1) The Transportation Corps - Operations Overseas; Bykofsky & Larson; U.S. Army In World War II Series - The Technical Services; U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. 20402; CMH Pub 10-21; Library Of Congress Catalog Card Number 56-60000
This book provides detailed history of the U.S. Army Railroad Operating & Shop Battalions in each of the theater of war for the period 1941 to 1945. Download pdf here:
2) The Corps of Engineers - The War Against Germany; Beck, Bortz, Lynch, Mayo & Weld; U.S. Army In World War II Series - The Technical Services -
The Corps of Engineers; U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. 20402; CMH Pub 10-22; Library Of Congress Catalog Card Number D769.33C67, 1985 Edition
This book provides detailed history of the actions by the U.S. Army Corp
of Engineer units to repair railroads in each of the theater of war for
the period 1942 to 1945.
Thanks so much to Richard Stone for sending this ! He says "an article for your use that describes the operation of the 713th US Army Railroad Operating Battalion in Italy during the 1943 - 1944 period. The original article was printed in the 1944 edition of the USA magazine 'Railway Age’"
Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949 - burial cards US Archives
Name Robert W Ciarlelli Gender Male Rank Private First Class Residence Place Missouri Service Number 37729458 Military Unit 741st Railway Operating Battalion Military Branch U.S. Army War World War II Death Date 19 Oct 1945 Cemetery Plot Number D Cemetery Row 20 Cemetery Section Grave: 3 Cemetery Netherlands Burial Place Margraten, Netherlands Father J C Ciarlelli
Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949- burial cards US Archives
Name: David O Champagne Jr Gender: Male Rank: Technical Sergeant Residence Place: Connecticut Service Number: 11104351 Military Unit: 729th Railway Operating Battalion Military Branch: U.S. Army War: World War II Death Date: 18 Jul 1943 Cemetery Plot Number: C Cemetery Row: 4 Cemetery Section: Grave: 31 Cemetery: Cambridge Burial Place: Cambridge, England Next of Kin: Lavinia Champagne
Les was a friend and great inspiration for this blog. RIP
This is my favorite photo of Les at the ripe old age of 19
Lester Anthony Jacoby
May 7, 1928 - October 27, 2020
Columbia, South Carolina - Les Jacoby, 92, beloved father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, and the last combat steam and diesel locomotive railroad engineer in the world, died on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. He was born in Wabasha, Minnesota, the oldest of 11 children born to Nicholas and Marcella (Kennebeck) Jacoby, and lived on the family farm in southern Minnesota, with no running water or electricity, until he entered the U.S. Army in 1946.
He proudly served his country first during WWII as an advisor to the Korean National Railroad, then with the 790th Transportation Railway Operating Battalion, where at the age of 19 he became the engineer of the last USATC S160 steam locomotive to be used in conflict. He operated the Gen. Pershing #101 in combat until he returned to the US at the end of his tour. The Gen. Pershing 101 is now a permanent exhibit at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI.
read online here
Sgt William J. Plichta, Co B. 714th Training-724th Railway Operating Battalion
Fort Eustus to Pusan in Korea. Included are a service sector uniform Jacket size 34 and 2 garrison caps. A dress cap cover with name and unit listed . A ashtray with unit name from Fort Eustus.
Also 9 Fm & Tm manuals including "Operation of railroads Locomotive Repair Shops" 1946 - Camouflage Basic principles 1944-Personal conduct 1949-Elementary map reading and photography 1944-Railway shop battalion 1944-First aid 1946-Army life 1946-Advanced Map and photographic reading(Loose front cover)-2 combination scorebooks M1-BAR-Military justice HQ 2nd army 1951-2 safety rules military railway service 1944-Personal conduct 1949
William-Plichta-Obituary
North Olmsted, Ohio
Jun 14, 1930 – Apr 8, 2020
With heavy hearts, we announce the death of William J. Plichta (North Olmsted, Ohio), who passed away on April 8, 2020 at the age of 89. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family.
He was loved and cherished by many people including : his wife Arlene E. Plichta; and his daughters, Susan Conklin (Chuck) and Judy Plichta (Jerry Krankovich).
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in William's name are suggested to Habitat for Humanity, 2110 W 110th St., Cleveland, OH 44102.
Suggested donation : Habitat for Humanity
Edward J. "Ed" Pufall Sr., 93, of West Sixth St., passed away Sunday, April 11, 2010, in Bayshore Health Center with his family at his side.
He was born on March 10, 1917, to Joseph and Mary (Stefinski) Pufall in Ashland. Ed was a graduate of DePadua High School in Ashland. He worked for a local meat market and then hired on with the railroad. He met his future wife in Ashland while she was employed as a registered nurse in Bayfield. He married Ardith L. Katon on Sept 30, 1942, in Clovis, N.M., where he had completed basic training. He was an Army veteran of World War II, serving as a sergeant with Company C, 713th Engineers in Africa, Central Europe, Italy, France and Germany. When he returned from the service in June 1945, he and Ardith moved to Duluth. He worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Great Northern and finally the Burlington Northern Railroad, retiring as a yardmaster in 1978. He was a member of St. James Catholic Church, VFW Post 137, American Legion Post 71, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the United Transportation Union and the Yardmasters Union. He and Ardith enjoyed fishing, gardening, Twins baseball and traveling around the country visiting their children.
Great book of you know someone who served in this unit ..
Yardbird is how Ed Johansen referred to himself in some of the letters
he sent home to the family from boot camp in 1942. At the time the
definition fit him: yardbird. n. Slang. An untrained military recruit.
This is a book of letters and photos that Ed sent home to his family and
fiance. As I read them, I was enchanted with the world that my dad
described...a world at war, his hopes of making it as an officer in the
Army, his description of the training he went through: "...a section of
land we have to crawl over with land mines exploding all around us and
machine guns firing over us," his worries about his younger brother who
is serving in the Air Force and his life in the 755th Railway Battalion.
Illustrated with his own photographs of the country and the men he
served with in war-torn Europe.
Our friend in Belgium, Guy has been going through some of the Murphy 743rd ROB photos from 1941 and finding modern images of the locations in photos. (Beauvais)
Thanks Guy!
Anneesensstraat
The American Engines USA 756TH RAILWAY SHOP BATTALION (RSB) , NEWPORT
This article follows the story written by Mike Robinson in the September 2020 edition of 'TheRailway Observer'.
Thanks so much top Andrew Hemmings for sharing this !
The 756th RSB was based at the Great Western Railway's Ebbw Junction Engine Shed at Newport , Monmouthshire (now South Wales). The shed was on the north side of the South Wales Main Line about one mile west of Newport Station.The 756th RSB was vital to the war effort between 1943 and 1945. During this time , between 700 and 800 S160 American engines were shipped into Newport from the USA.
They were then “re-assembled , re-steamed and sent all over Britain and France to replace locomotives either damaged or destroyed in the conflict”. The first batch of 43 locomtives were transferred to the LNER Doncaster Works for completion and running in over the East Coast Main Line. This began a pattern by which the Big Four railway companies in Britain eventually deployed nearly 400 S160's under the guise of “ running in ”. In fact they replaced worn out engines and increased the capability of the British railway system. The reported allocations were 174 to Great Western Railway; 168 to London and North Eastern Railway;50 to London Midland and Scottish Railway ; 6 to Southern Railway.
The second batch of around 400 S160's were prepared for storage by USATC personnel at Ebbw Junction in the months before D Day , 6th June 1944.After the invasion the locomotives at work across Britain began to be collected and refurbished at Newport in preparation for shipment to Europe.
It is clear that the stratgic reason for bringing S160's to Newport was to support the invas ion of France , contribute to the reconstruction of European railways and aid victory over the Axis powers.
In the short term their arrival and use may have brought some brif respite to hard pressed rail freight
services in Britain.At the same time there were condiderable logistical challenges in finding secure
storage.
Thanks to Nancy Cunningham and the website US Army Railway Units of the Past we have
permission to use 2 photographs from their collection of ' 756th Railway Operating Battalion' material. These are captioned 756th Railway Operating Battalion Crows Nest Junction England 1944
In fact these official photographs were taken in Wales at Penrhos Junction , Caerphilly and at Ebbw
Junction itself .
E. R. Mountford's book ' The USA 756th RSB Railway Shop Battalion At Newport ( Ebbw Junction)
features the Ebbw Junction shot on the cover. Inside the caption reads “An Army Officer looks down at a rail yard in the 756th Railway Shop Branch (sic) Ebbw Junction Supply Depot, where railroad locomotives are being put into storage to await use for the invasion of the European continent (15th March 1944) Courtesy US Army Washington”
It portrays at least 2 GWR pannier tanks and private wagons from local collieries , Llanbradach,Rose Heyworth and Bedwas.
The same definitive volume depicts 119 locomotives on the Barry Railway line at Treforest in 1944
and lists 3 more storage sites at Tonteg , Cadoxton and Penrhos. The last of these contains engine number 2837 in the forefront of the long line of stored S 160's.
For those keen to follow the story in greater detail
I can recommend the archives at militaryrailwayservice.blogspot.com and “When Coal was King- Lost Railways, Penrhos Junction,
Caerphilly” by John Wake on youtube.
Andrew Hemmings
Railway Correspondence
and Travel Society (RCTS) in Great Britain
Military Newsreels 1945 - Pathe
U.S. Railroads Perform Huge Wartime Job
Railroads airs war effort moving freight in wartime. Steam locomotive pulls long line of freight cars. Point of View (POV) of train Engineer looking down railroad tracks. Several views of freight train traveling through mountain region of America. Shadow scene of train crossing a railroad trestle. Excellent images of train engine puffing steam.
JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. (Aug. 12, 2015) -- A transporter in the rather obscure corner of logistics called rail operations, Sgt. 1st Class Elrick Richburg literally has a boot on each side of progress. He has logged 17 years as a rail Soldier in the traditional sense but has spent the past two years helping to shape a future marked by dramatic change.
That change, technically termed Army Rail Transformation, or ART, includes the consolidation of all three rail military occupational specialties and a shift from an operational mission to a strategic one.
Our friend in Belgium, Guy has been going through some of the Murphy 743rd ROB photos from 1941 and finding modern images of the locations in photos. (Beauvais)
If you have any materials connected to these great Army Railway units please share them here with the families of the soldiers. If you are a collector or memorabilia dealer PLEASE share copies or scans of items BEFORE you sell these priceless materials to private collectors . I will hold the copies until after they sell. It means so much to the families of the guy's that actually served in these units.
Contact me : Nancy militaryrailwayservice@gmail.com
Locomotive
Please donate to this site
A PayPal account is not required. When you arrive at the payment screen, enter the amount of your donation. Then either select Donate with PayPal or Donate with a Card. Then simply follow the directions.
1) The Transportation Corps - Operations Overseas; Bykofsky & Larson; U.S. Army In World War II Series - The Technical Services; U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. 20402; CMH Pub 10-21; Library Of Congress Catalog Card Number 56-60000 
