Links are included for authoritative books on WW2 military motive power. The last of the war atlas maps are presented.
And, at the end of the post, is a set of nine pie graphs showing which 'side' had more critical metals and commodities - and where they could be found. As the war was still in progress, no mention is made of strategic metals like nickel, who was turning bauxite into aluminum ... or elements like uranium!
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| from: Trains; April 1947; Kalmbach. |
In the previous post, there was a wartime photo of US military steam locomotives which were staged in Wales before D-Day. After the war, you can see that MLW was taking part in the work to replace France's motive power.
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It was only possible to buy the second of two books by Richard Tourret on 'Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War'. My copy was purchased second hand at an antique fair in Eastern Ontario - a dealer's purchase from the estate of a (military engineer?) officer. The book I have interprets the history of the United States Army Transportation Corps locomotives.
The first book looked at UK War Department locomotives and outlined the use of railways in the various military campaigns.
These two books of the 1970s were based on the British author's research over a thirty year period. His first histories were published as articles between 1949 and 1958 in the Railway Observer. You can imagine that immediately after the war, there would have been little official interest in compiling a book with this highly-specialized information. All of this data gathering, reconstruction and interpretation constituted a sustained labour of love over a period of decades.
The author acknowledged many correspondents who helped him in his research, including ... 'Mr R F Corley of the Canadian General Electric Co.' - a name some Canadians will recognize.
An interesting revelation comes from an explanation the author found in Mechanical Engineering from December 1944. It specifically addresses comments made by some people criticizing the short useful lives of many of the USA Transportation Corps locomotives.
'The relative life of railroad equipment is generally governed by two factors, operation and maintenance. These factors are usually adverse in military operation and consequently, it is unnecessary to provide refinements to extend the life of this equipment over a four or five year period.'
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For the sake of my own interest, I decided to do a search at archive.org as I was finishing this post. I was really pleased to find three of Richard Tourret's books. They can be 'borrowed' via a free account at archive.org.
This is the first book, which contains campaign maps and descriptions, and UK War Department locomotives:
Allied military locomotives of the Second World War (1976)
This newer book includes both the USA data of my book ... and also the British data from the book above. This forms a comprehensive picture of the US/UK military motive power technology of WW2 ...
Allied military locomotives of the Second World War (1995)
And he also wrote a well-illustrated book about this interesting operation:
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Finishing off the war atlas ...
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| from: United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives; R Tourret; 1977; Tourret Publishing. |
For many of the lighter rail freight jobs, and particularly for freight yards, harbour, and military base operations, light diesels were ideal.
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| from: Men and Volts At War; John A Miller; 1947; McGraw-Hill. |
Exerting probably as much tractive effort as most small steam locomotives and requiring much less maintenance, the B-B industrial locomotives of then-current manufacturers were extremely numerous on the USA Transportation Corps roster.
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| from: United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives; R Tourret; 1977; Tourret Publishing. |
The standard 'MacArthur' narrow gauge (metre and 3 ft 6 in) 2-8-2 was designed by Alco but built by Baldwin, Davenport-Besler, HK Porter and Vulcan between 1942 and 1945. The engine above is a Vulcan product of 1944.
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| from: United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives; R Tourret; 1977; Tourret Publishing. |
There were 33 engines in this class, built in 1950 and 1951 by Nippon Sharyo, Kawasaki, Kisha Seizo, Hitachi and Mitsubishi. It is unclear if they were needed specifically for the Korean War or if they were ordered to help these Japanese companies re-establish operations ... after their facilities had been destroyed by the comprehensive bombing campaign.
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| from: Oahu Railway & Land Company; Kent W Cochrane; March 1947, Trains; Kalmbach. |
A variety of pineapple and sugar plantations established their own railways on Hawaii. There were also electric operations (which had been abandoned by 1947) and, of course, Army railroad operations to service Pearl Harbor and neighbouring military bases.
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| from: United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives; R Tourret; 1977; Tourret Publishing. |
Probably a novelty for its time, this gasoline-powered roadrailer had a hydraulic transmission. On the road, with the flanged wheels lifted, the rear wheels beneath the cab were steerable. These were known to be present in Naples and Rome from about 1945 to 1947.
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| from: Men and Volts At War; John A Miller; 1947; McGraw-Hill. |
Two of these six-car power plants were built to supply emergency power for factories producing war materiel. One was stationed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard (for emergency use anywhere on the east coast) and it was later used at Jacksonville, Florida. The second plant was stationed at San Francisco.
The maximum practical output for this type of portable design was deemed to be 10,000 kilowatts. The six cars in each set were: boiler (88 feet long and 430,000 pounds); turbine (86 feet long and 540,000 pounds); switchgear; transformers; and two cars for pumps and auxiliary gear.
This consist could have travelled at 40 mph and it was expected that they could be steamed up and on line within 24 hours of reaching their destination.
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| from: Men and Volts At War; John A Miller; 1947; McGraw-Hill. |
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| from: United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives; R Tourret; 1977; Tourret Publishing. |
Above, is another of the MacArthur-class narrow-gauge 2-8-2s.
Like many of the other standard classes of the USA Transportation Corps, this particular class of engine could be found in a wide variety of exotic locations ...
- North Africa (Tunisia & Algeria)
- Indian State Railways
- Burma Railways
- Malayan Railway
- Royal State Railways of Siam
- Iraqi State Railways
- Nigerian Railway
- Gold Coast Railway
- East African Railways and Harbours
- Queensland Government Railways
- Manila Railroad
- White Pass & Yukon Route
- French Cameroons
- United Fruit Company (Costa Rica & Honduras)
From the same atlas, here is an interesting presentation of which participants had particular resources and commodities.
