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The Last Railroad War

Byline: Kissel, Robert


Volume: 19
Number: 1
ISSN: 08984204
Publication Date: 04-01-2004
Page: 64

ALTHOUGH RAILROADS today have a relatively low profile in the public's consciousness, no
nation depended more on, or demanded more of, its railroads than did die United States during
World War II. Every bullet, bomb, tank, vehicle or service member sent to war by the "Arsenal
of Democracy" traveled part of the way by rail.

That such a logistical feat was accomplished remains one of the greatest American achievements
of the war. One critical component was the Army's Military Railway Service (MRS), which was
responsible for providing train crews, shop and track maintenance and signalingpersonnel, as
well as its own motive power and rolling stock, to ensure the uninterrupted flow of men and
materiel to combat units in the field.

Like the rest of the military, at the beginning of die war in 1939 the MRS was woefully
unprepared for die challenge it would soon face. Despite the well-known need for adequate rail
transport (a lesson painfully learned during World War I), the Army did not have a single
railway operating battalion until mid-1941, when the 711th Railway Operating Battalion was
formed at Fort Belvoir, Va., and sent to Camp Claiborne, La. Perhaps reflecting the sad state of
military rail capabilities at that time, the new unit's first assignment was to construct a 50-mile
railway line between Camp Claiborne and Camp Polk, La. It was reasoned that not only would
such an assignment provide a badly needed rail link between the two expanding facilities, it
would also serve as a training exercise for the future expansion of the Army's railway
organizations.

With so much ground to make up, it was fortunate diat while additional railway units were being
organized die Army could turn to the reserves, which contained within its ranks 29 railway
operating battalions and five shop battalions of experienced railroaders. In addition, once war
came in December 1941, the armed forces could call on civilian railroads for additional trained
personnel. The civilian railroads also provided resources to train Army recruits in the ways of the
"iron horse."

In March 1942, as the scope of U.S. involvement in the war rapidly expanded, the Army placed
the coordination of all motive power, rolling stock, marshalling yards, trucks and ships under the
control of die Army Transportation Corps. Prior to this move, all military transport had been die
responsibility of the Quartermaster General's Department in the War Department.
IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH
Left: A Military Railroad Service (MRS) train races down tracks laid to facilitate the movement
of supplies to Russia. Right: Three MRS crewmen chat with a Soviet soldier in the Tehran, Iran,
railroad yards prior to departing for Russia.
Further steps were taken to meet the needs of the Transportation Corps in june 1943, when the
Army activated die Transportation Corps Replacement Training Center at Camp Claiborne. The
mission of the center was to train personnel for die railway operating battalions. Processing
centers responsible for handling the influx of draftees to the Army were told to keep their eyes
open for any man with previous railway experience. Once identified, diese men were sent first to
Camp Plauche, La., for basic infantry training and then on to the training center at Camp
Claiborne, where they would be transformed into Army railroaders. The classes at Claiborne
generally consisted of 200 men and covered every aspect of railroad operations-preparing
engineers, firemen, brakemen and telegraphers.

From its humble start in 1941, the MRS had grown by the end of the war to more than 44,000
officers and men, nearly all of whom served overseas. The MRS-trained crews could be found
building and operating rail lines in Europe, North Africa, Alaska, the Pacific, the China-Burma-
India Theater (CBI) and the Persian Gulf Command. Less glamorous than its Air Transport
Command cousin, the MRS often provided die crucial link in the Allies' supply lines.

When German U-boats had all but closed the seas to Allied ships trying to bring supplies to
Russia via die extremely hazardous Murmansk run, die MRS operated trains on the Iranian State
Railway diat moved shiploads of Lend-Lease materiel from the Persian Gulf to Russia. Many
Americans who kept that lifeline open in the heat of die Iranian desert had previously worked on
die White Pass & Yukon Railroad in Alaska.

The MRS performed a similar critical role in the CBI. When aircrews flying die "Hump" route
from India to China via die Himalayas found the passage too costly, a back door was found using
the India-Burmese railroads. MRS crews braved primitive conditions to bring Lt. Gen. Joseph
"Vinegar Joe" Stilwell the supplies he needed to continue resisting die Japanese in China and
Burma.

Although rail lines were often miles behind die front lines, MRS crews frequently found
themselves under fire. In one instance, when Field Marshal Erwin Rommel broke through
American lines at Kasserine Pass in February 1943, an MRS battalion operating nearby was fed
into the line as an infantry unit and suffered heavy casualties. It was this experience diat
convinced Army Transportation Corps training staff that the recruits at Camp Claiborne should
first undergo six weeks of basic infantry training.

While the MRS was busy managing and operating rail lines around the world, the United States'
civilian railroad system was far from idle. Despite its previous dominant presence in American
industry, by 1941 the civilian rail system in the United States was dealing with many long-
standing problems of its own. With revenues depleted during the long years of the Depression,
complicated freight regulations and increasing competition from highway carriers and
automobiles, the once-mighty American railroad industry found itself underfinanced and
unprepared for supporting a global war.

Railroad magnates were also haunted by the threat of again losing control of their industry to
government takeover, as had been die case during World War I. In 1917 a transportation crisis
had developed as the United States found itself involved in the war in Europe. Despite efforts to
prepare and support the American Expeditionary Force, there was a shortage of 140,000 freight
cars where they were needed. At one point there were 10,000 loaded cars stuck on East Coast
sidings awaiting ships to receive the cargo. To remedy the situation, a frustrated President
Woodrow Wilson had ordered a government takeover of die nation's rail network and appointed
William Gibbs McAdoo, a political friend, as director of U.S. railroads. The ensuing fiasco
explains, in part, why American soldiers went into battle with British- and Frenchsupplied
weapons and equipment.

In 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt vowed not to repeat die same blunders. When war
came, he consulted railroad industry leaders for advice and input. The result of diese
consultations was the Office of Defense Transportation (ODT), which was headed by Ralph
Budd, the highly regarded president of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. The
ODT was given absolute control over all civilian rail matters. The cooperation engendered
between government and industry worked to everyone's advantage, and after a slow start, the
nation's railroads were in a position to move die wealth of materiel emerging from U.S. plants
and factories.

The war was not only a shot in die arm for the hard-pressed railroads but also a boon to
American industry in general. By mid-1941, the United States produced more steel, oil, coal,
aluminum and motor vehicles dian all of the warring countries combined. Moving this materiel
to where it was most needed was the job of the ODT.

It was a tremendous task. For example, it took 25 flat cars, four Pullmans, a kitchen car, a
caboose and an engine just to move a single armored division with its vehicles and men, and the
Army had raised some 20 armored divisions by war's end. Almost every World War II veteran
has a story about riding a troop train. In many instances they recall the grindingly slow speed as
the train made its way to its destination, frequently sitting at sidings while odter, more
"important" trains were sent ahead.

Troop trains often generated patriotic emotion in the communities diey passed through. Among
the towns and cities that were stirred to generous action was North Platte, Neb. Beginning on
Christmas Day 1941, every troop train that passed through the city was greeted by local
volunteers who handed out food, gifts and cheerful greetings to those on board. At the height of
its operations, the North Platte canteen was serving 3,000 to 5,000 men and women in uniform a
day. The people of North Platte kept their canteen open every day until April 1946.

While many trains moved troops, others moved freight. With gasoline rationing and a shortage of
tires, more and more freight shipments returned to rail transport. In 1943, 72 percent of all
intercity freight transported in the country went by rail. An average of 1 million gallons of oil
was moved per day in solid tank-car trains, as well as thousands of tons of war materiel, most of
which went overseas. Added to this were the vast amounts of raw materials used to supply the
various manufacturing facilities.

Although WWII was a time of prosperity for the railroad industry, there was a downside. One
rail executive described the entire rail system in the United States as exhausted at war's end.
Locomotives and rolling stock had been run into the ground from overuse. Normal and deferred
maintenance were often suspended for lack of sufficient manpower to conduct the repairs.
Station facilities and tracks also needed a great deal of attention. Not only was the constant use
taxing on the equipment, but burnout and stress were frequent problems among train crews and
shop and yard workers. In addition, because many of die trained personnel were serving in the
MRS, railroads were forced to hire inexperienced workers who, employed in hazardous
positions, were far more likely to be injured or killed on the job. In the end, however, American
railroads and railroad workers answered the call and performed magnificently in what was to be
the last great railroad war in American history.

Copyright Cowles Enthusiast Media Apr 2004

Citation for your reference:

Kissel, Robert. "The Last Railroad War". World War II. 01 Apr 2004: 64. eLibrary. Web. 29 Jan
2010.

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