Old silent film from the Second World War on WWI era 2' gauge equipment at Ft. Benning, Georgia:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-BTtncKnS9k&feature=related

Identified engine numbers 5 and 11. Maybe missed others. The shots of the five 2' gauge engines under steam and then rolling out of an enginehouse are priceless! I think one of these engines was preserved. Am I wrong? The "tracklaying" by the soldiers reminds one of what is being done these days at the WW&F, although I think WW&F's work may be a bit more carefully done!

Les

Les,

I love the visors over the porthole windows in the front of the cab.

Don C.

No, you are right. QMC #6 (Davenport/1682/1918) is preserved at the US Army Infantry Museum, Ft. Benning, GA; and is pictured on the latest release of my CD (thanks to Patrick Cassell.) These engines were originally built as trench engines during WWI and most went overseas; these stayed stateside for training.

A Baldwin-built example is stored dismantled at a railway in France.

And here is a photo of the Ft. Benning locomotive, courtesy of the United States Army:

Military RR's are a serious hobby of mine. I'd like to suggest a good relevant book on this subject:
"Narrow Gauge to No Man's Land"
by Richard Dunn (1990)

I would personally be interested in a copy of that book to donate to IRM's Pullman Library. Any one want to buy me a copy and send it to:
Ted Anderson, curator
Pullman Library
Illinois Railway Museum
P. O. Box 427
Union, IL 60180
Please e-mail first so I am only paying for one copy!
You see we have a very large collection of original drawings for WWI narrow gage (H&B - Michigan City IN and SSC - Butler PA) and similarly for WWII (Pullman-Standard) and eventually may be able to access more of the documentation (we are working on it as space opens up). Refer to Eric Neubauer's CD for Pullman companies freight car orders. Note that the USRA cars of 1918 - 1920 were ordered through the military and delivered to US roads, lettered for that road. I have recently located many of the stenciling diagrams and manufacturer-copied US Std drawings as well as collating the US Std drawings that we have (printed on linen) in the Library. Do they qualify as military cars?
Also drawings for Middletown Car foreign car orders, not yet sorted, 1918 - 1929. Give us a jingle.
Pullman Library Hours (archive-no visitors) 10-4:30 CDT Wednesdays only
815-923-2020
Thanks - Ted Anderson

While the U.S.Army used 2-6-2T's for their trench railways, the British used 4-6-0's. A lack of building capacity in the UK (there being a war on), resulted in Baldwins being asked to supply 495 engines, ASAP. Two survivors were brought to the UK in the 1985 from India and one of these WDLR (War Department Light Railways) 778 (BLW 44656/1917) was restored to working order for use on the Leighton Buzzard Railway last year.

See http://www.btinternet.com/~buzzrail/page22.html for further details about the locomotive and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_6kjWjyAHE for film of the locomotive at work.

Planned steaming dates for 778 this year will include:- July 13th & 27th; August 10th, 14th, 17th, 24th & 25th and September 6th, 7th & 13th. Any contributors to Railway Preservation News who either live on this side of the pond or are visting the UK will (as always) be most welcome. Maybe we should arrange a get together as was done by a group in USA last year?