How did the U. S. Railroads support the country durring WWII Their is nothing hardely available about what I have heard is that they did a super job hauling raw materials, finished product troops and supplies, hospital cars support their is nothing abuot this anywhere, It’s been over 50 years is it still clasified?
It would sure be nice to see how the Railroads helped durring the war effort between 1941 thru 1945.
James:
James:
Little, if anything, about railroading during WW II is classified anymore; the only thing that might have been classified would have been individual troop train movements or perhaps special strategic shipments by rail. The railroads were a key factor to winning WW II by transporting large amounts of freight, troops, many military units, and many passengers.
Photographs of trains during that period are hard to come by because the railfan hobby was not as nearly advanced then as it is today, film was not widely available, people did not have much spare time, and there were some restrictions on railroad photography. During the WWII era Trains covered the railroading scene.
…Railroads played as improtant a part in winning that war as any other part of the Mechanical pie…bar none…! Almost anything that moved…moved by rail…That was the transportation mode that moved almost everything. We didn’t have any interstate highways then…They came much later. Gasoline was rationed, speed limits were set at 35 mph, Tires were scarce, and rationed…No new autos or trucks [except military], were produced beyond 1942…until production started back up in I believe late 1945 with 1946 models. Railroads used every bit of rolling stock they could make move to transport…people, service and civilian, war equipment, fuel, [of all kinds], and as mentioned above all kinds of raw materials…Just about everthing that was needed for the war effort…It was their finest hour, in my opinion. They really did the job…
…One more bit of the WWII railroads…I was in the Late Great Pennsylvania Station in 1942 in NYC…and what an experience that was…Just being in there would tell one how heavy of a load was being moved by rail…A sea of service personnel…and swarms of civilians…The place was awesome…The scene is still vivid to me after these many years.
Railroads were critical in hauling petrochemicals since the U-boats were sinking ships left an right off the east coast at the beginning of the war.
Another aspect that is little discussed is that any railroad that was a land grant road (and there were hundreds of lines that were, not just the UP) had to haul government shipments over the land grant mileage at half the rate. So not only did the government ship by rail, they did it at half price for a large part of thieir shipments. People complain that the railroads got all that government help in the form of land grants, well they more than paid back the value of the land in reduced fairs in the wars since 1800’s. As a matter of fact the land grant provisions were set aside within the last 20 or 30 years since the railroads showed they had more than paid back the value of the land.
Dave H.
During WWII, the German U-Boats made short work of the tanker ships that ran from the Gulf ports to the east coast ports shutting off the supply of oil and gasoline. There were no pipe lines then. It was the railroads including the NYC, that created a rolling pipeline of oil products to support the east. Every tank car that was available was pressed into service and new ones were hastily built. This supported the war effort in the east and the shipbuilding efforts as well as troop movements.
Even Bugs Bunny cartoons reminded train passengers that civilians shouldn’t be doing any unnecessary traveling. The cars were needed for service personnel. Pullman built some passenger cars on boxcar frames to handle troop movements.
You might try the American Memories Collection of the Library of Congress for photos. Few photos were taken then, not only for the lack of film and time, but because the war effort demanded security. 
not only what was mentioned above but railroads too advertisied that they were hauling the troops supplies and everything for the war.Even Chessies old man Peake was drafted according to a C&O add from that era.
stay safe
Joe
…And congratulations to Joe for the brand new 4-stars…Difficulity in getting oil and I believe natural gas from the Gulf area resulted in the construction of the “little inch” and “big inch” pipe lines from that area up to the midwest and eastern part of our country during the latter part of the war…It was constructed through my home area of Pennsylvania. That was a major construction project. But back to the railroads doing so much…If one thinks about that situation you will come to the conclusion there wasn’t any other way to do these large jobs of transporting all kinds of material and people. And communication was in it’s infancy as compared to what it is now.
There are pictures, here and there, of rail activity during WW II. As was said, the railfan community wasn’t all that active then (not only were there fewer, but a lot of them were serving elsewhere!). I too remember Penn Station during the war (I was just a little sprat), and it was awesome to watch. Just about anything that had wheels was used to carry people…
The railroad workers deserve far more credit than they seem to get – all equipment was used at much higher rates than normal, and the maintenance guys (all of them – from trackworkers and backshop mechanics to management) did a superb job.
Not only in the US. Some pretty spectacular work was done in the United Kingdom and in Europe – particularly France – to increase capacity or to restore operations.
You might want to look at Don Ball, Jr.'s book The 1940s: Decade of the Trains which discusses railroading during World War II.
The railroads were so important during WWII that there were even some Nazi spies that came over to the US with plans to sabotage important US railroad locations, such as the Pennsy’s Horseshoe Curve. Thankfully, they were caught while travelling by train to Chicago.
The U-Boat success of the US east coast early in the war also prompted the “construction” of the Intercoastal Waterway along the Gulf and East coasts. Since a good portion of the petro chemical production was on the Texas Gulf coast it was cheaper and more efficient to move it by barge along the ICW, but still more risky, even if easier to defend than open ocean travel.
Along with the wartimne restriction on photography, production of film for personal use was curtailed to both help the war effort and reduce the possibility of espionage efforts.
The US railroads as mentioned above moved by far the bulk of the war materials with the country as well as troops and equipment to their sea ports of departure. Overseas, the Germans more so than the Japanese, relied heavily on thier rails to move troops to the front. Armored units did most of their traveling by rail becasue of speed and to save wear on the vehicles. Their rail infra
…Jamie, does your memory bring up the image of the extremely large American Flag hanging from the very high arched ceiling of the waiting room…in the NYC Penn Station…? That was an awesome sight to me…Along with the rest of what was happening all over the place.
Yes indeed![:)] That was a marvelous space…
There has been recently another such flag in Grand Central. Still the best way to enter a city I have ever seen, anywhere, is to come into Grand Central by train. Beats and airport, anyday!
Semper Fi!!
LC
For a good reference of Railroads in World War II find a copy of
CLASSIC TRAINS . . . Winter 2001
Mitchell, there is a story in this issue about “Hilter’s Rail Wreckers”.
I just happened to run across my issue this week. I will have to take it with me on my Thanksgiving trip.
There was also an issue of “Trains” which had alot of WWII railroad stories. This was a special issue I believe. Someone might can remind us the issue and date as I don’t know “where” mine is right now. [:(] It is here somewhere. I just can’t put my hands on it right now.
Well,
W.W.II did bring about a few things.
One a lot of steel got diverted to shipbuilding,ergo composete
rail cars.U.S.R.A. got a really good start.
And Peake did enlist, more than I can say for the
past President[V]
locomutt[:D]
The war also affected transit systems. Plans to convert to buses were put on hold, interurbans and streetcars got a temporary reprieve almost everywhere. Where tracks was still available wire was restored and streetcars put back into operation. Old wood NYC 2nd Ave El cars provided service on the Oakland CA Key System operated “Shipyard Railway”. Even museum equipment was put back into service. New PCC cars were built and were allocated to the systems that needed them most, and the remaining “wartime” cars are being rehabilitated and can be ridden on Boston’s Ashmont-Mattapan line today, a real bit of living WWII history. To bad the transporation planners put selling cars over energy independence and security after WWII. Dave Klepper
Two other book on the Railroads in WW2
Americas Fighting Railroads by Don DeNevi 1996
Steel Rails to Victory by Ron Zeil 1970 US rail operations overseas