Tm 5-410 - 29 November 1940 - Technical Manual Railway Shop Battalion

Tm 5-410 - 29 November 1940 - Railway Shop Battalion

723rd Railway Operating Battalion soldiers and mail

723rd Railway Operating Battalion

Raymond C. Jensen -Raymond was a Staff Sergeant with Company A, 723rd Railway Operating Battalion during World War II.

Wilbur A. Hunt-Wilbur was a Tech 5 with the Headquarters Company of the 723rd Railway Operating Battalion.

Guilford H. Howe - Corporal

721st Raliway Operating Battalion Company C History

If anyone has a copy of this -please contact me

Thanks, Nancy   cunningb2@gmail.com

Railway Advertisement " Tourists"

759th Arkansas Railroader v.30 n.11

759th arkansas railroader.pdf by Nancy

759th Arkansas Railroader v.16 n.6

759th arkansas railroader 2.pdf by Nancy

743rd Railway Operating Battalion Major H.A. Rust article

743rd Rust

Railroad Sponsor units article (715th, 725th, 737th, 743rd, 750th, 759th ROB

743rd and Others Railroad S... by Nancy Cunningham

732nd R.O.B. photo Major T.J. BRENNAN

Below is a photo of Major Thomas J. Brennan, the commanding officer of the battalion throughout the war.  He died in September of 1973. 

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PHOTO from collection of Ernest Everett Pittman (PITTMAN Ernest Everett b 3 Nov 1908 IL d 20 June 1968 Mt.Vernon, IL , pre-war boxcar builder at Mt. Vernon Car Manufacturing Company)
Inscription on reverse of photo: "Major T.J. BRENNAN 732nd R.O.B." (handwritten)
This particular copy was printed on wartime Actien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation German paper (Agfa-Lupex paper), which would have been readily available at camera shops in Northern France.

In this photo, Maj. Brennan is holding a copy of the December 7, 1944, Stars and Stripes army newspaper, printed from  its Paris press.  (Vol. 1, No. 134 of that publication.) 
The headline reads "Saar Crossed at 6 Points /// 3rd Forces Four New Bridgeheads on 50-Mile Front"
There are two boxes of "Kleenex Tissues" and a pack of smokes behind him.

It is speculated that this photo was taken within one week of the publication date of the newspaper pictured (07-DEC-1944), because one week  later on 16 December the Germans sought to break through in the Ardennes forest, starting the Battle of the Bulge in which 19,000 American soldiers died.   
[The full front page of the newspaper can be seen at http://www.wartimepress.com/WWII-Archives/images/717/Paris%201944%2012%2007.jpg ]

[ Photo:  Major_Thomas_J_Brennan_DEC_1944.jpg ]



What makes a Railway Operating Battalion, Railway Shop Battalion or Railway Grand Division ?


Railway Grand Division:  Administrative unit which oversaw 4-5 Railway Operating Battalions (ROB) and 1-2 Railway Shop Battalions (RSB)

Railway Operating Battalion:  TO&E consisted of four (4) companies:
  • A:  Two (2) track platoons and one bridge platoon to handle construction
  • B:  Shop company: Two platoons responsible for equipment maintenance, one platoon shopped the rolling stock
  • C:  Operating & Supply company: provided engineers, conductors, and operations personnel
  • H & S:  Supplied the dispatchers, telegraphers, MPs, and other support personnel
Railway Shop Battalion:  Performed major/minor overhauls, electrical repair, blacksmithing
  • A:  Responsible for lathes, milling machines, locomotive repair
  • B:  Boiler repair, firebox rebuilds, blacksmithing
  • C:  Foundry operation
  • H & S:  Administrative duties, supply and maintenance of shop power and equipment

714th Transportation Battalion History

714th Trans Bn by Nancy Cunningham on Scribd

714th Transportation Battalion

712th TROB locomotive

712th Railway Operating Battalion : 'From Oakland' article

712th Oakland

712th Railway Operating Battalion History

712th Trans Bn by Nancy Cunningham

714th Railway Operatrng Battalion Christmas Card

US Army Locomotive #1217

770 Railway Operating Battalion 1943 Christmas Menu

770thxmas Menu 1943 by on Scribd

735th Railway Operating Battalion -- McClelland

Thanks to Mike McClelland for sharing his Dad's photos! 

The wording on the back of the one in the upper left reads "Finley and his pride--Remicourt, Belg.". 

The upper right says "Call Board". The title at the top read CO. C. 735th RY. OPN. BN. The three categories below it read 1st Opr. Platoon, Hqtrs. Platoon, and 2nd Opr Platoon. 

The lower left picture has "Ronet Yards, Namur, Belq." on the back, and the picture in the lower right reads "Full Field Inspection, Ft. Snelling, Minn" on the back. 

 On the back it says, "H.J. Finley, Gutershol, Germany". Mike "aboard H.M.S.S Princess Maud, English Channel" and one that with the caption on the back reads, "Tom Jones and unexploded power section of V-2...Antwerp, Bel."

743rd Railway Operating Battalion -- L Stephenson

726th Railway Operating Battalion Co. C Thanksgiving Menu 1943

726th Tday Menu

764th Railway Shop Battalion photo

753rd Railway Shop Battalion 50th Anniversay

750th Railway Operating Battalion Glen Wilton article

750th Wilton by cunningb

757th Transportation Battalion


U.S Army Railroad locomotive WWII

Claiborne and Polk Military Railway Louisiana


Louisiana 2

719th Railway Operating Battalion Walter F. Naedele Obit

719th Railway Operating Battalion Walter F

3rd TMRS Tidemand article

3rd Tidemand by cunningb

712th TROB History and membership

712th Transportation Railwa... by Nancy Cunningham

765th TRSB Korean Commisary article

765th orean Commisary

743rd Railway Operating BattalionCo. C photos of Paul T. Walker

Paul's son, Larry Walker writes ....

My father was Paul T. Walker, Sargeant with the 743rd Railway Operating Battalion Company C
The attached are a few of the pictures I have of him and comrades. I attached some labels at the bottom



Thanks Larry!!

743rd ROB Walker by Nancy on Scribd

746th Railway Operating Battalion - Charles Lamb

Thanks for much to Jerry Lamb, son of Charles Lamb for sharing his Dad's photos and unit history!

746th Railway Operating Battalion unit History

Thanks for much to Jerry Lamb, son of Charles Lamb for sharing his Dad's photos and unit history!

746th Railway Operating Battalion Unit History by Nancy

Yankee Boomer Railway Unit Newsletter

I am always trying to get more copies of these- if you have any I would appreciate it if you would contact me so we can arrange to get them scanned and on the blog.

They are a treasure trove of various units news as well as mentions of many soldiers.

I try to buy any histories, ephemera and newsletters as I can afford. If you would be willing to sponsor a purchase for the blog let me know - most things costs under $50 but I can't afford everything that comes along.

I don't want these things to go into private collections, I want them scanned and shared here for all the vets and their families to see, enjoy and learn from.

Thanks, Nancy

Email me at cunningb2@gmail.com if you have anything to share or if you'd be willing to sponsor a future purchase.

Yankee Boomer Vol.1 No.9 December 2, 1943

Yankee Boomer Vol.1 No.9 December 2, 1943 by Nancy on Scribd

745th Railway Operating Battalion -- Harold Shaughnessy

Thanks to son Mark... Mark writes ....Harold Shaughnessy was born in Huntington, Indiana, in 1914 and died suddenly in 1976 in Hornell, NY. His father was Chief Trainmaster in Hornell in the 1930s and 40s. In his early 20s, Harold started working for the Erie Railroad in Hornell as a brakeman, then conductor, and after attending Cornell University, on to their Cleveland, OH, offices as their safety engineer. (The Erie became the Erie-Lackawanna, then Con-Rail)
In 1941-42 he served in the US Naval Reserves aboard the USS Wichita and was in the North Atlantic. He then served in the US Army with the 745th Railway Operating Battalion as a conductor and was stationed in India for all of 1943 and most of 1944. His job was handling trains full of military equipment, supplies and troops.
After arriving home from India he developed complications from the malaria and dysentery he had while stationed there and was placed in an Army hospital in NY State. While there, he met a kind Army nurse and married her 6 months later. They then had seven kids from 1947 until 1963 of which I am one.

The 745th Railway Operating Battalion was formed in May of 1943 by the U.S. Army Transportation Corps. Although it was sponsored by the CB & Q (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad), it was composed of men from 63 different railroads who worked in 42 different states. The 745th went to Camp Harahan, Louisiana, for basic training and completed their technical training in Fort Wayne, Indiana. On or about December 6, 1943, they departed from San Francisco on the USS Mariposa, which was once a luxury liner but was converted for wartime use. They made a stop in Wilmington/Long Beach, California, and then headed for India. On board were the 721st, 725th, 726th, 745th, 748th and 758th railroad and shop battalions. They reached Bombay, India, on or about January 10, 1944, after stops at Hobart, Tasmania....Wellington, New Zealand....and Melbourne, Australia. Once in India, the 745th operated a 110 mile stretch of the Bengal & Assam Railway from Lumding to Mariani carrying troops, equipment and supplies. There was a U.S. military base in Jorhat which was about 10 miles N-W of Mariani. On October, 2, 1945, the 745th departed Calcutta, India, on the USS General Hugh L. Scott. On board were an odd mix of military personnel including the First Tactical Air Communications Squadron, the 23rd Fighter Control Squadron, the 725th Railway Operating Battalion, the 427th Night Fighter Squadron, the Army Airways Communications System, and intelligence agents from five OSS units (Office of Strategic Services). The USS Hugh L. Scott refueled at Colombo, Ceylon, on Oct. 6th. Entered Gulf of Aden on Oct. 10th. Entered Red Sea on Oct. 11th. And then through the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean sea, across the Atlantic Ocean to Pier 88, NY City. Then to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. (This is where and when the 745th group photo on this blog was taken. My dad is 5th from the right and looks ragged from bouts of malaria.)