Military Railroads

p51 · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2005 1:17 am

Military RailroadsI'm curious, is there anyone else out there who collects WW2 US Military RR stuff?I'm a huge WW2 buff and re-enactor (who owns his own WW2 Jeep) and the crossover between hobbies is just too good to pass up!Here's some items from my pretty large (so far) collection:

The round thing in the middle is a MRS conductor's badge, the only one I've ever seen...

Richard W. · **Joined:** Tue Nov 09, 2004 12:27 pm **Posts:** 157

I have a grouping from a gentleman who went through North Africa, Italy, and France. Can't remember his MRS unit but I have his Ike jacket with unit insignia, uniform buttons from railroads in North Africa and Italy, and either a MRS brakeman or conductors badge same as the one you have. Also some other sweetheart stuff.Also have three or four unit histories. Do you have Carl Gray's book Railroading in 18 countries? A good book on the MRS during WW2.Richard

p51 · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2005 10:57 pm

Richard W. wrote:

I have a grouping from a gentleman who went through North Africa, Italy, and France. Can't remember his MRS unit but I have his Ike jacket with unit insignia, uniform buttons from railroads in North Africa and Italy, and either a MRS brakeman or conductors badge same as the one you have. Also some other sweetheart stuff.Also have three or four unit histories. Do you have Carl Gray's book Railroading in 18 countries? A good book on the MRS during WW2.

Richard, Yep, I have the Gray book. Good reading. I also have both of De Nevi's books and Zeil's as well. I can't find any record of those round badges being used, and recently e-mailed the director of the Army Transportation Museum at Ft Eustis to find out when and where they were used. The training films I have of the Camp Claiborne RR in 1942 don't show it being used there, but I still suspect it's likely a stateside item. I can't imagine someone hopping over freight cars in France with a "insert bullet here" signal like this. If yours is a Brakeman badge, please take a photo and post it here. I for one would like to see it. Did you find any photos or record of him wearing the badge in Europe? I'm also a WW2 re-enactor and would love to able to wear one of these at a tourist RR event I'm trying to get going. What patches are on his uniform? What do those buttons look like?I'm really trying to find good photos of a RR unit's wheeled vehicles, as I'd like to mark up my 1944 Willys Jeep like one. The unit histories I have just don't show the vehicle markings.FYI, here are some good TM's to have on the subject: U.S. War Dept. Military Railroads and the Military Railway Service. Field Manual 55-50 Railway Operating Battalion. FM 55-55 Transportation Corps: Railroad Equipment. Army Reg 55-675 Table of Org & Equip 55-225 Transportation Corps: Railway Shop Battalion. TO&E 55-235