This one covers a range of interesting activities of WWI US Army construction of (looks Narrow Gauge) railroads, lumbering, roads, and barracks among other items.Construction Activities of the QM CorpMostly shot in (it says) Virginia, with some clips of QM warehouses being built in Brooklyn. Man, looking at all the cool Mack trucks and Steam shovels in the video, we really are going to miss Jordan Highway miniatures...The end scene with the dignitaries addressing the huge crowds of assembled soldiers I find amusing; No PA systems in use there. I don't care how good the speaker projects, no one's hearing him in the back - maybe the Sergents were yelling "Cheer, you maggots!" at the troops. Then all the VIPs and their ladies clamber aboard a narrow gauge flat-car, and away they go...
Published on Apr 25, 2016 - cripes chutton01, you sure got onto this one quick !
1918 Documentary, it says - 14:04 long - from the description:
Shows the Quartermaster Corps warehouses in Brooklyn under construction. The 102nd Engineers snake logs from the woods at Camp Humphries, Va., load them on freight cars, dynamite stumps, saw lumber in a mill, construct a railroad trestle, lay tracks, construct a concrete road, and erect wooden barracks. The freighter L'Enfante is unloaded at a Potomac River port. Sec. of War Baker, Gens. March, Black, and Abbott, and Col. Cornelius Vanderbilt dedicate the completed barracks.
Reminds me of some home movies from the 1950s . . .
- Paul North.
Camp A.A. Humphreys - now known as Fort Belvoir. The odds of finding anything in that film today are probably slim and none.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Paul_D_North_JrPublished on Apr 25, 2016 - cripes chutton01, you sure got onto this one quick
What a fantastic old film! And how about those old square-riggers in the background of the opening shots? And REAL steam shovels! Cool!
And stop and consider it was shot with BIG 35mm hand-cranked cameras!
Just wonderful, thanks for posting!
I really enjoyed the film. It was interesting to watch the various tools in use--peavies (still used, I am sure) to roll logs, a framing square to make sure that the log was turned just 90 degrees after the first cut (and the second and third cuts, also, I am sure), wheelbarrows en masse, wagons to haul the excavated dirt, and so on.
I wonder how many framing squares are now used to determine the proper cuts on rafters--they are still marked so that a good carpenter can use them so (I used mine only to mark for right angle cuts).
Johnny
I just thought of something else, all those guys in the film doing the work?
No hard hats, safety glasses, safety vests, eye protection, no work gloves either for that matter.
An OSHA operative watching that film's going to have an attack of the vapors!
Firelock76An OSHA operative watching that film's going to have an attack of the vapors!
Back in those days, getting hurt on the job was pretty much expected.
Then, again, if you're walking the tightrope without a net, maybe you're just a little more careful...
Great film. Reminds of when my ship was in the yards in Philly. Thinking of what the civilian contractors got paid and what the soldiers doing the grunt work got paid. I have a DVD of the Army assembling Baldwin locomotives in France, I imagine the Baldwin employees got danger pay. The doughboys, probably not.
Great video, It's like a time machine. Loved seeing the steam shovel loading the horse drawn carts. thanks for posting it.
I've got that same video 54light mentioned showing Baldwin locomotives being assembled in France during WW1. I'd expect any Baldwin employees on-site as tech reps got extra pay for lodging and meals (unless the War Department was picking up the tab) and to make it worth their while for being there.
The Doughboy railroaders doing the assembly work probably didn't get any extra pay, as a rule you don't get hazardous duty pay unless you're doing something hazardous, like getting shot at.
Tier 0 locomotives. No enviromental impact statements. How long did it take to build the rail line?
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