Perhaps no other single event brought America and Americans closer together than World War II.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States realized that the magnitude of the task at hand was enormous, and the only way to prepare for the demands of such a conflict was to mobilize its railroad system quickly and efficiently. As the war progressed, the burdens placed on the railroads grew, and by the end of the war, railroads had carried 91% of the military freight and 98% of all military personnel. Railroad passenger traffic more than doubled between 1940 and 1944.
Now a new 380-page hardbound book, entitled Trains to Victory, tells the dramatic story of this time in America's history, when U.S. railroads, using fewer cars and locomotives than in WWI, carried more tonnage and more passengers than ever before. Divided into 13 chapters, plus a 32-page four-color section, an introduction, bibliography and a complete index, the 8 1/2 x 11 volume will appeal to railfans, historians, military historians, and anyone who wants to learn more about WWII.
The book, written by Don Heimburger and John Kelly, features 542 photographs, an additional 285 illustrations, a four-color laminated dustjacket and a complete listing of U.S. military camps, posts and bases as of August 1, 1941. The new book discusses the implications of the war on the railroads, embarkation of troops and materiels, how the Military Railway Service joined the fight and what was happening on U.S railroads during the war.
In addition, the book addresses the new railroad cars and locomotives built for the war, military camp railroads, how Alaska's railroads played apart in the conflict, how women helped in the war effort, and what was happening in foreign theaters. Also, the book describes how railroads aided in the return of wounded troops and equipment, and the atmosphere on the railroads immediately after the war. Scale drawings of war-emergency box cars are also included, as are troop train car plans.
No other book that I am aware of covers the U.S. railway scene during World War II as thoroughly as this one, says publisher and co-author Don Heimburger. Having access to rare military documents elevates the authority of this volume to another level. That, combined with the numerous interesting war-time photographs, make for an especially compelling read.
Dozens of contributors to the volume, from the Kalmbach Publishing Company Library files, to extensive Lake Forest College (Illinois) documents, to the 82nd Airborne, to the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia, to many noted rail photographers, make this large book a valuable WWII reference. A number of exceptional Jack Delano photographs are also included; Delano was hired in 1940 by the Farm Security Administration to depict the impact of wartime mobilization.
Trains to Victory covers such topics as the huge Chicago & NorthWestern Proviso Yards during wartime, personal glimpses of the war from a number of railroaders such as Harold H. Carstens, president of Carstens Publications, intriguing aspects of the war from the Army Engineers and the Association of American Railroads and the War Department. Various locomotive and railroad car manufacturers such as Baldwin, Alco, Davenport, Lima, Whitcomb, Budd, Electro-Motive, H.K. Porter, Pullman, American Car & Foundry and the St. Louis Car Company are mentioned throughout the volume.