The entire purpose of my websites and blogs for the past 25 years has been to collect and share the amazing work of the U.S. Army rail units of WWII and Korea. 

Both my father and uncle were officers and served in rail units in both wars. I've felt this unique service was being lost and forgotten. Luckily, so did the British author, Christian Wolmar. He contacted me about 2 years ago with his idea for this book and  I've worked with him as his research assistant on this project.  I am beyond thrilled to present:

The Liberation Line: The Untold Story of How American Engineering and Ingenuity Won World War II (U.S. Title)

The epic story of the railwaymen who ensured Allied victory in World War Two, published to coincide with the eightieth anniversary of D-Day.

As the Allied forces advanced through France following the Normandy landings, just behind the frontline the US Military Rail Service and their counterparts in the Royal Engineers were at work, ensuring that crucial supply lines were up and running – without them the liberation of France and the invasion of Germany would founder. 

Based on original research, The Liberation Line thrillingly reveals how the railwaymen overcame enemy attacks, sabotage and booby traps to repair many hundreds of miles of destroyed railway tracks and dozens of bridges and tunnels in order to deliver victory. Packed with tales of individual heroism, this is one of the last great untold stories of the war. 

The book will be published in May 2024 in conjunction with the 80th anniversary of D-Day. You can
per-order Amazon here: https://amz.run/76Q4 

 Christian will be doing a US tour with the book if you'd like him to speak to your organization email me. If you are interested in an autographed book or to have Christian speak to your group email me at militaryrailwayservice@gmail.com    Thanks, Nancy  (UK cover top left - US bottom right)

If you have any information on a soldier railroader I would love to hear from you! If your father, grandfather or other relative served let me know something about them. I would love to do a blog post about them. Nancy  email: militaryrailwayservice@gmail.com

You can order a signed copy from me here  

Christian Womar April 4th, 2024 promotional video!  

Bill writes... 

Just found your wonderful web site on military railways. My dad William Alexander Sheaffer pvt was a member of Co D 746th R.O.B. 1944-45. 

Hopefully he shows up in your records as I’m working, belatedly, on a family history to pass on. I was nine years old when he shipped out on a troop ship in 1944. 

Bottom photo with the “sour puss” captions”these little fishies cost me 50 beans” and his stripes for fishing without permission.

Obit:  William A Sheaffer, Co D 746th Railway Operating Battalion, was born in Mt Union, Pa, in 1910. He became a brakeman on the Pennsylvania RR at Conway Yards, Pennsylvania in 1941. In 1944, at age 34, married with two children, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was trained as a railway operating specialist attaining the rank of T5. He shipped out to the European Theater of Operations later that year. After serving in Europe thru the Rhineland Campaign 1944-45, he mustered out after the war ended. He returned to work at the PRR and retired as a freight conductor in 1973. Upon retiring he and his wife relocated to Newbury Park, California. Enroute to California they attended a reunion of the 746th R.O.B. in Aurora, Illinois. He died in the V.A. Hospital in Los Angeles, in February 1982, while awaiting open heart surgery for a heart valve replacement. He was survived by his wife Gwendolyn M Sheaffer, sons William Alexander, Jr, Robert Charles and daughter Suzanne Ruth Sheaffer. A memorial service was held at the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks Lodge, in Thousand Oaks, Ca, where he had been the lodge chaplain.