Rich,
My dad was in the Navy SeaBees in WWII. He did basic training at a base somewhere in the southeastern part of the U.S. and then traveled by troop train to San Francisco for specialized training. This would have been in late 1943. Their train was routed through Chicago, but traveled on the C&NW was of Chicago, not the Q. Somewhere in a letter to his parents, he talks about the trip, but was not able to name specific locations and routes. He did note that he hoped the train would go through his home town of Downers Grove, but it did not. Maybe this confirms your suspicions of better routes. However, I believe Bernard Corbin had several photos of troop trains on the Q in Iowa; one as I recall led by a 2-10-4.
Bill Barber Gravois Mills, MO Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:03 am (PDT)
In looking through the Kalmbach Burlington Route book we have been discussing, one of the photos is an O-5 leading a troop train from Chicago passing the articulated 2nd TCZ bound for Chicago - in Minneapolis. Since the book was copyrighted in 1947, this photo has to be sometime between 1944 (there are the Pullman-Standard troop sleepers) and early 1947. I've often wondered about the frequency of the Q hauling troop trains in WWII and the Korean War. It seems like there would be better routes than the Q for troop trains, though I suppose that the Q/GN or Q/NP route would be fine for the Washington state camps. Any comments on the Q and troop trains?
Rich G.
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