So I had to do this a few times with tracked armored vehicles. Our flatcars were slightly different in that they were two axle instead of three axle due to our armored vehicles only being 13 tons each vs the 50-70 tons or whatever you have with the M1 tanks and the self propelled artillery. On our flat cars we had collapseable stakes that had to be lowered on the side for loading clearence purposes.
We always did the circus ramp type loading and unloading you see in the film. A little scary as you had to drive the tracked vehicle on the train to your specific flatcar position and unload the same way. Germans wanted nothing to do with this operation as most of the armored vehicles were so wide that they barely fit on the flatcar surface and one wrong move with the sticks and your going over the side. So typically you had a guide about 20 feet in front of you walking backwards and giving you hand and arm signals of how you were doing relative to falling off the car (heh-heh).
The other thing was we were not allowed to wear our helmets on the vehicles while being loaded or stand on top of the vehicles because of the overhead canetary and concern it would arc and electrocute whomever did that. I see in these videos they relaxed that rule a bit. We had to secure and chain down the armored vehicle during loading which included a chalk under front and rear part of the track treads, the chalk was steel and had small spikes underneath so it would self nail to the wood of the flatcar (it couldn't slide). Then we had to chain in an X from the tow hooks of the vehicle to flat car secure points and tighten the chains so when hit with a wooden baton they would not flex much (that's how the Germans inspected each one to see if there was any slack).
So these trains would operated in MIXED format with 4 DB rail DayNighter Coaches and a Baggage Car at the front of the train behind the locomotive for the troops. We would stow our dual duffel bags in the baggage car as there was no room on the train and they did not want them left in the armored vehicle for some strange reason I can't rationalize.........maybe losses if there was a train wreck? The flat cars were coupled to the end of the coaches. Pulling into a rail head the locomotive would cut off the flatcars and then drop the coaches and baggage car in the passenger unloading area..........then couple onto the flatcars and steer them into the circus ramp loading area.
Note the engineering of the circus ramp loading areas. Those are hand laid bricks with nothing more than packed sand holding them together that the armored vehicles drive on. Also notice they drive directly on the German roads with the track treads. You do that over here in the United States and it will tear the roads up. German roads are built better to take the loads and most of their road network is due to the former Cold War.....deliberate engineering to move troops and armor without flatbed trucks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0dlovDgZM
Hohenfels is the Army manuever area over there which was an 8-10 hour train ride and overnight on the train from our railhead North of Bremen, Germany. Troop trains have a low priority and take the siding more than Amtrak does in the United States. They also try to avoid the heavily used passenger lines. Hence the use of the DayNighter coaches, two facing seats during the day, 6 bunk beds at night per compartment. No dining car, they issue war rations for each meal, otherwise called MRE's.
Once you see the tanks on a gravel road, that is within the boundries of the Hohenfels manuever area. Hohenfels was really cool, they had a abandoned castle ruins in the middle of the manuever area (Schloss Hohenfels) and a few off limits WWII engagement areas with the rusting hulks of the WWII tanks where they died in place or were blown up.........so cool. Don't see that stuff in the United States.
Towards the end you see them lining up all the tanks in a straight line so that if the Russians did conduct an air strike they could get most of the tanks in one pass......we are really nice that way when it comes to parking the tanks (ha-ha).
Looks like the tracked vehicles are equipped with rubber pads on the tracks to minimize highway damage and have a bit of traction on wet roadways. Helmets being worn seem to be kevlar or some other composite material that is not electrically conductive the way the old steel helmets were.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDHelmets being worn seem to be kevlar or some other composite material that is not electrically conductive the way the old steel helmets were.
The standard issue helmet is now a Kevlar composite. In some ways, it resembles the shape of the WW2 German helmet.
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...
tree68The standard issue helmet is now a Kevlar composite. In some ways, it resembles the shape of the WW2 German helmet.
It is the same material but it is not the same helmet as you may have worn and was redone in the mid-2000's. The small front visor was eliminated to improve visibility, they dropped the back a little to cover more of the nape of the neck as well as the sides have been dropped slightly........all due to wartime experience. The internal harness system also changed slightly as well so that is is not as loose on the head. I wore the K-POT in the 1980's shortly after it came out, it was replaced post 2000 with this latest version.
BaltACDLooks like the tracked vehicles are equipped with rubber pads on the tracks to minimize highway damage and have a bit of traction on wet roadways.
Yes, if they are replaced at regular frequencies (not all of them are) they do protect the road from the metal to an extent but not the concentrated weight.
Can't speak for the new helmets but the first generation Kevlar helmets had metal bolts through the kevlar to support the internal head harness system and well if the outside of the helmet cloth cover is wet.......usually the head harness is wet or it is pretty humid in the helmet..........still enough there for a ground. Though I think you had to be pretty tall to get close enough to the wire for an arc. So thought the rule was overkill.
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