Fort Benning, Georgia Railroads

[kevmt]

Found this film, fascinating :-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BTtncKnS9k

Cheers,
Kevin

[CaptainBazza]

Fascinating clip.....is the era WW1 or 2? I favour WW1.

Cheers Bazza

[sp762]

I reckon it's about 1942, Baz. Based on the Jeeps and the silly hats worn by the engineers. In 1918 they wore proper 'smokey bear' hats.

I'll have to go check my sources, but I recall the Fort Benning Camp railroad was actively used right through WW2 (and Korea) moving large numbers of troops and a bunch of cargo every day.

But this is honest to god 1918 equipment - probably a Davenport 2-6-2T

In my local discount cheapy store there are a set of DVDs called "The War Train". If you turn the sound down to remove the cheesy dialog and music, there is some good and useful B&W footage of the USATC railways, including a bunch of NG stuff from WW1.

http://www.payless.com.au/index.php?/p/product/310 If you only want to spend five bucks, don't bother with Vols 2 & 3

Military Mike

[Tonysmedley]

Military Mike,
That link appears to be Australian! The cheapest price I can find here is around £35, with a warning that it will not play on many regionally coded European DVD players and is in NSTC format.

[jefran]

This is fascinating! I think that the Quarter Master Corps used these railways for training purposes, some of the drivers betray a certain lack of confidence, though they managed the sycnchronised getaways quite well, presumably at the end of training. The engines look like the 2-6-2 Baldwins which ran briefly and unsuccessfully on the Penrhyn Railway, but were, I think, built by Davenport - certainly some finished too late for active service went to Fort Benning

[dkightley]

Fascinating clip.....is the era WW1 or 2? I favour WW1.

I'd say early 1940's.........like it says on the titles.

[sp762]

Military Mike,
That link appears to be Australian! The cheapest price I can find here is around £35, with a warning that it will not play on many regionally coded European DVD players and is in NSTC format.

Well, I do live in Australia... what's a guy to do?

[CaptainBazza]

You're Region 4 like us, mate. Most off the shelf, stand alone, DVD players can be converted to multi-zone, ask your supplier. It is usually just a matter of certain button combinations. NSTC is not a problem with recent DVD players and TV. I recently imported a non-region restricted DVD, NSTC format, and it plays fine on my cheapo multi-zoned DVD player and 32" CRT widescreen TV. PC based DVD players now have hardwired zone control, which means you usually get four or five chances with different zoned DVDs, but it will lock onto the last DVD played region and thereafter it cannot be changed.

Cheers Bazza

[CaptainBazza]

Well, I do live in Australia... what's a guy to do?

"..........................." Oh, I'm speechless, make the most of it.

Cheers Bazza