713th Railway Operating Battalion- Roster

Thanks so much to Bob Berry !

713th Railway Operating Battalion- Berry

Just an amazing part of Military Rail history discovered ....In part these are excerpts from Bob's email.

You can see photos of the vest above and Bob is donating it to the Transporation museum at Fort Eustis, so you will also be able to see it there

I'm the son of P. Robert Berry who served in Company C of the 713 Railway Operating Battalion during World War II. Robert Berry passed away over 20 years ago. I was left with a most unusual vest that is made of leather and has a number of detail drawing depicting operation in World War II. It is signed by Glen Blomberg. I don’t have any idea of how my dad came to own this vest unless it was given to him by Glen Blomberg himself...

I found the book at mom’s house “The Santa Fe Battalion in World War II” (the book) that I didn’t know it existed. I was amazed by the number of men in the personnel section of the book that I knew. The 713th ROB had a reunion every year from 1946 (I believe) until around 2003 when there was not enough men left to continue on. Since I had attended well over 20 of the reunions myself I knew a lot of the men who attended. Also a lot of the men lived in the area (Kansas City, Missouri) and most were Dad’s old running buddies after the war. Also since my Dad worked for the CB&Q (Burlington) and had railroad pass we visited a lot of the men throughout the United States. So reading the personnel list was like a trip back in time and brought up a lot of memories.The vest that I sent you pictures of, I have some further information on it.

My Dad was attached to a British Rail Division for about three months, my Mom is fairly sure that is where the original vest came from. Now enters Glen E. Blomberg. My Dad worked for the CB&Q railroad from the time he was a Junior in high school. He had to work in Tower 1 on the Kansas City Terminal Railroad for my Grandpa who was having eye problems. Tower 1 was under the CB&Q ownership. If they found out the my grandpa could not see well he would have been fired so Dad dropped out of high school to do his work. As Grandpa got his sight back Dad finished high school, and when he graduated he went to work for the CB&Q as a switchman in Murray Yards in North Kansas City, Missouri. Let me tell you one thing about my Dad, he could remember names and faces like no other person that I have ever known. I don’t think that I ever went with him to a town that he didn’t know someone or someone who knew a person he knew.

In the book I noticed that Glen E. Blomberg was an employee of the CB&Q railroad in Denver, Colorado. I would be willing to bet that my Dad either knew Blomberg before he was in the service or knew someone who knew Blomberg. At any rate they both worked for the same railroad in the same Company C of 713th and they were only 7 men apart on the roster list. It was not by some fluke my Dad had this vest, Glen E. Blomberg did the art work on this FOR my Dad.Marvin Krinke who took the pictures for the book I knew very well. He has one heck of a nice guy and I can see his face to this day. Marvin Krinke was NOT a railroad man. In fact he worked for Eastman Kodak Company and was attached to the 713th as a photographer for the Battalion. I don’t know what the arrangement were with the Army or if he was even in the Army. I didn’t know until a couple of day ago that he was not personnel in the 713th .

I do know that he had all the pictures of them being over sea and all the reunion pictures.

I will be donating the vest to US Army Transportation Museum in the near future. I think they will display and value the vest as I think it need to be. Again I feel sad that it will be leaving my family after so many years in our possession, but I think it is for the greater good.

I’m also sending 2 pictures taken by my Dad of Loren W. Richter and a picture of my Dad.

The book Bob is talking about is ...

The Santa Fe Battalion in World War II (713th Railway Operating Battalion). by Loren W. Richter and Louis L. Russell, Glen E. Blomberg, Marvin Krinke .

Publisher Information:
Nelly Printing Co., 1945.

BRITISH MILITARY TRAIN 1945-1990 TRIBUTE

I recievd a nice emai from Neil inviting American Military Rail veterans that worked on these trains during this time period to come to the celebration in 2012.

21 years ago the curtain came down on one of the most difficult and yet smoothly and consistently delivered trains in the history of European railways. The British Military Train was born in the wreckage of defeated and broken Germany, and spent its life on the front line of the Cold War. It was operated in a unique and highly politicised partnership between British Army railway operators and the two state railways of the divided Germany. There had been nothing like it before, and it is unthinkable that we will ever see the like of it again. It ran without fuss, with a very British understatement of the political minefield surrounding it.

On 12 May 2012 we acknowledge and celebrate the calm professionalism of railway people, civilian and military, British and German, who did the job, day in day out, without triggering a Third World War. Steam loco 03 1010 will head a train of 1960s carriages, including a dining car, from Berlin to Hannover and back. Proceeds from the train will go to the Royal British Legion in Berlin, and the military guest of honour will be Major General David Burden CBE, retired Colonel Commandant of the Royal Logistics Corps and a former OC Train of the Berliner. The dining car will serve a typical Royal Corps of Transport menu and wine list. During the journey there will be a break at the old border station at Helmstedt for a visit to the Border Museum. Fares are from £90. There will also be a pre-train party in Berlin on 11 May. For reservations, or to discuss the Berliner train, please email us at militarytrain2012@gmail.com or call Neil Howard on 07982 786529.

US Army Transportation Corps Museum event

To MRS Veterans and Friends:

On June 20, 2011, the Deputy Chief of Transportation and the Ft. Eustis Garrison Commander headed a delegation in breaking ground on Phase 1 of a building which will ultimately house the TC Museum's collection of military rail equipment. Phase 1 will be a pavilion which will provide the equipment a significant degree of much needed protection from the physical elements. The steel structure components are on hand, necessary permits have been secured, and contracts are in place to begin construction the second week of July. Army Reserve rail components will be providing assistance later in the summer by construction of an additional siding and repair of existing equipment. Weather permitting, completion is projected for late September.

The Museum's next scheduled event will be on July 27th when it will host the Chief of Transportation's "icebreaker" to open this year's TC Week. He expects to have the senior leaders from both Fort Eustis and Fort Lee at the Museum to showcase the work being accomplished. This project has been in the planning stages for the past twenty years. Join us on the July 27th to view the progress. Details on the "icebreaker" will be available on the Fort Eustis WEB site in the near future.

Mark Metz, LTC-TC (Ret.)

Rail Committee

US Army Transportation Corps Museum Foundation

(717) 597-2636

Railroads have had a significant impact on the military history of the United States.

The Railways and telegraph act of 1862 created the US Military Railroad System (USMRR).
BG Herman Haupt, A USMA 1835 Graduate who spent 25 years with commercial railroads, was responsible for USMRR.
USMRR maintained 16 railways in the eastern theater and 19 short lines with a total of 2,100 miles of track, 419 locomotives and 6,330 rail cars.
Haupts rules of centralized control were responsible for the successful use of military railroads.
During WWI, William Wallace Atterbury, was sent to France by President Woodrow Wilson to bring order out of chaos in that part of the French Railway System which had been turned over to the American Army. His assignment was the President’s response to General Pershing’s cable for “the best railroad man in the United States”. The Commission of Brigadier General and the Distinguished Service Order where his reward. He was Vice-President for operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the time.
Over 43,500 soldier-railroaders served during World War II in over 50 commercial railroad sponsored Military Railway Services (MRS) units stationed in theaters around the world. MRS units served with distinction in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, India, Iran and the Philippines. The RS1 Diesel Locomotive, recently added to the collection, was used to move supplies through Iran for the support of Russia on the eastern front.
The Berlin Duty Train passenger and Guard Car, used during the Cold War, are also a part of our collection, which will be protected by this building we are ready to construct.
This Pavilion will become the home for our expanded story of the Army Transportation Corps Military Railway System Units.

Military Railway Service events

To MRS Veterans and Friends:

During the next several months, two significant events will be taking place to preserve and honor the heritage and memory of those who served and supported the many accomplishments of the Military Railway Service. Both events are open to the public and you are cordially invited to attend and participate.

On 20 June 2011 at 10:00 a ground breaking ceremony will be held at the Ft. Eustis Army Transportation Museum marking the beginning of construction of the Transportation Corps Rail Pavilion.

Efforts have been underway for over 25 years to provide the proper facilities in recognition to our Transportation Corps Rail units and the Railroad Industry that sponsored, helped train, and supplied them since before World War II (WWII).

Please advise the Foundation by June 13 at atmfoundation@netzero.net or (757) 878-1180 of your availability to join us in this long awaited historical event.

On October 29 and 30, 2011 the Southern Forest Heritage Museum of Long Leaf, LA, will be holding its first annual Camp Claiborne / Claiborne - Polk Military Railway (C&P) symposium.

The C&P was a 47 mile railroad constructed in 1942 and 1942 between Camp Claiborne, LA, and Camp Polk, LA, by the 711th Railway Operating Battalion with help from the 91st and 93rd Engineer Battalions. It became the primary Army owned and operated facility for "technical" training of Military Railway Service (MRS) units in WWII. Both Camp Claiborne and the C&P were declared excess and dismantled shortly after WWII.

The symposium will feature both formal presentations as well as on the ground explorations of the facilities and rail right of way that once existed. Additional information and details will be posted shortly at http://www.forestheritagemuseum.org/ or from Lt. Melinda West at Melinda.West@lsus.edu.

Mark Metz, LTC-TC (USAR-Ret.)
Rail Committee
U. S. Army Transportation Corps Museum Foundation
(717) 597-2636

743rd Railway operating battalion Letter unknown author

743rd Railway Operating Battalion Unknown Letter by Nancy on Scribd

743rd Railway Operations Battalion Headquarters

743rd Railway Operations Battalion Headquarters France 1945

743rd Railway Operating Battalion artwork

743rd Railway Operating Battalion Officers

Officers of 743 R.O.B. Backrow L to R- Unk., Lt Allen, LT. Robertson, Lt. Simmons, Lt Gould, Lt Stephenson, Lt Carter, Lt Harrington, Mr. Bull Middle row L to R- Lt Gard, Lt Marsallis, Lt Griffin, Lt Skinner, Lt Lyons, Lt Stansberry, Chaplain Meske Bottom Row L- R -Capt Stromen, Capt Donovan, Capt Shelton, Major Orvett(?), Col Beach, Capt Reist, Capt. Mueller, Lt Sisson, Lt O. Harm