|
First - Thanks to all BRHS members & Burlington fans who are Veterans; again - thanks! Second - The Burlington, like most railroads, played a significant role with our nation's military from its very origin. Indeed it was damage from Confederate raiders to H&STJ tracks in Missouri during the Civil War that caused the CB&Q to lose money in 1864 - the ONLY year from inception in 1850 to merger in 1970 that the Q was not in the black and failed to issue a stock dividend. . During WWII the Q was one of 40-some Class 1 railroads that sponsored a U.S. Army Operating or Shop Battalion for the Military Railway Service to build, repair, operate and/or maintain track & rolling stock for Allied and U.S. military railroad efforts in North Africa and Europe. The 745th Railway Operating Battalion was sponsored by the CB&Q. Unique among ALL railroads however, it was legendary Burlington President Ralph Budd who was chosen by the government to head up the Transportation Committee of the Council of National Defense in 1940. Along with the heads of GM, Ford, etc, he laid out a plan to allow the railroads to handle the rapid industrial build-up. A plaque honoring him & others for such service in WWII can be seen in Chicago Union Station. Also read an in-depth history of the Burlington in WWII within Richard Overton's "Burlington Route" and Ralph Budd's role in Overton's dual bio of "Perkins & Budd". (Indispensable books for any Q fan) If you ever had the privilege & honor to visit with a WWII MRS vet or a ret'd Q railroader who worked during WWII, you heard the stories of long hours and overloaded trains as record amounts of freight & passengers were carried whether munitions, troop trains, military hardware of conventional freight & passenger service. Women became railroaders to fill the vacant jobs and those men exempted from serving due to their railroad jobs, worked under extraordinary conditions, Operating rules remained intact but hours or service were sometimes 'winked' at if the train was made up of war materials or troops. Shop and track employees spent record hours repairing overused track and outdated equipment pressed into service. I have my Grandfather's time books from those years and the overtime was astronomical at Grand Crossing Shops in No. La Crosse. Men well into their 70's stayed on the job or came out of retirement to help out. Through it all, the Burlington remained strong despite also sharing its CEO with Uncle Sam. Again, tks to all our Vets and tks to the men & women who kept the Burlington going as welling as help man the 745th. Gerald Edgar - USAF "70-74 PS - for Burlington Postcard collectors, there is a nice RPPC showing their depot at Camp Grant in Illinois, a major training base in WWI and WWII, now an industrial park. __._,_.___ Posted by: gvlc6@hotmail.com __,_._,___ |