War time editions of N.Y. Central Railroad Headlight are a goldmine and this edition includes mentions of soldiers in the units: 

CH September 1945

• 718^th, 721^st, 736^th, 737^th ROB
• 753^rd RSB
• 701^st RGD
• All NYC Battalions go to reserves Post War.
• 718^th ROB – first train across Rhine Guilfoil
• 2^nd MRS piper cubs doing reconnaissance- telegraph line
• 748^th ROB Truden
• 724^th ROB Brearton
• MRS Ital
• MRS Burma
• MRS #years of experience
• 706^th RGD
• 713^th ROB
• 721^st ROB Voights India
• MRS operated 12 RR lines in Germany
• 718^th ROB Merit Plaque
• 726^th Padula India
• Double Turntable at Cologne in Germany
• 2^nd MRS Elmes 

 

 

War time editions of N.Y. Central Railroad Headlight are a goldmine and this edition includes mentions of soldiers in these units: 

• 726th Railway Operating Battalion
• 711th Railway Operating Battalion
• 701st Railway Grand Division
• 753rd Railway Operating Battalion
• 720th Railway Operating Battalion
• 764th Railway Battalion
• 733rd Railway Operating Battalion
• 774 Railway Grand Division
• 2nd Military Railway Service

 726th Railway Operating Battalion - Danner

721st-- 725th -- 726th

Lincoln: University of Nebraska / Potomac Books, 2017. Pp. xvi, 200. Illus., maps, notes, biblio., index. $29.95. ISBN: 161234853X.

  Military Railroading in Asia's Jungles and Mountains Inspired by a box of memorabilia left by his father, a sometime staff sergeant in the 721st Railway Operating Battalion (ROB), Hantzis set out to learn more about his father’s war, and the result is this interesting history of two largely overlooked subjects, military railroading and the neglected CBI theatre, which included some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world, the jungle clad mountains of northeastern India and Burma.
  After an introduction offering some family background and comment on military railroading, Hantzis covers the recruiting and organization of the ROB battalions, each of which was organized around a cadre drawn from one of the nation’s great railways, the 721st ROB was recruited from the New York Central, the 725th from the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific, the 726th ROB from the Wabash, and so forth. He then follows these troops on their nearly 70 day voyage aboard a converted former luxury liner from the East Coast to Bombay in India, and thence overland to the front in the northeastern part of India, altogether journey of nearly 20,000 miles. From there, the book follows these troops as the engaged in upgrading the local railroads, building new ones, and bringing up the matériel needed to support the Allied war effort in the theatre.
  As he tells the story of the organization, movement, and work of these troops, Hantzis also gives us a look at the battalion’s personnel and their individual experiences coping with alien cultures and war. In the process, he also fills the reader in on a lot of information about railroading, civil and military, so, for example, we learn that one ROB could sustain operations along a 100-150 mile stretch of line. Although his primary concern is the story of the 721st ROB, Hantzis sets this within the overall picture of events in the theatre. Rails of War will prove a profitable read for anyone interested in military railroading or the CBI. Note: Rails of War is also available in several e-editions

https://goo.gl/PY7Dpe

 

726.pdf by Nancy

thanks tim !

726 Letters Home Blackwell by Nancy

726th ROB Thanksgiving Menu 1943 by Nancy

726th Railway Operating Battalion Unit History by Nancy

Running on Time by Nancy

726th C Roster

George William "Bill" Myers Jr. Obituary
CHILLICOTHE: George William "Bill" Myers, Jr. passed away on August 4, 2012 at Heartland Nursing Facility, at the age of 91. He was born in Chillicothe on December 28, 1920 to Mary and George W. Myers Sr.
Bill is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary Elizabeth Mossbarger Myers; daughters and sons-in-law, Terressa and William Reep, and Elizabeth "Beth" and Everett "Bud" Montgomery; grandchildren: Jenny Marie Dennis, Charles "Chad" and his wife, Megan; great-grandson, Benjamin Myers Dennis; step-grandchildren: James and Amy Montgomery, and Shawna and Bryan Gibson; step-grandchildren: Bryce Montgomery and Addy Gibson; and several special nephews and nieces.
He was predeceased by his parents, a sister, Martha Daws; and brothers: Samuel and Earl.
Bill graduated from Centralia High School in 1938. He was a veteran of the 726th Railway Operating Battalion during World War II, serving in China, Burma, and India. He was awarded a Bronze Star in addition to other war related medals.

The Masonic Lodge and affiliations were an important part of Bill's life.

He was a member of Logan Elm Masonic Lodge #624 F. & A.M, York Rite Bodies of Chillicothe, Ross County Shrine Club (Past President), Scottish Rite Valley of Columbus, Aladdin Temple Shrine, Kentucky Colonels, Royal Order of the Jesters #169, Appalachian Hillbillies Clan #8 (Past Raban), Eastern Star #411.

Other memberships include Chillicothe Elks Lodge #52, Veterans of the Foreign Wars Post 108, American Legion Post #134, and AMVETS.

Bill retired after 45 years of service on the CSX, formerly the Baltimore and Ohio, where he was Trainmaster. He began his railroad career firing on steam engines. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00pm Wednesday, August 8, at the Haller Funeral Home. Military graveside services, conducted by the Ross Co. Veterans Honor Guard, will follow in Grandview Cemetery. Friends may call Tuesday from 5-7pm at Haller Funeral Home, where a Masonic Funeral will be conducted at 7pm.

Memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer's Foundation, Alzheimer's Foundation of America, 322 Eighth Ave., 7th fl., New York, NY 10001; or the American Cancer Society , Central Region-ROSS, 870 Michigan Ave., Columbus, OH 43215.

Burma by Nancy

** Locomotive Engineers Journal September 1945

The biggest and most important job they tackled was running most of the Bengal & Assam Railway in northeast India, operating generally from Parbat-ipur northeast. The meter-gauge line east from Parbatipur was mainly single-track, powered by an assortment of locomotives made in Germany, England, Belgium, France and Czechoslovakia.

The Indian method of operation was often protracted. There were schedules, of course; but the Indians observed them in the manner of a timeless land. If a train arrived hours late, and the schedule called for a 15-minute stop, the Indians observed it, even though loading and unloading took only two minutes.

The war supplies over the railroad under Indian operation totaled only 15,000 long tons in May 1943. In June the Bengal & Assam didn't move enough tonnage to fill the planes flying the Hump to China.

Maj. Gen. W. E. R. Covell, chief of CBI Services of Supply, gave orders Christmas Day 1943 establishing the Military Railway Service, with headquarters at Gauhati, Assam, halfway between Parbatipur and Tinsukia. It was to operate 752 miles of meter-gauge track, headed by Headquarters, Military Railway Service, and Headquarters, 705th Railway Grand Division. Operating under this authority would be five railway battalions, the 721st, 725th, 726th, 745th and 748th, and one shop battalion, the 758th.

This grand division of about 4,600 officers and men arrived at Gauhati in late-January 1944 and set up offices and quarters in a weaving school. It assumed operation March 1, and by that time, CBI Theater had reached agreement with India to operate 804 miles of track.

726th Railway Operating Battalion Guy Wooldridge

726th Tday Menu

From Wikipedia 
V-mail stands for Victory Mail. It was based on the similar British "Airgraph" system for delivering mail between those at home in the United States and troops serving abroad during World War II. V-mail correspondence worked by photographing large amounts of censored mail reduced to thumb-nail size onto reels of microfilm, which weighed much less than the original would have. The film reels were shipped by priority air freight (when possible) to the US, sent to prescribed destinations for enlarging at a receiving station near the recipient, and printed out on lightweight photo paper. These facsimiles of the letter-sheets were reproduced about one-quarter the original size and the miniature mail was delivered to the addressee.
V-mail used standardized stationary, 7 by 9 1/8 inches (17.8 cm by 23.2cm) with a glue flange on one side so that the letter could be folded and sealed in such a way as to become its own envelope. When used by overseas servicemen the letters were opened, censored and photographed. Only the film negatives were transported. After transport by air, reduced-sized versions of the letters were printed from the negatives for delivery to their final destinations. These 60%-reduced photocopies measured 4 1/4 by 5 3/16 inches (10.7cm x 13.2cm), and had a pre-formed crease 1 7/8 inches from the top. The crease insured that the address would be correctly centered behind an opening in a special envelope. The user would write the message in the prescribed space—ideally in black ink, since this photographed best (the Carter ink company marketed a special "V-Mail Ink")— fold the letter/envelope form, address it, affix postage and then the mail was on its way.
According to the National Postal Museum, "V-mail ensured that thousands of tons of shipping space could be reserved for war materials. The 37 mail bags required to carry 150,000 one-page letters could be replaced by a single mail sack. The weight of that same amount of mail was reduced dramatically from 2,575 pounds to a mere 45." This saved considerable weight and bulk in a time in which both were hard to manage in a theatre of the war. It also eliminated the threat of spies using microdots or invisible ink to send reports. Any microdot would not be photographed with enough resolution to be read.
Although the system of V-mail ensured that more pieces of mail were able to be shipped and delivered than a larger, bulkier mailing would have accomplished, many people found that they did not have enough room in the limited available space in order to write all that they had to say. To make things worse, the instructions at the top of each letter stated that "very small writing is not suitable".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-mail