727th Railway Operating Battalion in Algeria on 17 February 1943

An old French steam locomotive is seen being operated by men of the 727th Railway Operating Battalion in Algeria on 17 February 1943

.Just a little less than a year before in March of 1942 the 727th ROB was the first railway battalion activated in World War II. Soldiers of the 727th were established at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, to train on the Southern Railroad between Meridian, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. 

In September 1942, a detachment of men from the 727th Railway Operating Battalion became the first military railroaders to deploy outside the contiguous United States when they assumed operations of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Alaska. Then the 727th was one of the first two battalions to deploy overseas, arriving in North Africa in December 1942. Railroading in North Africa proved to be challenging. Trains were operated by British, French, and American crews assisted by Arab civilians. 

With a variety of languages among the railroaders, the crew often used hand signals, although that was not always a solution. For example, the U.S. signal for “go” in railroad terms meant “stop!” in the French system used in North Africa. Another quirk was that French locomotives in North Africa did not have seats for engineers or firemen as American ones did, so crews had to stand for hours on end while they were underway. 

In spite of the difficulties, the Military Railway Service (MRS) moved about 90,000 tons of freight a week by June 1943. At its peak the MRS operated 1,905 miles of railway in North Africa. After freeing North Africa from German occupation the Allies’ next move was to Sicily, and MRS personnel went with them. Three days after the initial landings on 10 July 1943 the 727th Railway Operating Battalion went ashore at Licata, Sicily, and immediately began work on the Sicilian railway. Thanks Military Railroad Society https://www.facebook.com/usatc5002