has anybody ever seen or owned the Lionel Paper train ? I have only read about it, apparantly it would take our Texas engineering friends to put it together. Kind Regards to All, Special Salute to our veterans[bow] Steve