Another banner day. Just received these from a member at the Train Board forum.













A quick glance and I find that all units ran the same Buda engines. Also, all amored units were put at 3 tons of armor plate above the non-armor listing.

These internet forums are proving to be an absolute blessing in my research.

THANK YOU RAILWAY PRESERVATION NEWS !

Steve

This I just won on ebay and it arrived this Thurday - from China!? There is no digitized copy of it on the net and it has important photographs.

I believe it was printed in the Spring of 1945 as it contains merits issued January 1, 1945 but states that no units had entered Germany yet.








The photo on page 18 with the caption "Crew of the first train into Rome July 4, 1944" - I'm quite confident is a Whitcomb 65-ton centercab. No GE nor Alco diesels used by the MRS had front railings and walkways.

Also note the photographs of the German "Big Hook" and "its dirty work". These are the only photographs that I have found of this.

Steve

Hunted down another Churella cited source which did prove accurate:









This gives me some previous background on where H. V. Huleguard came from and when he took over Whitcomb operations. He ran the plant thoughout WW II.

This also agrees with the old time engineer and his account:



Steve 6032

Found this Whitcomb add in the Baldwin Locomotives magazine from February 1940.







I have no idea if any of these survived.



Steve

My first discovered photo of a Whitcomb 65-ton Diesel locomotive unloading in France on a beach during WW II. Guessing late Fall 1944 before the Allies had their first French port operational. Cherbourg was liberated June 27, 1944 but the Germans left it a mess.

From the 763rd Railway Battalion.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/21760100/763r ... on-History

From Wiki:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Twickenham_Ferry




Steve

This is the centerfold from the "American Rails in Eight Countries" -



Must have been drawn just before the Allies entered Germany.

Steve

Sometimes it takes forever for something to sink in and tickle these brain cells, but looking at this Whitcomb thread reminded me that the Texas-Mexican Railway was among the first railroads of any kind to dieselize, and they did with custom Whitcomb units.

http://www.thedieselshop.us/TexMex.HTML

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=389244

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tm701A.jpg

Commentary on these units, unfortunately with some apparently broken photo links:

http://berliner-ultrasonics.us/boxcabtm.html

http://sbiii.com/boxpix/texmex-2.jpg

Hope this adds to the effort.

Thanks, I have some info on these. Very few Whitcomb locomotives used Baldwin engines and these were among those few.

Steve

Just found these tonight:

http://militaryrailwayservice.blogspot. ... alion.html

The 733rd Railway Operating Battalion:







These are photos of a Whitcomb 65-ton Diesel Locomotive in ETO during WW II.

Steve

I won't say I'm absolutely positive about this, but I think I may have identified the "mystery unit" in this construction photo:

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-p ... 1824_n.jpg

I think it's one of the two Milwaukee units from the late 1920s:

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 4842_n.jpg

Key items to note are the -D- wheel arrangement, the radiator at one end (the other hasn't been installed), the buffing beams, and the apparent location of the cab above the generators (nowhere else for it to go). This under-construction unit also has one wheelset that seems ready to go in, and it appears to have roller bearings, as do the sets under the Milwaukee unit. In addition to that, although it's not readable, the far engine is labeled for Waukesha; check out the shape of the lettering on this booklet, from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wauke ... 0_1916.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waukesha_Engine

http://www.wehs.net/

I could be wrong about this; that -D- wheel arrangement was also used by the Texas-Mexican Railway's early boxcab units, although this is clearly not one of those. The question becomes, did anybody else besides Milwaukee and TM use that rigid frame design?

This is from Baldwin Locomotives Magazine, October 1939:



Steve

A better photo from the gift shop in the Rochelle train park:



Thanks to Ross Frier, tourism, Rochelle.

Steve

From Baldwin Locomotives magazine, December 1942 issue.

Steve

JACKPOT !

For me, the Holy Grail of Whitcomb locomotive photographs would be of the camouflaged 65 ton Military Railway Service units serving in North Africa.

I have found such a photograph.

I did not know if any ever existed since the military was probably cautious about leaking out how we were doing it.

After Pearl Harbor was attacked, I've been told that no photography of the rail service from the ammo depot to Pearl Harbor was permitted for the duration of the war. Thus no Whitcomb photographs at Pearl Harbor exist from 1942-1945.

From a library loan - University of Chicago - comes this - Baldwin Magazine Third Quarter 1944:



I will attempt to produce a better quality photo of the lower left image.

Also - Baldwin Magazine Second Quarter 1945 confirms that Whitcomb 65 ton locomotives were the first to enter liberated Rome, Paris, Belgium, and Germany.



Also will try to produce a better photograph tomorrow.

Steve

I need a better camera than my Canon PowerShot A4000. It has auto focus and I can't over ride its flash choice. Time to save for a better camera.

This is my first attempt at a better image - not in the best focus and flash wouldn't go off.



I have a friend with a high end digital camera who has offered to help me out - I need it.

Steve