During WW II, all troop movemnts were in passenger trains called “Mains” trains.
Why were they called that? Anyone know this Memorial Day?
Thanks.[8D]
Seems to me I remember reading that they were called “mains” because they were to hold the mainlines except for all but first class trains. They were superior to secondary passenger trains and all freight trains.
MAIN is an acronym that stands for __M__ilitary __A__uthorization __I__dentification __N__umber. A train movement would be described as “MAIN 68638”. Often these trains ran as second sections of scheduled passenger trains.
AltonFan
Thank you so much! That question has bugged me for years.
Sadly my Dad passed 23 years ago so I couldn’t ask him.
He was an Army Lt. Col, Battle of the Bulge veteran.
Military Authorization Identification Number certainly fulfills the Army’s love of acronyms.
Again thanks.