The Military Railway Service was created in the 1920s as a reserve force of the United States Army. It had existed twice before: first as the United States Military Railroad during the American Civil War, and later as the United States Railroad Administration during World War I. In the original documentation in the creation of the service, all Class I railroad companies were to create a battalion for the war effort. Eleven Grand Divisions were formed and forty-six operating battalions were assigned; however, five were never activated.
History Each railway operating battalion was established with four companies. The Headquarters Company was used for signaling, dispatching, and supplying the battalion's section of the railway. The A Company was set up to handle the maintenance of tracks, the B Company handled the maintenance of the rolling stock, and the C Company was set up with roughly 50 men to operate the trains in their area. Grand Divisions were established with multiple operating battalions, a shop battalion, and a base depot company. The shop battalion worked on the engines themselves. During the war, there were two types of shop battalions, steam and diesel; most were steam battalions.
By 1942, the first units started to be shipped out. Besides units for the Persian Gulf Command and North Africa, the 761st Operating Battalion went to England and the 770th Operating Battalion to Alaska. In November 1942, jurisdiction of Military Railway Service shifted from the Corps of Engineers to the newly-created Transportation Corps.
The 1st and 2nd Military Railway Service (MRS) controlled supply by rail in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). The 1st was assigned to the Mediterranean with Italy, North Africa, and southern France as its main areas of operations. The 2nd was assigned to Northern France and Germany. The 3rd MRS was established to handle supplies sent to Russia through Iran (Persian Corridor).
The 1st MRS was led by Brigadier General Carl R. Gray Jr., an executive from the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad, who was the son of Carl R. Gray Sr., the former president of multiple railways in the United States, including the Union Pacific. The battalions under his command included the 701st, 703rd, 704th, 713th, 715th, 719th, 727th, 753rd, 759th, and the 760th. The 3rd MRS was set up using the 702nd Grand Division with the 711th and 730th Operating, 754th Shop, and 762nd Diesel Shop battalions as its core units. Initial command was under the 702nd, but by April 1944 it was replaced by the 3rd MRS directly. The 702nd and initial 3rd MRS commander was Colonel Paul F. Yount, but in May 1944, he was sent east to assist the China Burma India Theater and Colonel Frank S. Besson Jr. was tasked to take over the 3rd MRS.
List of Railway Grand Divisions and their sponsors
Unit Sponsor Date of Activation 701st New York Central Railroad 01/11/1943 702nd Union Pacific Railroad 10/15/1942 703rd Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 08/01/1943 704th Great Northern Railway 11/30/1942 705th Southern Pacific Lines 05/19/1943 706th Pennsylvania Railroad 08/06/1943 707th Southern Railway 06/10/1943 708th Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 04/06/1943 709th Association of American Railroads 03/15/1944 710th Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 12/14/1943 774th None (Organized in Italy) 1944
List of Railway Operating Battalions
Unit Sponsor Date of Activation 711th Training Battalion. Built and maintained the 50 mile Claiborne-Polk Military Railroad 05/01/1941 712th Reading Railroad 10/25/1942 713th Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 04/15/1942 714th Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway 10/31/1942 715th Illinois Central Railroad 10/31/1942 716th Southern Pacific Lines 12/21/1943 717th Pennsylvania Railroad 12/01/1943 718th Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway 12/14/1943 719th Texas and New Orleans Railroad 09/01/1943 720th Chicago and North Western Railway 08/26/1943 721st New York Central Railroad 04/14/1943 722nd Seaboard Air Line Railroad 12/14/1943 723rd Union Pacific Railroad 12/28/1943 724th Pennsylvania Railroad 12/28/1943 725th Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 02/17/1943 726th Wabash Railroad 06/26/1943 727th Southern Railway 03/15/1942 728th Louisville and Nashville Railroad 01/11/1943 729th New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad 01/11/1943 730th Pennsylvania Railroad 05/15/1942 731st Union Pacific Railroad Did not Activate 732nd Great Northern Railway 01/12/1944 733rd Central of Georgia Railway 11/23/1943 734th Texas and New Orleans Railroad 02/23/1944 735th ARR/Erie Railroad 02/10/1944 736th New York Central Did not Activate 737th New York Central 09/30/1944 738th Chicago Great Western Railway Did not Activate 739th Lehigh Valley Railroad Did not Activate 740th Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 12/14/1943 741st Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad 01/12/1944 742nd Pennsylvania Railroad Did not Activate 743rd Illinois Central Railroad 01/12/1944 744th Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad 12/21/1943 745th Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 05/19/1943 746th Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad 05/04/1944 747th Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Did not Activate 748th Texas and Pacific Railway 05/12/1943 749th New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad 02/23/1943 750th St. Louis – San Francisco Railway 03/21/1944 751st Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Did not Activate 752nd Boston and Maine Railroad 05/04/1944 759th Missouri Pacific Railroad 09/01/1942 761st Railway Transportation Company 07/22/1942 770th None 08/09/1942 790th None 07/08/1943 791st No sponsorship (activated at Andimeshk, Iran) 07/01/1943
List of Railway Shop Battalions Unit Sponsor Date of Activation 753d Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway 04/15/1942 754th Southern Pacific Lines 10/25/1942 755th Norfolk & Western Railway 11/30/1942 756th Pennsylvania Railroad 01/11/1943 757th Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad 06/10/1943 758th Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway 04/06/1943 760th No sponsorship 06/16/1942 762d No sponsorship 10/15/1942 763d Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad; Lehigh Valley Railroad 07/27/1943 764th Boston & Maine Railroad 10/25/1943 765th Erie Railroad 05/01/1944 766th Association of American Railroads 07/17/1944
Note: The 760th and 762d were RSB (Diesel); all others were RSB (Steam).
See also Military railways
References