Thanks for the other comments, Steve. Things like that were very much a part of living in WW II.

There were efforts at camouflaging of large facilities. Check out what was done during WW II for this aircraft plant that was recently dismantled in Seattle, Wa.

http://inhabitat.com/boeing-plant-hidde ... er-source/

http://dornob.com/civic-camouflage-a-ww ... r-existed/

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/slideshow ... 807247.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Plant_2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA5JIrLep6k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqlx3SbuTek

This did have an impact on locomotive production during WW II:

The Robert Bosch Company of New York was created in 1906 to produce and sell magnetos, pumps, and other products of the Robert Bosch Company of Stuttgart, Germany, an old-line enterprise founded in1887. By 1930, the American company had a virtual monopoly on the U.S. Production of magnetos and fuel injection systems. Though American Bosch posed as an independent U.S. Company, in fact it had a contract with its German parent that required its permission as to what it produce, how much it produced, and to whom it sold its products. In the months leading up to U.S. entry into the world war and throughout 1942, American Bosch choked the U.S. production of diesel engines needed by the navy and others by delaying its production and delivery of essential fuel injection systems. In 1941 before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the navy desperately asked American Bosch to license its fuel injection technology to the Caterpillar Company. No answer was forthcoming. As soon as U.S. authorities understood that American Bosch was under German control; the Alien Property Custodian took over the company. The shortage was soon eliminated.

Pat Choate
Hot Property, The Stealing of Ideas in an Age of Globalization, 2005
p. 132-133

And another:


Until World War II, Swedish steel was used almost exclusively in manufacturing automotive valve spring wire. As in the case of razor blade steel, American steel circles realized that the war would compel this country to find a substitute for the Swedish steel.
In 1940, metallurgists of the American Steel & Wire Company successfully tackled the problem. They perfected a process which produced valve spring wire of superior quality. In grueling tests, valve springs made of the wire outlasted Swedish steel by a decisive margin. The Wire Company's accomplishment was a major war contribution, for valve springs of rugged dependability were imperatively needed to keep our jeeps, trucks, tanks and planes in operation during the conflict.

Douglas A. Fisher, Office of Assistant to Chairman, United States Steel Corporation
Steel Serves the Nation, 1901-1951, The Fifty Year Story of United States Steel, 1951
p. 163

Steve

I'm impressed. They went to great lengths to hide it from the air. From the ground - everyone knew what it was.

Steve

In a modern context, people today cannot understand the level of secrecy that dominated wartime communications.
Yes, everyone in the US knew where these plants were, and it's likely the Germans and Japanese knew, too (although after the war, it was a shock to each side when everyone found out where certain places were in each nation that would have been good targets but were unknown by the other side), but it was accepted that it wouldn't be broadcasted. Better to not tempt fate. News reports of battlefield news outside the US was often bylined as being, "somewhere in the Pacific/France/wherever" and the stateside stories were often listed without the locations for just this reason.
Remember, all aerial bombing was visual back in those days. Yeah, we had crude pathfinder radar systems in planes later in the war, but in general you had to see what you were dropping bombs on. This is why blackouts were deemed so important throughout the war, as the experience of the Germans trying to bomb England had long proven you couldn't hit what you couldn't see (and most countries didn't want to bomb in daylight; only the Americans were stupid enough to do that, the Allies said).
Any student of the 1940s would understand why this article doesn't list a location. Nobody was going to risk taking the heat if a German bomber got shot down and a charred copy of this article was found in the wreckage, after bombing the place!

While we're on a WW II kick (which is most appropriate considering the recent anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor), let's look at railroading in that time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkqp6ym7KwM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=488BpQdJVOw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCIbKyYRqg

One of the things rail transport supported was ship building:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8RszOQwWGY

Oh, the things that turn up. An "adult" film aimed at WW II sailors attempting to keep them in, with a glimpse at how some things were for civilians in the war era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4w7FI2pYWc

Not to beat this horse to death but the article did mention where the storeroom was located, just forgot to mention that the Diesel shop was in the same place.



Note the caption for the photo.

Steve

Some more:







And this one is especially of concern to me:



Railroads are more than a free market entity - they are an integral part of our national security and should be protected as such. During war, railroads move more equipment than any other form of transportation.

"Indeed, it was long recognized that the six Ordnance manufacturing arsenals could produce, in time of war, only about 4 or 5 per cent of the critical requirements for weapons, ammunition, fire-control instruments, aircraft bombs, and mechanized equipment. Now that we were in the midst of a war of unprecedented magnitude, Industry would have to take over 95 to 96 per cent of the armament manufacturing program.

Without the invaluable assistance of Industry, we of the Ordnance Department would be in the position of General Robert E. Lee when he heard that Stonewall Jackson had lost his left arm. General Lee's message was: "You have lost your left arm, but I have lost my right."

Lt. Gen. Levin H. Campbell, Chief of Ordnance, United States Army, 1942-1946
The Industry-Ordnance Team, 1946
p. 5

Steve

This article would have fit nicely in a trade magazine such as 'Railway Mechanical Engineer.'

Dave

I've thought about starting a thread on railroad machine shops. I inherited a 1947 Locomotive Cyclopedia when my Dad passed away and it has many adds and features on machine shops in railroads including welding and fabrication.

Steve

Another thread that looks to be worth linking here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35971

Another link of interest:

http://yardlimit.railfan.net/baldwindie ... tents.html