A heartfelt thank-you to John McKenna’s daughter, Patricia Salo, and her brother, Tim for carefully preserving, scanning, and sharing these incredible photos from their dad’s service with the 743rd Railway Operating Battalion in Europe. Families like Patricia’s—who safeguard their soldiers’ memorabilia and choose to share it—bring history to life for those of us who only know we had a railroader in the family but have no photos or records of our own.

When I began this research over 40 years ago, I had the privilege of getting to know many of these men personally. They would be so proud to see their stories preserved and remembered today.

And on a personal note—my own dad also served in the 743rd.

She wrote " I thought it important to let you know that my brother and I have found a veritable treasure trove of pictures from WWII that our father, Master Sergeant John M McKenna left us when he passed in 1995. We were just recently going through boxes and found many many pictures from his time of service with the army" 

 Thanks to Russ for sending this article about a "freak accident" with the 791st in Iran (1943-1944)

FREAK INCIDENT ON RAILROAD IS HARDLY CREDIBLE

The “freak incident of railroading,” occurring when Engineer Pvt. Carl Lopez and Fireman Pfc. Maurice Brady both fell sound asleep inside their locomotive as it rushed along the rails towards Doroud on the ISR, is unprecedented in hogger history, and perhaps shall never again recur; according to GIs in the 791st Ry. Op. Bn. at Camp Kramer, Andimeshk.

Happened in Early Days

It happened in the early days of railroading in Iran when the utmost in physical exertion was squeezed from every MBS man to expedite supplies to Russia. Carl and Maurice had gone without shut-eye for over 48 hours.

Nearing kilo 671 t h e i r eyelids seemed pulled downward by a conspiracy of force in the earth’s gravity. They fought against Morpheus but the click - click - clack - clack caused drowsiness and fatigue gave way to heavy slumber.

Carl awoke first and hurriedly shook Maurice to sensibility. “What in hell is happening?” Neither of them could figure it out and both were dumbfounded.

Train at Standstill

The engine raced at full steam. They felt the huge drivewheels churning beneath them . . . but the train was standing dead still, suspended midway up a slight grade!

Maurice leaped from the cab and beheld a sight which is believed no man ever saw before.

While these two exhausted GIs slept heavily, their locomotive had struck a greasy spot on the rails. The wheels lost traction and began digging in. The soft rails used in Iran plus the terrific heat of the sun beating upon them caused the track to melt beneath the friction of the harder wheels.

Maurice had to extinguish a fire which was burning up the ties beneath the rails—because steel track had been liquefied almost to the trackbed, where friction ignited the wood.

Anyone in the PGC doubting the truth of the story may go to the railway shops at Atterbury and there find ample proof in the form of the four sections of track which bear perfect impressions of drive wheels.

Pvt. Ralph Viggers

Richard writes ... 

1) I’ve attached the link to a British Army MRS book 'Railway Reconstruction In Italy 1943 - 1946' that a fellow Italian MRS enthusiast, Mr. Alessandro Tuzza, posted on his Italian website. The link to his website is: https://www.trenidicarta.it/reconstruction/contents.html

  2) The book was written and published by the British Royal Engineers in 1946. The majority of the book details the operations of the British Army Railway Construction Units and Operating Railway Units during the entire Italian campaign, but it does include numerous mentions of the US Army MRS Operating Units and Construction Engineer Units that aided the British. 

The website does not include the entire book, unfortunately, and it does have several useful sections missing, but the posted material is both useful and informative, and includes several photos and maps. The listed sections are marked in the normal blue link text on the Introduction Page. 

I suggest you add the link to your website since it will aid USA researchers of the MRS and educate them about the extensive role the British Army MRS and Construction Units played during the Italian campaign.

Eugene Russell Obituary Eugene P. Russell went to be with His Lord and Savior on August 29, just six days past his 91st birthday. Eugene was born on August 23, 1921 in McCook, NB to Perle and Anna Russell. He served with the 759th Railway Operating Battalion during WWII. After the war he continued his career with the railroad, working for the Denver and Rio Grande first as a fireman, then as an engineer. In 1953 he married Doris (Bower) Russell and together they raised three children in their Lakewood, CO home. He is survived by his daughters, Cheryl (Bob) Jeffryes of Castle Rock, CO, and Barbara (Patrick) Braun of Clarkston, WA, and daughter-in-law Diane Russell of Cody, WY, as well as six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Doris, and son Gordon. A memorial service will be held at Howard Moore Mortuary at 4345 W. 46th Ave, Denver, CO on Friday, September 7, 2012 at 9:00am followed by a military honors service at Fort Logan Cemetery at 11:15am.

Army Service Forces Unit Training Center (ASFUTC) played a role in military training related to transportation and logistics during World War II. While Fort Eustis, Virginia, later became a hub for army rail operations, training and deployment of the Military Railway Service (MRS) during the war occurred at various locations. 

Specifically, in 1943:

• Railway Operating Battalions (ROBs), often comprised of experienced civilian railroaders, received training from commercial railroad companies and at Army camps such as Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
• For example, the 713th Railway Operating Battalion, composed of Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad employees, initially trained near Clovis, New Mexico before being deployed overseas.
• Other units like the 727th trained at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and the 730th on the Pennsylvania Railroad line near Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

The ASFUTC in Slidell, Louisiana, circa 1943-45, was a training center within a larger military camp. While it's not explicitly stated that ASFUTC Slidell directly conducted railway training, the overall context of Army transportation training points to the importance of such programs during the war

Army Service Forces Unit Training Center (ASFUTC)  

New Orleans Port of Embarkation (NOPE)

Atlantic Coast Transportation Corps Officers' Training School (ACTCOTS)

Misc Documents

October 1943

December 1943 

During a meeting on 3 Jun 2025 with the Center of Military History (CMH), the US Army Transportation Museum was informed that it will be one of 19 Army Museums closing within the next 2 years.

Tentative timeline:

Jul 2025: Army EXORD published

Aug 2025: Initial closures begin

Sep 2027: Final closures

Sep 2029: Final inactivations

NOTE: Closure means closed to the public. Inactivation means facility returned to installation

Specific closure/inactivation timelines will be detailed in an EXORD to be published in Jul 2025. 

The ATMF will continue to provide updates to Membership as they become available.

The decision to close was based on 4 criteria: Building Condition, Visitation, Soldier Training, and Gate Access.  CMH believes the Trans Museum is challenged in 3 of the categories: 

• Building condition of the Transportation Museum is one of the worst in the Army Museum Enterprise (AME).

• Movement of the OCOT and training base to Ft Gregg-Adams considerably degraded soldier training.

• 100% government identification for Ft Eustis gate access severely limited civilian visitors.

The Transportation Museum Director sent an email to the Chief of Transportation and Ft Eustis Garrison Command informing them of the decision.  General information on the closures has been published on the CMH and ATMF Facebook page.

Additional Notes:

• The Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff were briefed on the closure plan and concurred.

• 19 Army museums to close; 12 to remain.

• CMH Tiger Teams will be sent out to determine what displays/artifacts will be culled from the closed museums and moved to the remaining museums.

• All Army museum vehicles/artifacts etc., are Army property and will be processed IAW with Army regulations.

Notes for ATMF Membership Consideration:

• First and foremost, the ATMF, and its membership, is not lying down and surrendering.

• The ATMF Executive Committee will organize a Working Group (WG) in the next week to develop strategy and a way ahead.  The WG will include personnel from the ATMF Board of Directors (BOD) and Board of Advisors (BOA), Transportation Corps Officer Candidate School (TCOCS), Transportation Corps Regimental Association (TCRA), and other retired senior Transportation Corps officers/NCOs/DACs.

• The WG will need ATMF membership support.  It will be looking for your recommendations, suggestions, who should be the recipients of a mass letter writing campaign, etc. 

• Business as usual for the Transportation Museum and the ATMF until publication of the EXORD.

 • We will continue to accept donations. Final determination on continued donation acceptance will be made upon receipt of EXORD.

• No change to the raffle campaign. Raffle drawing will be conducted as scheduled on 10 Oct 2025. Raffle tickets will be accepted up until 09 Oct 2025T

Web Links

https://transportation.army.mil/museum/ 

https://atmfoundation.org/

https://history.army.mil/ 

The museum houses the  2-8-0 Series locomotive (number 607), the last steam engine operated by the Army and the Berlin Duty Car