Military Theme?

[Anonymous]

Hi this is my first post and I'm new to the hobby. I was just wondering if it would be very hard to make a military style train layout (ww2) I have a fair amout of space to make this layout. since I'm new to the the hobby I know that would not be my first layout but a layout that woukd take a lot of planning and time etc. well I guess I just wanted to say hello (hello![:D]) and ask that question. And thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of German and American vehicles available for props and you can definately find steam locos available too. I have a book on American Railroad during WWII and it does show a lot of steam running in Europe.

A trip to the Local Hobby Shop (LHS) could answer some of your questions. Plus the Walters catalog and other catalog would also offer some help, and also some research on the internet could yield a gold mine of material.

Sounds like a worthy project. Keep us posted, and don't forget pics.

I remember seeing some German railway guns a while back too. One of those babies would definately be in the running for a German Railroad.

[DSchmitt]

This site has most of what is available in HO scale. The Roco brand is available in many hobby shops. The others are harder to find.

http://www.reynaulds.com/rei/military.html


This thread has some information

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17941

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I'm starting to constuct my first real layout too. It will be in the US in about 1900. Ive studied history all of my life, especially WWII. The role the railroad played is largely forgotten. Here are some ideas I have on WWII. Stateside, troop transport I have seen some converted boxcars being offered but I can't remember by whom. These would be simular to MOW camp cars and were used as makeshift troop transports mainly for short hops. Converted passengercars. Freight trains with tanks and jeeps being loaded would be a good scene. See the 2004 Walthers catalog. It has a nice diorama of Sherman tanks being loaded on flat cars. Picture this, smalltown USA late 1943 the first group of troops have completed their training from the recently constructed barracks a few miles from town. Now they are being shipped out. This is an armored unit with tanks,halftracks,trucks and jeeps. They make quite a show as all this might rumbles through the small town heading for the depot and train yard. The young boys watch in awe as this spectacle passes. For some of these boys it is a suprise and a very sad day. Some have become very close to these olive clad young men who played pitch and reminded them of their own brothers who have already gone overseas, some not to return. It seems hardest on the women the young ones have lined the street and the tracks to get a last glimpse of a boyfriend, fiance or new husband. For some it will be a last glimpse. The older women relive their husbands and sons departure. Some worry if their teenage son will soon go and they see their faces in the faces of these young men as they march and ride by. The old men who sit and whittle in front of the hardware store are oddly silent today. Instead of the usual war balony one simply says "I was with Roosevelt at San Juan, I wish I could go, I know what its like, I wish I could go instead of those boys. They're just kids." The other teary eyed gentlemen remembering his little brother lost in the Argone in 18 suddenly springs up and shouts "Let em have it boys, let em have it !" . Unnoticed in the outskirts of town a Western Union delivery boy stands on the front porch of a small modest home facing a woman in the doorway. The blue star in the window will soon be replaced by a gold one.
In Europe the US Army had railroad personell who brought in equipment and immediatly started repairing the French railroads. They even brought over locomotives to replace ones lost to Allied bombing so American type locos would be correct for Allied ran French railroads. A good scene to show would be bombed out buildings, destroyed locomotives and new track laid through these damaged areas. As the Allies advance this railroad could link the Cherborg ports to the Redball Express wich trucks supplies to the fronline units. The Germans will be in retreat and their rail lines are a constant target. The massive Krupp Guns took about 180 support personell to opperate. They had a range of up to 80 miles. know of one instance where the Germans used a real train in combat. In 1943 durring the first Polesti raid. Polesti was a major Rumanian oil refinery that supplied the *** with most of their oil. The plan was to take a Groups of B-24s in at about 300 feet and drop time delayed incindiary bombs and destroy the oil fields and refineries. The planes took off from North Africa The lead plane had to turn back so the second plane was now in the lead. This plane was navigated by a 19 yearold. The group commander did not trust his navigation and broke disipline by not turning with the lead plane. The planes ahead of the commander followed the lead plane. All behind followed the commander. They were under radio silence. The lead plane was right. The commander realized his mistake too late. He made his turn following a railroad line into Polesti. The Germans had anticipated this route and were ready. Along the rails were anti aircraft gun towers. The planes were flying so low that the 50cal gunners in the B-24s were firing and hitting these towers and gunners on the ground. A long train was running on the track also heading into Polesti. As the Group Flew over this train it was a mass of moving anti aircraft guns. This train probably shot down several B-24s. Both Groups of B-24s met over the target at the same time comming in at 300 feet from oppisite directions. Dodging each other through the smoke and flying over the exploding bombs delayed just long enough to catch the planes comming in from the oppisite direction. The Germans on the ground thought it was the greatest exhibition of flying and cordinated attack they had ever seen. Both the lead plane and the commander were lost. More than half were shot down. This could be modeled easy even with larger than HO scale B-24s. Have the planes suspended about head high aproaching and above the layout. This will give you a Bombers eye veiw while standing. Planes always look big from the ground so as you look up from a sitting in front of your layout they will not look out of place. Across the layout have some small 144 scale planes in the same fashion. This could be other group coming in from the oppisite direction. Sorry for the length,
Travis

[orsonroy]

Generally, during WWII units travelled without their equipment. Training areas like the NTC in Nevada were equipped with a complete division's worth of equipment, and only troops were shipped. Amost exclusively, troops and vehicles or other equipment were shipped seperately. There was a LOT of troop movement during the war, with troops being shuffled all over the place, sometime for no apparently good reason. Conversely, virtually all equipment had ONE place to go, even before it was built: marshalling areas. From here, the equipment would be shipped to whichever theater it was needed (Europe, North Africa, North Pacific, South Pacific)

What y9ou're describing DID happen...in 1940 and 1941, before the USA "officially" entered the war. When it became opvious that we would get into the war eventually, the draft was enacted, the National Guard was activated, and regular units were brought up to full TO&E strength. The War Department (I always preferred that name!) staged a series of field exersizes for several divisional formatoins, in both Louisiana and Kansas. In these cases you would see units (generally Regiments) being shipped cross-country with all their gear and vehicles. These sort of exersizes ended on December 7, 1941.

Railroads looked a LOT different in 1900 as opposed to 1942. Are you sure you want to afford two full sets of engines and cars?

[Anonymous]

I was just giving laxtrainer some ideas. I'm going to stick with my hometown in 1900.

[Anonymous]

Should make an interesting layout. Walthers offer Pullman-Standard troop cars and troop kitchen car in HO now, and Micro-trains offer them in N. I'm keeping my eyes open for a set - as my layout depicts a fictional museum I have a perfect reason for running them, and as they're only 50ft long they would make ideal passenger transport for the museum. I'm not sure how much Allied equipment has been released apart from these though - Bachmann offer a "WD" (British War Department) 2-8-0 as built in the UK (and subsequently sent all over the world, examples turned up in Sweden and Hong Kong) but it's to OO rather than HO scale. Also, I know these loco would not have run in the US - they were an "austerity" development of a British design - modified to allow faster builds and to use less scarce materials. Not sure how useful this information is, but if you're planning a layout set in mainland Europe after D-Day you could probably sneak one or two of the Bachmann locos in - they are apprently excellent runners and certainly look the part. Other possibilites from RTR locos would be the GWR "Dean Goods" 0-6-0 tender loco - many of these were "called up" in both WW1 and WW2 as they were lightweight and robust. Hornby make a decent OO model, though they've not yet produced it in anything other than GWR and BR paint schemes.

In answer to your original question, no, it won't be too difficult. Road vehicles should be easy to find, and typical rolling stock of the period is also available. If you're planning to model a scene in europe after D-Day it may be trickier, as you'll need a mix of undamaged French stock with new-build US and UK equipment - both countries built locos and cars designed to be used in the UK and then shipped across, these were to a far smaller loading gauge than standard to cope with smaller clearances on rail lines in the UK - our bridges, tunnels, etc are to a smaller size despite sharing the same track gauge.

Good luck, and good modelling!

[orsonroy]

DJH makes HO scale models of two American made steamers that were exported for use by wartorn Europe. They make a Pershing-class 2-8-0, used in France in WWI, and used by the Transportation Corps in the USA to train engine and train crews in the USA during WWII. The Transportation Corps also liberated a few that had been used by the Germans during WWII, and used them in Europe. DJH also makes a WWII lend-lease 2-8-0 built by Baldwin to Euro standards. These engines saw a lot of use in the USA, England and Europe, and they can still be found in museums of all three areas.

DJH kits are white metal and photoetched brass, so they're not for the inexperienced. But they do build up into beautiful models!

[leighant]

I built a very small layout representing the trackage aboard a WW2 Navy blimp base. See it at http://www.railimages.com/gallery/kennethanthony

Blimp bases were referred to as Naval Air Station-Lighter than Air, so the trackage on the base is the "Lighter than Air Railroad"

[BRJN]

1) German submarines went right to work sinking oil tankers at sea. Therefore a train of nothing but tank cars, marked for whatever your local oil companies are, would be appropriate.

2) I saw the Army Kitchen Car in the July MR and was tempted to build a layout around it. But I know better; I don't have the space or the money for everything else. (Darn)

3) The tanks should probably be moved in their own train, but a mix of jeep-on-flatcar and other vehicles would be good. Be sure to have a combine next to the caboose so the security guards don't have to ride on top of the tanks! :-)

4) Find a book such as "Railroads at War" and look through the period ads for more ideas. One that struck me was a PRR advertisement that apologized because all their passenger trains were late, but the Army needs a lot of things, "including ... the right-of-way." The picture on top showed a train on a dock meeting a freighter.

4 1/2) Copy some of the posters and put them up as wall decorations in places you don't need backdrop. Near the door or as ceiling tiles might help give the room flavor.

[Anonymous]

L un II

You left out that both the Russians and Germans used armored trains on the Eastern Front. They were essential to both sides because of the lack of paved roads and the long distances that had to be covered to get to the front. Plus the fact that even at the end of the war, 80% of the German divisions were horse -drawn meant that the railroads were absolutly essential for continued operations over the great distances involved in the Russian campaign.

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: [i]Originally posted by BRJN
3) The tanks should probably be moved in their own train, but a mix of jeep-on-flatcar and other vehicles would be good.

Actually, jeeps were crated before being shipped anywhere, to make transporting them by ship easier (they could be stacked 10 high on ship). Any photos you see of jeeps on flat cars are either Signal Corps propoganda photography, or photos taken during the 1940-1941 Louisiana Army exersizes.

[BRJN]

Orsonroy,

I defer to your (presumed) superior knowledge.

But if you have a freelance RR, why not uncrate the jeeps &c for visitors or the press to see? [:D]