Nostalgia & History > US Army Steam - Ft Eustis 1974

On Nov 16, 1974, the US Army Transportation Corps (USATC) at Ft Eustis VA ran a day of steam trips around the base trackage behind 2-8-0 #607, which is still preserved at Ft Eustis.  If memory serves correctly, rides on the trains were offered to Army personnel and families.   As students at nearby William & Mary, a bunch of us drove over for a chase.  I rode behind double-headed USATC 2-8-0s in 1970 at Ft Eustis, but haven't found those photos yet!  I'll post when I do.

BTW - I believe #607 was built in 1945 by Lima.    The Army called these Class S160, and 2120 of these locos were built 1942-1945 by all major American locomotive builders, and were distributed fairly widely throughout the world on a variety of railroads.  They were designed to be rugged and not require much maintenance, as they knew they would be operating in rough warftime conditions on poor infrastructure, often without proper maintenance facilities.

1)  Train in the yard before departure.  There appears to be a diesel switcher on the rear . 
2)  Leaving the yard, with an Army railroader riding the pilot and the switcher being left behind.  The track was fairly overgrown, so I'm guessing he was checking for obstacles as they went along.
3)  This shot reminds me of a scene toward the end of the 1964 classic movie "The Train" with Burt Lancaster.    



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/24 08:43 by dwatry.

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4)  Shot across the wetlands looking toward the James River.  You can see the hulls and masts from several of the ships in the James River Reserve Fleet, which was comprised of lots of Liberty and Victory Ships from WWII. 
5)  In this shot the Army railroader has left the pilot. 
6)  But in this one there are now multiple guys hanging off the locomotive or riding on the roof!
 

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7)  Silhouetted....
8)  #607 at the enginehouse in the early AM. 
9)  Oiling around - looks the same no matter the uniform!
 

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10)  Cab and crew from engineer's side. (For some reason could not get this photo to orient correctly.  Any suggestions?  It's oriented correctly in my computer.)
11) Cab and crew from fireman's side.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/24 21:11 by dwatry.

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Those are amazing pictures, looks like 132# jointed rail. quite an operation when Nam was 
going I would imagine.

Out 

I was stationed at Fort. Eustis from 1972 - 1974.  I was off active duty and in a Milwaukee, WI reserve unit when these photos were taken.

I was in that railroad unit for a while, I knew SFC Fairbanks who is shown with the 607 in one of the photos. 

Greyhounds- I figured someone would recognize him!

Historic treasures.
Bob

Great post, thanks. 

I briefly considered enlisting, right about this time, the local recruiter showed MOS available at Eustis. 

MOS 65A10 at Ft. Eustis in 1969.
Friend of mine was stationed there also and was able to get issued a Hamilton pocket watch - US Army version!
rr caboose

Were these 2-8-0s all hand-bombers, or did some of them have stokers?

Rotated
 

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Thanks Gonut 1.  I tried everything I knew but could not get it to rotate on TO.   

lynnpowell Wrote:
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> Were these 2-8-0s all hand-bombers, or did some of
> them have stokers?

AFAIK, they were all hand fired. Built as simple as possible and to fit the smaller European clearances.

The engines we kept active were two SW-8's that had served in the Korean War.  When reserve units came in for training we activated more locomotives.

Very nice - would love to have been there.  Those hospital cars appear to be part of the group transferred to Amtrak not too long after the pics were taken.  Various cars became lounges, bag-dorms, and HEP power cars for the newly arrived Amfleet.

Dave

I got drafted into the Army in November 1964. Through all the various intelligence testing, I pretty much got highest "scores" in mechanical areas. I explained to more than one officer that I was from the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corp. and previous employees of EMD were sent to Fort Eustis, Va. and they thus got a "free EMD factory Service Representative" for the Railroad Battalion. Well, since I score so low on electronic subjects, as there were no electronics in EMD units in those days, the Army sent me to the Artillery Communications Center in Fort Sill, OK., to teach me to be a Brigade level Radio Mechanic. Just great!!!

Based on the roof walks and other roof accessories these MIGHT be some of the Air Force RBS Express train.

By the time I saw them, they were all vandalized and derelict. The third car appears to have an unusual window arrangement indicating it may be a power car for the RBS train. https://geographicalimaginations.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/rbs-express-001.jpeg

These cars were finally hauled off to the Gold Coast museum in FL or the Allegheny Central in Staunton VA.

A really bad photo of a projected slide shows part of the train in Hanks Yard.


Michael

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Why was the Army still training people on steam locomotives in the seventies?

PHall Wrote:
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> Why was the Army still training people on steam
> locomotives in the seventies?

Because other countries were still using them.  Must be prepared for anything.
 

PHall Wrote:
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> Why was the Army still training people on steam
> locomotives in the seventies?

They really weren't doing that.  We pulled the 607 out of the Army transportation museum and we had career soldiers who knew how to get it in shape to run. Then we just used it  along with the SW-8's.  No one told us to stop so we didn't stop.

All training was on diesels.