Railroads played an integral role in the Second World War. Trains brought food, munitions, and essential supplies. They transported troops. They were a means of escape for those fleeing persecution. At the same, they were used to transport innocent people to their deaths. Yet there was one kind of train that improved the chances of survival every time they rolled through the battle-worn towns and cities of the European theatre of war.

Hospital trains were not a new concept in the Second World War, but their use was instrumental in this most deadly conflict of the twentieth century. Regular passenger trains were converted into mobile emergency wards tending to the critically wounded. It was an elegant solution, as train cars could be refitted with tier beds, and supplies could be easily transported along with medical staff.

A Different Track introduces readers to the world of hospital trains of the Second World War. From the nurses who ran them to the factories that manufactured them, this book looks at how these trains quietly altered the fortunes of the world. From Canada’s contributions to the role of women who both healed the sick and built the trains, this is a fascinating look at one of the hidden nuggets of history.

Order on Amazon : https://amz.run/8hhB 

If you can help Rob in his search for these locos get in touch with me.

Rob writes ... My WWII railway interests focus on motive power and rolling stock, particularly ambulance trains aka hospital trains. 

Gathering drawings and photos, I endeavour to produce compilations which are deposited in the Archives section of the Military Railway Study Group https://www.mrsg.org.uk/ 

At the moment, I am searching for photos of (British) WD 2-8-0s lent to the USATC bearing Transportation Corps USA on their tenders and RGD branding on the lower cabside. 

The image Pictorial Handbook of Military Transportation Operational Photog_00009.jpg LINK shows an RGD branding. This comes from a better copy of the book held by Bangor Public Library,

The library also holds some ROB histories. Ft Eustis was able to furnish a photo of WD 2-8-0s in USATC use in Belgium. I attach it together with a crop, enlargement, and colour inversion of the locomotive in the middle of the view showing USA on the tender side. (below)

Photo 50876 of the attached .pdf 50875 - 50889 SPARE PARTS LINK TRAIN being photos from Library and Archives Canada shows an ROB brading on the lower cabside. 

Note the apparent repainting of the tender side to obliterate any USA markings which simply wouldn't do for an official 1st Canadian Army photo! Attached is a compilation regarding these locomotives. 

Of particular interest is 79189 which was exchanged for S160 3257 which was acquired for training purposes on the (British) Longmoor Military Railway. LINK

Knowledge of this was scarce and only recently has a photograph of something else with 79189 came to light in a German article Eisenbahn Kurier 12_2020 seiten 48 - 52 - mit Übersetzung ins Englische, also attached. LINK

During World War II, as the number of wounded soldiers in need of transport back to the United States rose, the Army developed and managed a complex network of hospital trains that brought the injured from ports across the country to care facilities near their homes. 

Now largely a remnant of the past (at least in the U.S.), hospital trains were an important element of American military operations for nearly a century. They were first used during the Civil War, then again during World War I. But during World War II, that familiarity didn’t save the Army and the Office of the Surgeon General from needing to undertake a laborious revamp of the system that very nearly stretched to the end of the conflict in 1945. https://bityl.co/KaE4

WW2 US Medical Research Centre 

https://www.med-dept.com/articles/ww2-hospital-trains/

Part 1

  

Part 2  

Part 3

Missing page 184 

Sibul Combine by Nancy on Scribd

Greg send us more from his grandfather's collection Robert Seeley of 722nd Company C Thanks !!!

Help Julien if you can ...

Hi

I'm a french writer and I'm writing a new graphic novel. A part is about John Wojcik, a GI from my family who was mechanic in the military railway service. I need some information about his unity: 139th TC Hospital train maintenance. I only know John was in Germany, near Monchengladbach in July and august 1945 and worked on the hospital train number 46. Any information about this unity or this hospital train could be very useful for me.


Thanks ! J. Frey http://julienfrey.blogspot.com/
Skype: jfrey77

hosp train.pdf by Nancy

1944 46 724th 710th ROB PhotoAlbum Thomson Geo W CoA FairOaks CA by Nancy

shows photos of this Hospital train bombing HOSP TRAIN No. 23 – 14 Sep 43 England – 24 Mar 44 Scotland – ETO Sep 44 France -Central Europe (partly destroyed by German bombing, at the Gare St. Lazare, Paris, 26 Dec 44)

Hospital Train Sept Railroa... by on Scribd

Great hospital train page here http://railwaysurgery.org/Army.htm

Hospital Train Sept Railroa... by on Scribd