Thanks so much to Rodney Farcht daughter Sue for this information

Rodney E. Farcht

Rodney E. Farcht, 61, of 123 Hamilton Ave., died at 2:25 p.m. Monday at Memorial Osteopathic Hospital.

He was the husband of Catherine Labenberger Farcht.

Mr. Farcht was born in York and was a son of the late George and Fannie Welsh Farcht.

He was a retired locomotive engineer with 40 years of service with ConRail and its predecessor, Penn Central Railroad.

Mr. Farcht was an Army veteran of World War II and was a member of the 713th Railway Operating Battalion in Europe.

He was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ and its Church School.

Other memberships include Zeredatha Lodge 451, Tall Cedars of Lebanon No. 30; Consistory of Harrisburg; 13th Ward Political Club; 12th Ward Independent Democratic Club; Hawks Gunning Club; American Legion, Red Lion; and Union Transportation Union No. 1722.

Survivors include:

Two children — Mrs. Susan W. Houck, 3281 Alta Vista Road, Dover, and David W. Farcht, 1740 Devers Road.

Five grandchildren.

Two brothers and a sister — Robert W. Farcht, J. Donald Farcht and Mrs. Betty Gerberick, all of York.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Trinity United Church of Christ with his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Benjamin T. Griffin, officiating. Burial will be in Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Masonic services will be conducted by Lodge 451 at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Workinger Funeral Home, 849 E. Market St., which is in charge of arrangements.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Organ Fund of Trinity Church, 32 W. Market St.

 

714th was building the Alaska Highway at this time ! 

David writes .. I would like to share a Christmas card and photo my Great Uncle Vernon Martin sent to his mother in 1944 when he served in the 714th Railway Operating Battalion. The photo is of my Great Uncle (left) boxing with his unit friend. It is hard for me to make out the name of the other guy, but I did include the writing on the back of the photo just in case you may be able to figure it out.

Uncle Vernon's friend was Orlo Guy Leininger and he was a U.S. Army Military Policeman in Alaska between 4 June 1942 and 6 November 1945. birth: 4 June 1917 in Rockford, Mercer, Ohio to Edwin Anton and Lola May Landfair Leininger death: 10 December 1996 in Portage, Porter, Indiana burial: Graceland Cemetery, Valparaiso, Porter, Indiana https://indgensoc.org/orlo-guy-leininger/

 Great news for researching railway units ...

WWII Morning Reports up to 1943 are now available on the NARA website and can be located through the NARA Catalog. (More Morning Reports are being added, as I have located ones for 1944, too.) 

For those wishing to research WWI Morning Reports, I recommend using them on Fold3. Why search for the Morning Reports? 

 These organizational records can tell us where all the assigned soldiers were on a specific day, and the activities being done. They tell us when and how soldiers moved from place to place. They show when there were promotions, sick for duty and when they were sent to the hospital. 

They also show if soldiers were assigned to other organizations for temporary duty, or when they were permanently transferred to another organization. At a minimum, a soldier’s name will appear upon transferring in and transferring out of an organization. Memos may also be tucked into these reports. For those of us whose Army ancestors’ personnel files burned in the fire in 1973, without leaving enough to be restored through technical means, these records are a key part of the reconstruction process. here

Thanks to Fetty's daughter Maydean for these great photos and documents. 

This photo is my dad, Ralph Glenn Fetty on left and his life longfriend Annas W. Klingensmith at Fort Sam Houston, Texas where they met and trained together

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Members of the 729th Transportation Battalion, old and new, gathered for a ceremonial returning of the unit colors, early on a Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The 729th Railway Operating Battalion deactivated in 1976. Their last days were chaotic, according to U.S. Army Reserve Col. (Ret.) Vincent Palmeri, an alumnus of the 76th Division, the co-located higher headquarters of the 729th in Middletown, Conn., preventing the customary return of the unit colors to the U.S. Army Center of Military History. U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Richard Gillen, the commander at the time, kept the original colors, a relic from 1942, adorned with four campaign steamers, following the unit's tumultuous deactivation. His widow, Joy, preserved the unit banner, only surrendering it to Palmeri, a trusted retired officer, for safekeeping. 

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/483545/historic-colors-returned-transportation-battalion-europe

 Clifford Crane 

 

Joe L. Hall

 

 Charles James Collett 

 

 Oscar R. Kirchner 

 William T. Coffey 

 

Leonard P. Mays

 

 Albert Blythe 

 

Silas E. Foster

 

 Emmett John Hegarty 

 

 George E. Van Kleeck also served in 716th ROB

Edward Boland

Edwon Kite

This great photo album was passed around through various unit members many years ago, see the little note at end of photos for more informtion. https://photos.app.goo.gl/te3g9XkR5W1Ckq9fA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/te3g9XkR5W1Ckq9fA

This is an amazing biography and first hand account by Army railroader D.M.(Bing) Quimby serving with the 711th ROB during WWII in Iran. Thanks to his son, Russ Quimby and the Quimby family for sharing this amazing book with us,

Russ wrote ... Nancy, I just finished reading Christian Wolmar's "The Liberation Line" where I discovered your name and website. As a Class of 1974 West Point graduate who spent most of my working life in railroading, and as the son of a railroad engineer who was in the 711th ROB in Iran during WWII, I am gratified that you are preserving the Military Railway Service history and memories. Four of 13 chapters of my father's self published autobiography "One of the Last" by D.M. (Bing) Quimby (1995 Vantage Press) deal with his experiences in the 711th ROB in Iran. Only 200 copies were published, but I would be glad to send you a copy for reference. I think that you might find his story of some interest.

Fascinating autobiography of Bing Quimby, one of the last engineers to run a steam locomotive in the United States. A quintessential small town boy, the author describes his youth growing up in Nebraska in the 1920s, bumming his way to California in his teens (and getting into scrapes along the way), working as a fireman for the railroad, serving in the Army during World Ward II where his locomotive delivered supplies to the Russians from Iran, and then the years as an engineer of steam locomotives back home before making the transition to diesel. Illustrated with black and white photos. 232 pages. 

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vantage Press; First Edition (January 1, 1995) 

Language ‏ : ‎ English Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 232 pages 

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0533111544 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0533111541 

 

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