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A general discussion about shortlines, industrials, and military railroads

Moderator: Aa3rt

 #1036906  by boatsmate
 
USCG Active and Res. 1979-2001

Stationed in Ct at the CG accademy along the CV lines.
 #1037533  by steamer69
 
Did you do any time on the Eagle?
 #1037551  by Aa3rt
 
steamer69 wrote:Did you do any time on the Eagle?
steamer69-I know your query wasn't directed at me, however during my 3 years on the USCGC Gallatin (WHEC 721) I had a couple of experiences with the Eagle. The first was in late June/early July of 1976 when the Gallatin was one of the ships that escorted the assembled tall ships from Block Island to Ambrose Light (At the mouth of New York harbor.) prior to the tall ships entering New York Harbor on July 4th, 1976 during the nation's bicentennial celebration.

The second came the following year when the Eagle and Gallatin along with the cutters Sherman and Duane (?) sailed on a summertime cadet cruise to northern Europe. The Eagle's axillary power plant broke down and the Gallatin ended up towing the Eagle to Bremerhaven, Germany where it was dropped off for repairs.

I also saw her in drydock at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, MD in 1982 while on reserve duty.

More on the Eagle here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Eagle_%28WIX-327%29
 #1037561  by steamer69
 
Thanks Aa3rt! The Eagle is a wonderful ship. I'm a fan of the tall ships (outside of playing choo choo....lol). I've never gotten to see her, but I was on the Constitution a few times for different things.
 #1037570  by boatsmate
 
Steamer,
No I worked the water front, How ever I did do some assistance work over there. tech. the water fornt and eagle where assigned to eac oterh for maintance, and support.Hel;p her dock a number of times.... FYI she will be in Boston and New london this summer for tall ships. Boston June 30- july 6 not sure about NL. also she has her own Face book page USCG eagle (i think) lots of great pictures over there.

I also got to work with the Army Engine that used to be at the VRR. we used it once and a while to move cars when the 0800 or the steamers where not in service. that was back in 84


Capt Bill Retired Boatswian mate USCGr
 #1037605  by steamer69
 
Army Engine? Was it one of the 0-6-0s or a infernal combustion engine? I wasn't aware that the Valley used to have Army power. Must be why Cosmo likes it there so much.... ;-p
 #1037781  by boatsmate
 
if memory is correct, there where 2 army engins one ran the other did not. both where like the 0800 and 0900 I beleive the larger of the two was an 88 tonner the smaller was a 44 tonner. both infernal. the Army Rail transportion unit used to be stationed in Essex and would drill there. there was also a side dump as well as several flat cars that teh Valley used on occastion.

Bill
 #1037885  by steamer69
 
The 1205th drilled at the valley? Didn't know that. I knew that they had a couple of the 44 and 80 tonners floating around. Was the Valley able to use them in daily service or only when the GIs were there? Too bad that all of the battalions are getting disbanded. A few of us are trying to keep the legacy alive, with putting together the 14th Engineers (Light Railway).
 #1037912  by boatsmate
 
only as a last resort... I think we used the excuse that we where doiing maintaince on tehm... which teh vally did. the flats where on Max's stone trains most of the time....
 #1038031  by RailVet
 
The two locomotives were USA 7145, a GE 80-ton built in 1942, and USA 7926, a GE 45-ton built in 1944. Reportedly the 7145 went to the Connecticut Valley Railroad Museum in Essex, CT. This website for the Connecticut Trolley Museum shows 7926 as one of their locomotives: http://www.ct-trolley.org/museum/railroad.php

Also, it may not have necessarily been the 1205th that had the locomotives, but a predecessor. The Army Reserve rail presence in CT underwent a number of reorganizations and reflaggings over the years before it became the 1205th TROB, the final designation held until inactivation in September 2006. I do know that, when I joined the unit in 1994, these locomotives were long gone, and by then the unit was based in Middletown, not Essex.
 #1038198  by steamer69
 
Railvet,
You should join us in the 14th! We would love to have you. Thanks for the info by the way. How long did you stay with the 1205th? I know for a while they had some control over the 226th CROTB? Did that unit get stood down as well? I was looking on AKO the other day and there seems to only be the Milwaukee units left.... :-(
 #1039261  by CJPat
 
US Army Engineers, Cpt
'85-'89 (Active-326th Bn/101st AASLT);
'89-'94 (USAR-469th Bn/411th Bde);
'94-'98 (IRR).
Grew up watching the CNJ on the 6 track main at the Cranford Platforms. Didn't know I was watching the end of an era.
 #1039777  by kevin.brackney
 
Military Service:

USMC: 78-81 Financial Records Clerk
ARMY: 82-92 Air Defense Artillery (2-56 ADA - Nike Hercules, Pirmasens, FRG, 82-84)
USAR: 92-05 MOS 88U (Railway Operations Crewwmember)
ARNG: 06 to Present (Currently at Bagram Air Field, AFG)

Civilian:

CNW: 93-94 Yard Foreman at Proviso
CIND: 94-96 Cndr/Engr
DGNO: 96-00 " "
NECR: 00-02 " "
IORY: 02-Present - Engr
 #1039838  by RailVet
 
steamer69: I was with the 1205th from 1994 to 2003. Regarding the 1205th and the 226th, it's a complicated story. The 1205th TROB had about 150 slots but, during the mid- to late 1990s it was steadily seeing more and more of them moved from Middletown, CT, to its subordinate unit at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU) near Southport, NC. The MOTSU element had started out as a handful of guys who stayed behind when the 1205th demobilized after the Gulf War of 1990-91. They were still in the unit but their slots were officially on the books in CT. Later their status was formally recognized as Det 1 with, if I recall correctly, 21 slots. Later the number increased to 35 and it became Section C, pulling the Section C designation from CT, where the HQ and Sections A and B remained. Later still the MOTSU unit became separate from the 1205th with about 100 slots and was given the designation of 1355th Transportation Railway Operating Company. If mobilized, the 1205th and 1355th would go to MOTSU and the 1205th would be over the 1355th.

The growth of the MOTSU-based unit was entirely at the expense of the 1205th, and as the MOTSU-based element grew, the 1205th in CT shrank, so by the time the 1355th was established, the 1205th only had about 50 slots left.

At the same time, the Milwaukee-based 757th Transportation Battalion (Railway) was not doing well with its manpower numbers and was reportedly at 39% strength. Having a lot of people becoming excess following the transfer of slots south to MOTSU, the 1205th made the case that, if USAR moved the 226th Transportation Company (Ry), part of the 757th Trans Bn (Ry), from Melvin Price Support Center in Granite City, IL, to Westover Air Reserve Base, MA, it would have it up and operating within 18 months. So, the 226th was inactivated in IL in late 2000 and reactivated in March 2001 at Westover ARB, where it would be under the 1205th. Meanwhile, the unit in Granite City was reduced to a detachment and placed under another company of the 757th.

Note: the missions of the 1205th and the 226th were completely different. The 1205th was organized specifically to go to MOTSU to augment the MOTSU's rail operations and MoW employees, while the 226th was organized for overseas deployment. If mobilized, the 226th would go under the 757th.

With the 226th under its wing, the 1205th had a place to put personnel displaced by the transfer of 1205th slots to MOTSU, plus it could actually grow overall because the 226th was a good-sized company. (You called it the "226th CROTB." What does CROTB mean?)

One of USAR's unpleasant surprises early in the decade was that it had many TDA units, such as the 1205th, that were organized and trained for use in CONUS, but not enough to meet overseas commitments, and as part of an overall change in USAR force structure, the 1205th was inactivated in September 2006.

By October 2008 all of USAR's remaining rail units were under the 757th, and it wasn't too much later that it was announced that the 757th would be inactivated in 2015.

As the shift went away from a CONUS-based mission, the 1355th TROC was completely reorganized, reflagged, given a new mission as the 1151st Transportation Company (Ry) and put under the 757th. It moved from MOTSU to a USAR center in Wilmington, and at last word its personnel do no rail training at MOTSU, although the company's vehicle drivers go to MOTSU to practice driving over the base's roads.

While the headquarters of the 757th is in Milwaukee, its subordinate units are widely scattered. At last look, these were the locations of all of the units under the 757th:

HQ 757th Transportation Battalion (Railway)
WSY7AA
Milwaukee USARC
4850 West Silver Spring Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53218-3400
10 officers, 1 WO, 42 EM

226th Transportation Company (Railway Operating)
WQ42AA
Chicopee AFRC
700 Eagle Drive
Box 24
Westover ARB, MA 10122-2010
5 officers, 117 EM

1150th Transportation Company (Railway Operating)
WQ5FAA
Phillip H. Sheridan USARC
3155 Blackhawk Drive
Fort Sheridan, IL 60037-1289
5 officers, 117 EM

Det 1
WQ5FA2
Granite City USARC
Building 331
1230 First Street
Granite City, IL 62040-1801

1151st Transportation Company (Railway Operating)
WQ5GAA
3623 Carolina Beach Road
Wilmington, NC 28412
(New location effective mid-Sep 2011)
3 officers, 43 EM

Det 1
WQ5GA2
Blue Grass Army Depot USARC
2091 Kingston Highway
Richmond, KY 40475-5001
1 officer, 43 EM

Det 2
WQ5GA3
MOTSU
Southport, NC 28461-7800
1 officer, 34 EM
(Det 2 has been relocated from MOTSU to the USAR center on Carolina Beach Road.)

1152nd Transportation Company (Railway Operating)
WQ5HAA
Milwaukee USARC
4850 West Silver Spring Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53218-3400
4 officers, 73 EM

Det 1
WQ5HA2
Fort McCoy Complex
2010 South 8th Street
Fort McCoy, WI 54656-5136

You asked specifically about the 226th. The last I heard about it, the unit had thinned out considerably in anticipation of eventual inactivation and had perhaps one train crew left.
 #1040066  by kevin.brackney
 
RailVet: One minor discrepancy. As I recollect from having been at the 226 in Granite City while the reflagging was taking place, personnel from the '51st were being placed into the '52nd at Milwaukee to fill it's ranks to authorized strength. When the 226 guidon was transferred to Westover, ARB, the few soldiers left in the '51st at Milwaukee became the detachment to the "new" 1151st at Granite City. This only made sense, as the larger of the two groups was at Granite City (Melvin Price Support Center)

Coincidentally, it was at this time that my civilian career took me to Vermont (NECR). I transferred from the 226 (757th TC Bn) still at Granite City (but not for long) to the 1205th, (Middletown, CT) and soon after, I was one of the first soldiers to fill the 226, when they stood it up at Westover. The timeline of this is a little fuzzy, but it was Fall 2000 going into Spring of 2001.

In the years prior to restructuring/reflagging, the 226 was designated as a railway engineering company. As such, it enjoyed a varied and vast array of MOS'; everything needed to rebuild a railroad: Masons, carpenters for both bridges and structures, plumbers, electicians, dump truck operators, and the usual MOW jobs. After the reflagging took place, only 88T (track repair) and a small handful of support MOS' common to most Army units remained.