WWII trains

[Anonymous]

i need info on the railroads during WWII for an english paper about WWII. why english is beyond me. Thanks in advance

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CNWfan5525

i need info on the railroads during WWII for an egnlish paper about WWII. why english is beyond me. Thanks in advance

I think you're going to need more than just help with the subject.....[:)]

[dharmon]

Seriously though, on the Trains side awhile back there were several threads about railroads and wartime service. Try there.

[Anonymous]

This is one of the topics I am especially interested in. In WWII, German ships had sunk so many of our oil tankers that almost all of our oil was shipped by rail. The Southern Pacific carried more wartime traffic than any other railroad. Many trains consisted of troop cars, the ones painted that Pullman Green and were boxy looking. So many troops were moved by rail that railroads started puttung up ads that actually told people to take the train less often so the rail systems wouldn't be so crowded. The huge amounts of steel used by the Army meant that steel was rationed, so many frieght cars called composite cars(meaning they were built with both wood and steel) were on the rails. Electro-Motive was the only company allowed to make diesel engines during this time, as many other locomotive companies made engines for use on ships for the war effort. Trains were very long and very frequent due to all of the people and products being shipped. Almost everything shipped was transported by rail. This put a lot of wear and tear on the rails so these had to be served very often. Many railroad books about the American lines in general have a chapter on wartime railroading, since this was such an interesting time on the railroads.

[Anonymous]

The germans used armoured panzer trains to transport tanks. the trains had armoured plating and had AA and AT guns on them. The germans, the french, and the russians used rail guns, which were very large artillery guns that traveled on train tracks, the biggest was the dora which took up two tracks and could fit a car in the barrel(i think)

[Anonymous]

wow thanks alot

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cjm89

. Electro-Motive was the only company allowed to make diesel engines during this time, as many other locomotive companies made engines for use on ships for the war effort.

I believe you meant to say road diesel locmotives. Alco, Baldwin and Fairbanks Morse and even GE all built diesel switches. Electro motive was not allowed to produce switchers, the other companies were not allowed to produce road locomotives. The site below lists diesel loco types in order od production (Mo/Yr)[:)] I note the production dates for the Alco DL109 passenger loco encompass the whole war period. I don't know whether an exception was made for it, or production was just suspended. The War Production Board determined who made locomotives, what types were made, and who got them. It took awhile for the restrictions to be decided on and implemented at the beginning of the war, and there was some losening of restrictions toward the end.


http://www.urbaneagle.com/data/RRdieselchrono.html

[Anonymous]

Several other items that you might check out:

In 1944, Kip Farrington wrote a generally definitive book that may still be available in many large libraries, called Railroads at War. Very good because it was right in the middle of the fight.

Don DeNevi's American Fighting Railroads also has some good info and a lot of (mostly) accurate photos. It also has good statistics lifted from Railway Age and reproductions of wartime RR ads (another good source of those is Nat'l Geographic). And great pix of big coastal guns in shipment.

Stan Cohen's Rails Across the Tundra has an interesting section about wartime railroading in AK, including a nice piece on the Whittier Cutoff, built by the Army to access Whitier, an ice-free port on the submarine-free Inside Passage. Definitely worth a look.

Any major public library will likely have a photo collection running back to WWII, and may have some local oral and written histories as well.

And cjm89 has it absolutely right--everything moved by rail unless it was on a protected (from subs) waterway. The u-boats had a field day sinking ships off the coasts. So the railroads pressed everything into service, and converted what they needed to convert to make it all work. Everything was put to use. Examples: Lounge cars were not allowed--they could be on the train but the seats had to be sold. C&O took a bunch of baggage cars and literally turned them into makeshift diners--not kitchen cars, that's another matter--for troop train service, complete with fold-up tables. Bizarre looking from the outside, with only a kitchen door and kitchen windows--written up in Railway Age if you have access to an archive (usually in a depository at a major university). Everything was controlled by the War Production Board, who told you what you could make and from what you had to make it. Hence composite wood-steel freight cars, because steel was a strategic material and wood wasn't. And lots of interesting circumventions and definition-bending: SP changed the class definition of their GS Daylight locos from "Golden State" to "General Service" in order to convince WPB to let Lima build more to keep up with demand (they got away with it, but they were produced in basic black with no shrouding except the skyline casing). Mothballed Pullman tourist cars (in dead lines dating from the Depression) immediately came back in troop service (with the berths) and in hospital train service (stripped with 3-deep litter racks installed). Drawing room and compartment doors on troop service Pullmans were removed or welded open, and the Army slept 2 per lower and 1 in the upper. The crowds were immense--my mother tells me of her and her sister traveling from Dallas to Colorado Springs to visit her brother in law on leave, and having to sit on their suitcases the entire 2-day trip, and this is not an unusual story.

Lots of good stuff out there. Happy hunting!

Always happy to help a student who wants to learn!

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by t3488g

The germans used armoured panzer trains to transport tanks. the trains had armoured plating and had AA and AT guns on them. The germans, the french, and the russians used rail guns, which were very large artillery guns that traveled on train tracks, the biggest was the dora which took up two tracks and could fit a car in the barrel(i think)

The United States had railroad guns too. Charls S. Small wrote a book California Railway Guns, Railhead Publications 1984. The guns were intended for coastal defence. Much of the Southern Pacific between LA and San Luis Obispo is along the coast as is the AT&SF is south of LA.

[Anonymous]

Well, I've always been a big history buff and very interested in WWII. Are you talking about railroads here on the home front or trains that were used in combat? One very good and extensive site about military trains used by both the Allies and Axis Powers in both wars is http://www.railwaygun.co.uk/ .

[Dough]

You may want to email some of the guys at the 1205th TROB. These are Army Reserve troops who train to opperate and repair railroads. They have a section of their site that describes their call up durring WW2. They also have some pictures under the pic section.

By the way if you live in Califorinia, and have any interest in the military, this would be one awsome unit![;)]

http://www.1205thtrob.com/

[Anonymous]

DSchmitt: learn somthin' every day, don't we? What would ALCO RS-1's count as? switchers?

[DSchmitt]

The S1, S2, VO 660, VO1000, SW1 and some other lesser known switchers are all listed as "Road Switchers"

The RS1, RSD1, H-10-44, NW3 amoung others are listed as "Light Road Switchers"

The RS1 was a switcher reconfigured to make it more suitable for light, short haul road duty. It was not suitable for heavy long haul operation. While probably the first real dual purpose diesel loco, the RS1 is not in the same class as the EMD FT (the only road freight type authorized), post war F's, Geeps, and post war Alco and Baldwin road locos.

Until the recently with the rise of GE, EMD was the by far the leading road loco producer in part because of the head start they got during the war.

[Anonymous]

Didn't they have photography rescritions during the War

DOGGY

[M636C]

There was a largely pictorial book on railways (world wide) during WWII by Ron Ziel called "Steel Rails to Victory". I don't remember the publisher.

What really amazed me about this was there was a GERMAN LANGUAGE edition, but they called it "Raeder muessen rollen" ("The Wheels Must Roll")

I've always wanted to point that out!

Peter

[Anonymous]

just a bump to the top

[Anonymous]

nother bump

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any links to sites about the railroads during WWII?

[Anonymous]

no one can help?

[dharmon]

Not trying to be mean or unhelpful

www.google.com

search for "wwII + trains" or "wwII + railroads" and literally hundreds of hits returned.

[Anonymous]

anyone else have a link they can give me?

[DSchmitt]

Sorry no links.[:(]

Some Books with in on railroads in ww2, some may already have been mentioned

United States Military Railroads by Don Denivi and Bob Hall A Boston Mills Book 1992 a brief history of the US MRS many photos mostly overseas.

Steel Rails to Victory by Ron Ziel 1970 photos US Home Front, Mid East, Europe, Far East

Americas Fighting Railroads by Don Denevi 1996 Pictorial Histories Publishing Co US railroads in WW 2

The Trail of 42 and the Forgotten War, both by Stan Cohen have some pictures of the White Pass and Yukon.

[Anonymous]

is there anymore links anyone knows of? BTW thanks to everyone that has helped me

[Anonymous]

a bump to the top

[Anonymous]

CNW, your pictures are to big!

[Anonymous]

Bump