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Military Train Question...

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  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Southeast Texas
  • 2,392 posts
Posted by Tracklayer on Thursday, May 29, 2014 11:35 AM

Thanks for your help with this guys. I really appreciate it. However, I think I'm just going to keep it simple and pretend it's a troop/tank transport and set it up with a baggage, coach and diner cars followed by several flat cars with tanks and a caboose... Later on I may add a few flat cars with Jeeps, halftracks, large guns and so forth to make it a little more interesting.

Tracklayer

  • Member since
    June 2012
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Posted by Burlington Northern #24 on Thursday, May 29, 2014 11:11 AM

zstripe

Gary,

A lot of good video's...Too bad they are not HD.

Yes

Frank

 

Thanks Frank, I have a couple more channels that I'm subscribed to that have videos like this.

SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.

 http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide 

Gary DuPrey

N scale model railroader 

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Chi-Town
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Posted by zstripe on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 3:13 AM

Gary,

A lot of good video's...Too bad they are not HD.

Yes

Frank

  • Member since
    June 2012
  • 2,297 posts
Posted by Burlington Northern #24 on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 1:21 AM

Wdtvlive42

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F3-Pf78dEQ

 

can't link and embed 

SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.

 http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide 

Gary DuPrey

N scale model railroader 

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Chi-Town
  • 7,712 posts
Posted by zstripe on Tuesday, May 27, 2014 5:25 AM

Deleted:

Too much personal info shown in link.

Sorry. Had second thoughts of sharing all that.

 
Click on pic.

Big Smile

Frank

  • Member since
    August 2011
  • From: A Comfy Cave, New Zealand
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Posted by "JaBear" on Tuesday, May 27, 2014 4:48 AM

Gidday, both these are worth a look.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4QFQN1Pr2o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9rSHOMGRGk

Amongst all the other Good Stuff, the first one shows the military vehicles actually being secured to the flat cars, (I would have thought that a chain and twitch would have been tool to use but on reflection twisted wire was probably a lot cheaper).

The second shows military personnel riding along on the military vehicles.

Cheers, the Bear.

"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Colorado (the flat part)
  • 607 posts
Posted by Colorado_Mac on Monday, May 26, 2014 11:07 PM

I second the book recommendation.

Sean

HO Scale CSX Modeler

  • Member since
    April 2003
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 26, 2014 9:23 PM

There is a book called Trains to Victory that might be of some use to you.  By Donald J. Heimburger and John Kelly.

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 10,582 posts
Posted by mlehman on Monday, May 26, 2014 8:06 PM

IIRC, there's some pics taken early in the war of a unit moving to Fort Irwin or someplace similar for training prior to moving overseas.

That said, grouping the troops and equipment together like that was likely pretty rare. Freight and passengers still have issues that tend to keep them seperate even for MAIN trains (MAIN was a common generic designator for military trains). They were loaded and unloaded in different facilities, the rolling stock for freight needed to arrive with enough time to load and secure equipment, while personnel could usually step right onto a paseenger train once it arrived, etc.

Remember that officers and enlisted tended to get differing accomodations, because that's just a fact of military life, say emigrant sleepers vs the more private Pullman accomodations. Feeding could take place on a diner, but other arrangements, including stopping and getting off for meals, also worked.

Later in the war, after the troop sleepers and kitchens became available, enlisted men often rode in those, while officers rode in civvy Pullmans.

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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  • From: Southeast Texas
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Posted by Tracklayer on Monday, May 26, 2014 7:53 PM

cacole

I've seen 'propadanda' movies of World War 2 about how the railroads helped win the war, showing trains like the one you mention.  

It was probably an armor unit moving to a port for movement overseas.  There were probably also soldiers riding in some of the tanks to serve as guards.  The passenger cars were the unit's personnel.

 

That said, I'm now wondering what cars I should use?... I would think a baggage car, coach and diner would do the trick along with several flat cars with tanks and a caboose to match the engine which will be a Southern Pacific 4-8-4 Northern.

Tracklayer

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
  • 13,757 posts
Posted by cacole on Monday, May 26, 2014 7:37 PM

I've seen 'propadanda' movies of World War 2 about how the railroads helped win the war, showing trains like the one you mention.  

It was probably an armor unit moving to a port for movement overseas.  There were probably also soldiers riding in some of the tanks to serve as guards.  The passenger cars were the unit's personnel.

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Southeast Texas
  • 2,392 posts
Military Train Question...
Posted by Tracklayer on Monday, May 26, 2014 7:17 PM

I recently saw an old photo in a book of a train during World War II that consisted of a whole lot of flat cars with tanks on them along with passenger cars but there was no info telling what it was. I would guess that it was probably a troop/armour transport train (?). One of the reasons I'm interested is because I own several flat cars with tanks and also the correct passenger cars but before I go to all of the trouble of setting it up I'd like to know for sure that I'm proto correct and also what exactly I'm modeling... Thanks in advance for any info.

Tracklayer

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