Thanks so much to Richard Stone for sending this ! He says "an article for your use that describes the operation of the 713th US Army Railroad Operating Battalion in Italy during the 1943 - 1944 period. The original article was printed in the 1944 edition of the USA magazine 'Railway Age’" 

 

Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949 - burial cards US Archives 

Name    Robert W Ciarlelli
Gender    Male
Rank    Private First Class
Residence Place    Missouri
Service Number    37729458
Military Unit    741st Railway Operating Battalion
Military Branch    U.S. Army
War    World War II
Death Date    19 Oct 1945
Cemetery Plot Number    D
Cemetery Row    20
Cemetery Section    Grave: 3
Cemetery    Netherlands
Burial Place    Margraten, Netherlands
Father    J C Ciarlelli

 

Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949- burial cards US Archives

Name:     David O Champagne Jr
Gender:     Male
Rank:     Technical Sergeant
Residence Place:     Connecticut
Service Number:     11104351
Military Unit:     729th Railway Operating Battalion
Military Branch:     U.S. Army
War:     World War II
Death Date:     18 Jul 1943
Cemetery Plot Number:     C
Cemetery Row:     4
Cemetery Section:     Grave: 31
Cemetery:     Cambridge
Burial Place:     Cambridge, England
Next of Kin:     Lavinia Champagne 

Les was a friend and great inspiration for this blog. RIP 

This is my favorite photo of Les at the ripe old age of 19 

Lester Anthony Jacoby May 7, 1928 - October 27, 2020 Columbia, South Carolina - Les Jacoby, 92, beloved father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, and the last combat steam and diesel locomotive railroad engineer in the world, died on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. He was born in Wabasha, Minnesota, the oldest of 11 children born to Nicholas and Marcella (Kennebeck) Jacoby, and lived on the family farm in southern Minnesota, with no running water or electricity, until he entered the U.S. Army in 1946. He proudly served his country first during WWII as an advisor to the Korean National Railroad, then with the 790th Transportation Railway Operating Battalion, where at the age of 19 he became the engineer of the last USATC S160 steam locomotive to be used in conflict. He operated the Gen. Pershing #101 in combat until he returned to the US at the end of his tour. The Gen. Pershing 101 is now a permanent exhibit at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI. read online here

Lester Anthony Jacoby obit by Nancy on Scribd

718th Railway Operating Battalion, Headquarters Company, Camp Claiborne, 1944

718th ROB Discussion on Flickr around the unit photo

718th ROB Discussion on Flickr Around the Unit Photo by Nancy on Scribd

718th ROB Clues Reveal Few Hints About Fate of Missing Soldier by Nancy on Scribd

Military Rail Service 1945 Calendar

Military Rail Service 1945 Calendar by Nancy on Scribd