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

Right now Yankee hoggers and brake-heads, engine hostlers, car knockers and gandy dancers are delivering goods in five continents. They are operating rail lines from Alaska to North Africa and from Iran to Caledonia ... This Week Magazine March 11, 1944

In the midst of World War II, the role of the railroad was pivotal in ways that may surprise you. Beyond transporting civilians and goods, railroads like the Southern Railway stepped onto the front lines. They sponsored Railway Operating Battalions, an initiative that was critical for the Allied forces’ success. 

The Southern Railway’s 727th Railway Operating Battalion, comprised of America’s “soldier railroaders,” is a prime example of this effort. These brave men were tasked with an extraordinary mission: to ensure the prompt delivery of equipment and supplies across the varied and often treacherous terrains of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Their success was not only in their delivery but also in their valor. 

The Battalion was decorated with seven Legions of Merit and seven Purple Hearts. Notably, General George S. Patton himself awarded the 727th an official Battalion Commendation. General Patton lauded their “initiative and perseverance… without regard to personal safety,” which, he said, honored the traditions of the Military Railway Service and the service as a whole. 

This Veteran’s Day weekend, we pay tribute to the courage and dedication of these soldier railroaders. We invite you to join us on the Missionary Ridge Local to experience a part of the Southern Railway heritage that contributed to the freedoms we enjoy today. As we ride along the same lines that were once a strategic part of the war effort, let us remember and thank all those who have served. https://www.tvrail.com/2021/11/11/southern-railway-wwii-battalions-valor/

727th Italian civilians [The Yankee Boomer - Londra, 9 marzo 1944, pagine 1-2] [ 509 ITALIAN CIVILIANS KILLED BY FUMES WHEN FREIGHT TRAIN STALLS IN TUNNEL

More than 500 Italians lost their lives last Friday in what was probably the most unusual and the most ghastly catastrophe in the history of world railroading. They died, 509 of them, peacefully and without ever knowing what was happening to them, as the freight train on which all but the crew were unbidden guests stalled in the depths of a tunnel, and the locomotive poured lethal fumes into the damp darkness. 

Searching parties who struggled into the approximately two-mile-long bore through a lonely mountain stretch of southern Italy to see what was delaying the train found the victims lying and sitting about as if asleep. There had been no panic, no struggle for life. They had simply grown drowsy, drifted into unconsciousness and died while they wondered what was causing the train to halt. News Slow in Arriving Because the mammoth tragedy occurred in a desolate and isolated stretch of countryside, it was a ful day before reports reached the outside, and even last night many details were lacking. It was known, however, that the train was all-Italian as to crew and passengers. Barring the off chance that the body of a straggler would be found as the macabre task of clearing the tunnel progressed, no Allied military personnel perished. First reports of headquarters of the Miliatry Railway Service, which supervises all schedules on the Italian State Railways in Allied hands but had no actual hand in the operation of this particular train, indicated that only one crew member had escaped from beneath the mountain. This was a fireman on the locomotive.Reuter's news service said some fifty persons were hospitalized. Reuter's put the death toll at 502. 

Gray orders investigation Brig. Gen. Carl R. Gray, Jr., Director General of MRS, immediately appointed an investigating board headed by Lt. Col. Fred W. Okie, commanding officer of the 727th Railway Operating Battalion, to report on the accident. The board contained both American and Italian railway personnel. General Gray, in a formal statement, characterized the tragedy as one of “the most regrettable and the most unusual” in his experience of railroading. Pending the report from his board, he declined to discuss possible causes. Railroad officials pointed out that a large preponderance of empties in the freight car string brought the death rate to such a huge figure. There were thirty-three empties in the train. 

Kind-hearted Italian train crews, not burdered with responsibility for valuable military freight as are the MRS crews who haul Allied supplies, may have looked the other way as the hordes of refugees and ex-Italian soldier filled the empties at stops before the tunnel was reached. Or they may have been unable to cope with the rush. The train's schedule called for a stop in a yards not far before the tunnel point of entry, and it was dark when that stop was made. Since only the fireman appears to have survived out of the entire train crew, the crew's responsibility for the ticketless passengers may never be definitely fixed. What caused the train to stall in the tunnel was not immediately apparent. Railroad men said, however, that the train was on a upgrade. The fireman may have been down on the “deck” to avoid the worst of the exhaust gases and hence not kept up sufficient steam, or else the wheels may have commenced slipping and the engineer may have been too overcome to correct the situation before it was too late. 

The accident recalls a similar one recently in which an Italian locomotive fireman died. In that particular accident, the engineer, the rest of the crew, and several passengers owed their lives to the coolness and efficiency of an American MRS train crew. As in Friday's catastrophe, the Italian Crew of a locomotive were overcome by tunnel gases, but the Americans in the cab with the ferrovieri brought the engine out. The they managed to revive all but the firemen. Among the passengers they saved were two Italians nuns Balvano train disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balvano_train_disaster

'Titanic of train disasters' by Nancy Cunningham on Scribd

Thanks Richard

727th various documents.pdf by Nancy

727.pdf by Nancy

thanks tim

Veterans History Project by Nancy

Thanks to Robert E Helm,Jr shared by his daughter Mitzi

Thanks to Robert E Helm,Jr shared by his daughter Mitzi

Thanks to Robert E Helm,Jr shared by his daughter Mitzi