Military Railway Service (MRS)

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Dear Col West Thanks very much for this.  Before being branch transferred back to a CE officer, I served as a TC 2LT and 1LT.  After OCS at Ft. Belvoir I was detailed to the 714th TBROS&DE  in Ft. Eustis and then to the 264th Trans in RVN.  Some of my reserve time was with the 717th Trans Bn in A Company at Ft. Dix and then as HHC CO in Philadelphia.  Still have a lot of memorabilia including the number plates from one diesel and a locomotive stack.  Sure wish I had the headlamp when the unit was disbanded in the 80's (I think). Best wishes for the holiday season Ed SvitilLTC CE AUS (Ret)

Norfolk & Western Railway

 

  Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:51:22 -0500
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Military Railway Service (MRS) 
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org



To Veterans and Friends of the
MRS:


Military Railway Service (MRS) history has joined the electronic
age.  MRS veteran Major C. Grattan Price, Jr., prior to his passing
in 1996 produced a manuscript entitled "Reminiscences of a
Rambling Railroader" recounting his World War II (WWII) Army
experiences.  His family has now made this work available in
electronic format for your Kindle, iPad, Nook or computer.  
The URL link is: 

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/264683.  Downloading
options are shown on the site.

 

In the first part Major
Price covers his early years growing up and pre-war employment with the
Chesapeake Western Railway in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. 
Activated early in the war, he was initially assigned to the Fort
Holabird Railway Shops in Baltimore, Maryland, where he quickly rose to
become the Shop Superintendent.  Little remembered today, the Fort
Holabird Rail Shop during WWII was the Army's premier rail shop that
repaired numerous derelict locomotives for service the on the rail
networks of the nation's expanding military infrastructure.  In
addition, Fort Holabird served as the Army's test and evaluation facility
for new locomotives being procured for both domestic and overseas
service.  All are chronicled in this work. 


The majority of the book chronicles the training, deployment, and
European service of the 709th Railway Grand Division (RGD) where he
served as it's Master Mechanic.  From "technical" training
at Bucyrus, Ohio, the 709th RGD deployed through the New York SPOE to
serve in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany from September 1944
through August 1945.  What strikes me in reading the book are the
stories, some ordinary, many quite extraordinary, that describe the
courageous efforts of men and women who didn't serve on the front line,
but who were absolutely critical to the ultimate success of the
Allies.  It is an easy to read yet informative firsthand narrative
history of mostly citizen solders military railroaders that should not be
forgotten.  This may be the only detailed written record of the
709th RGD.    


Very affordably priced at $3.99 per download, the Price family will be
graciously donating the proceeds from the sale of this book in their
father's name to the Transportation Corps Museum's work at Fort Eustis.
Download a copy for a MRS friend or treat yourself. Please provide a
review and feedback of your impression of this work. 


Additional publications of Mr. Price's works include the now out of print
hard copy "The Crooked and Weedy," a
history of the Chesapeake Western Railway and his first electronic format
book "Robert E. Lee's Railroad - How The American Civil War
Commander Inspired the Construction of the Valley Railroad,
Virginia."   The
URL link for this work is:

http://www.amazon.com/Robert-Lees-Railroad-Commander-ebook/dp/B0093ZS0DW



May the upcoming Christmas Season bring the best to you and your
families.


Mark Metz

LTC (R), TC - USAR

Foundation Rail Committee

 

 





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