Railroad Operating Battalions

[MPicciotto]

Hey everybody, I'm working on a new living history impression, actually several of us are working on a whole new unit. The 746th Railway Operating Battalion. To that end I'm searching for all kinds of information on the Railway Operating Battalions and the 746th in particular. I would appreciate greatly if any members here have any photographs or scans of original documents to contribute. Please no links to publicly available information on Google. We have been working on that already, I'm looking to go beyond what anybody can find to what members might have in their own collections or from their own family members. Stories and candid photographs that show the people behind the official photographs and documents would be incredible as well.

Thanks
Matt

 

[rjb1]

This may count as hearsay, but I heard a funny story from a member of a Railway Operating Battalion that I think you would appreciate. I see a WWII vet about once a month who worked in one in the Philippines. (I don't remember which numerical battalion he was in.)
As he told he story, they were in charge of moving supplies from the main storage facility in Manila to areas nearer the combat zone. After a supply trip they could get "stocked up" with liquor in Manila before going back to their own base for the night.
He said that one time he was riding in the engine with the train crew and was "... drunk as a hootie-owl". He said he was planning to take a leak over the side, while the train was doing about thirty miles per hour, and took one step too far. He said that if he hadn't hit the jungle and if he hadn't beem so drunk it would have killed him. He said he dusted himself off and had to walk the 10 miles or so back to camp. He said that was the closest he came to getting killed in the whole war.
"Mac" is a real character, and I will find out next time I see him which battalion he was in. Do you have any particular questions that he might be able to answer. He is 100% sharp and fun as all get out to talk to.

 

[1930artdeco]

Check with some of the larger RR museums. They usually will have alibrary they can search.

Mike

 

[TomS]

I'm thinking there is an Army Railroad Battalion in Middletown, CT. I live just a few minutes form Middletown, and would be happy to stop by, and see what I can learn for you.
Best,
Tom

 

[MPicciotto]

RJB1,

That's great! I'm considering particular questions and have asked the others in my group too. How would you feel about my sending you a voice recorder (I'd buy one off of Amazon and have it shipped right to you) to make an audio recording of an interview about his time and experiences in the Railway Operating Battalion? Then you could just email the audio files.

Tom,

That would be wonderful, I'm curious what you find out. There is plenty of information out there on the ROB's but they don't have the popularity of combat units or the glamour of the aviation so it's not as widely available as other WW2 subjects.


Matt

 

[p51]

Wow, i sure wish I still lived on the east coast for something like this!
I've been slowing collecting RR unit stuff from WW2 over the years (I'm working on designing a O scale narrow gauge RR layout that will have a ROB operating part of it, just painted several 1/48 scale GI figures last night). Give me a few days and I'll go through my original publications to see if I have any specific on the ROB you're asking about...

I thought you'd like seeing this, a RR service conductor badge:

 

[rjb1]

P51 - Come on back... A lot of good historical/reenacting activities are happening on this side of the country.

As for asking questions of Mac, the WWII veteran who was in a Railroad Operating Battalion, I'll be seeing him this weekend. He has a booth in the local flea market and that is happening then. If you have any specific questions let me know.
This is too soon to get any recordings done, but we might work that out for next month.

 

[MPicciotto]

Since you'll have to take notes lets keep it to a few simple questions for Mac this time around.

Full name?
Enlisted or drafted?
Railroad experience before time in the army?
Date of enlistment?
Date of demobilization?
Rank and job position at end of service?
Did you enter into civilian railroading at the end of your time in the service?

I think we'd both prefer you have a voice recorder before we ask Mac for tales of his service and he starts on a 10 or 20 minute long rambling story

Thanks
Matt

 

[p51]

I'd also ask the guy is he recalls what kinds of equipment, gear, uniforms and weapons he used. I've always wondered how those guys were armed, if at all.

P51 - Come on back... A lot of good historical/reenacting activities are happening on this side of the country.

Yeah, when I was active duty, I was posted twice at Aberdeen Proving Ground. I hardly spent any weekend on post, I was usually gone to some military museum, battlefield or RR museum. I really miss that area but there's no chance I'll be coming back. My job has me pretty much sealed up in the Pacific Northwest...

 

[rjb1]

Good questions... Actually, what should be the easiest, "Full name", may be the hardest to get. I have gradually gotten to know him at the monthly flea market and was never actually introduced to him. Everybody around there just refers to him as "Mac". I almost hate to admit that I don't know his name after all this time. I'll try to find a way to get that, possibly from mutual acquaintances.
Some of the other questions I already know part of the answer to, but will try to get an expanded version. I know he enlisted, and that he didn't work on the railroad post-war. He went to work for a local sporting goods company shortly after being discharged.
I don't know why I haven't asked him about his rank and armament (if any). Those are high-curiosity items for me, too.
I'll also ask about any specialized RR training and what his exact duties were in service.
Since we are both from "around here" we often talk about local happenings (past and present), so there are war-service issues that just have not come up yet.
Whenever he has a military item I always buy it at his asking price. I don't know what his financial situation is, and whether he really needs the money, but it's the least I can do for a WWII vet.
I'll report back on what I learn on Monday.
Joel

(I've been to the Museum at Aberdeen twice and enjoyed it thoroughly both times. My Master's Thesis advisor was in Ordnance at Aberdeen when he was in the Army and had some great stories about weapons R&D there. I would have really liked doing that sort of work myself, but NASA/Aerospace called more strongly at the time.)

 

[rjb1]

I managed to get away this afternoon and got an early start on the Flea Market and talking to Mac.
Here are some of the basics. I'll expand with more "stories" on Monday.
His real name is Henry Davidson (had to get that from someone else). He was in the 737th ROB.
He did have prior railroad experience prior to joining. He was exempt from the draft due to working for the NC & St L. RR in Nashville in their car shop. Joined at Camp Forrest (TN) in late 1943. Basic training in Louisiana, railroad training in Wyoming and St. Louis in civilian RR shops. Did not officially request RR duty - "magically" got put in the right place. Said that most others in RR battalion had either RR or other mechanical experience.
Shipped out of California in 1944 - went south to New Guinea area but did not stop there. Went on to Leyte and then to Mindanao/Manila. Carried a carbine.
Went to Japan for just a few weeks after the war as occupation force but was discharged early due to family hardship. Was back home for Christmas 1945. Worked for one week at his former RR job after the War. Found better opportunity and took it.
More on Monday.
Joel

 

[MPicciotto]

Joel,

Thanks so much. That's a great start. This history would be lost without your efforts.

Matt

 

[rjb1]

I may not get this in one entry, so I'll start at the beginning and have a Part II later.
Mac said that he was exempted from the draft through the first couple of years of the war, but finally got tired of being "the only young guy in town", so he decided to join up, even though his boss tried to talk him out of it. He said he wanted to join the Marines, but the line was too long, so he settled for the Army instead.
He was in Louisiana for basic training, as I said before, and was in New Orleans on a weekend pass when he was arrested by the "goon squad" (MP's) for allegedly not saluting an officer. He said he had been saluting every cop, Postman, and bus driver he saw, so he either wasn't guilty or if he was it was by accident. He said they grabbed him, one on each side, and a third guy whacked him with a billy club as they were putting him in the paddy wagon. They brought him to the base and eventually he wound up facing the company commander, with a very negative attitude. The company commander was going to let him off easy and in fact told him his OCS papers had come through. Mac said he told the captain what he could do with those (very explicitly). He said that from that incident onward his attitude was that he would do his job properly, but do nothing more for the Army. (My dad had somewhat the same attitude.) He was a T/5 when he was in active service. (My dad, also.)
He said that on the way to the Philippines they sailed south and hugged the coast of New Guinea close enough to see sporadic artillery firing at night. In the previous entry I said he went to Mindanao but that was my mistake. Leyte first, and then to Manila (on LUZON).
After arriving in the Philippines with the ROB, he said he was in Co. B, and was doing *exactly* what he did before joining, which was working on the rolling stock of the RR, building and maintaining the box cars and flat cars. Despite his anti-Army sentiments, he expressed amazement that the Army was able to get him *exactly* in the right job.
He said that the RR that they operated was mostly using wood-burning narrow-gauge Filipino equipment at first. Later they received some narrow-gauge Diesel US-made locomotives. (I was surprised to hear that they were Diesels so I asked twice on that.)
More "war stories" to follow.
Joel

 

[p51]

Later they received some narrow-gauge Diesel US-made locomotives. (I was surprised to hear that they were Diesels so I asked twice on that.)

Diesels were actually pretty common in military service for narrow gauge and swtiching duties, especially in places where you couldn't count on potable water or good coal
(the old steam era adage is correct in that if you can't drink the water, you shouldn't put it in a locomotive's boiler). Steam locomotives are seriously labor intensive and you couldn't count on all the support for them if you were out in the sticks somewhere. But working on a small diesel engine or gas mechanical one (some small switching locomotives had large truck motors in them) could be done in really low-tech places.

 

[MPicciotto]

Joel,

Thanks this is wonderful information. I've been copying it over to a file on my computer. And yes the ROBs had both Steam and Diesel locomotive operators (engineers).

Matt

 

[rjb1]

I haven't had a chance to add to this as I intended, but I will do that at the first chance.
I will be seeing Mac again this weekend. If there are any technical railroad-related questions that you can think of I'll be glad to ask him. He may not know, but it won't hurt to ask. I'm an engineer, but not the train-driving kind, so you may have questions that I would not think of.
Anything I find out I'll add into the Part II that I intended to write earlier.
Joel

 

[railroad detect]

I went to work as a Railroad Detective in 1974 and at that time there were several men I met who had served in the Railroad Batalions in Europe in WWII. They all told the same story. They said it was the most screwed up mess they had ever encountered. Many of them were sent to Gunnery School at Ft. Sill, OK to learn to fire anti-aircraft guns from flatbed railcars and upon arrival in the European Theater there were no guns on approximately half of the trains. Very few of the officers had prior railroad expierence. One of the fellows i met said he was a conductor and had several "hot boxes", (burnt wheel bearings) in his train and stopped to repair them. The officer came down and asked whey the train was not moving and he explained the situation and the officer said he wanted that train moving in 10 minutes and that was an order. He further explained that to move the train would cause a derailment. The officer said he didn't car. The conductor moved the train and within a mile it derailed. Most of the men said that the orders they were given that "Malicious Obedience" became the order of the day. They all said that the Red Ball Express was much better commanded than the Railroad Batalions. There was a common joke they all told about the Texan who goes down to a freight yard in England and seeing the small gauge rail and cars tells one of the locals, "You know what we would do with this rairoad back in Texas"? and the Englishman replies if past history is any indication you would try to smoke it, drink it or sleep with it. With all the complaining I heard I think toward the end of the war conditions improved and the men were pround of their service.

 

[kiwilrdg]

The museum at Ft Eustis in Newport News Va has some interesting RR items. They have a RR jeep insoide and a new outside pavillion that houses engines and cars, including a Berlin Duty Train from the cold war. They might be willing to help you find info.

 

[kiwilrdg]

If you have a jeep the RR conversion just involves extra spare tire mounts and flanged steel wheels. They could be used as a switcher for freight cars or for hauling small loads.

 

[p51]

If you have a jeep the RR conversion just involves extra spare tire mounts and flanged steel wheels. They could be used as a switcher for freight cars or for hauling small loads.

The Jeep is easy to find (I have one in my garage, a 1944 Willys MB), but the RR wheels are almost impossible to find. Very few examples exist today.