# Trains go to war



## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

How things were when the Army rode the trains.

http://www.tehistory.org/hqda/html/v42/v42n2p035.html

Don


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

Nice sequence of photos and information. thanks Don.


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## microbuss (Mar 13, 2015)

yeah 
Now do anyone make those cars in HO?


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

There are some HO military cars available. Google showed
several items.

Here's one:

http://stores.ebay.com/Railroad-Ron-and-PJ/HO-Military-Train-Sets-/_i.html?_fsub=156656015

Don


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

On a related note, Kalmbach is offering this new book.....


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

DonR said:


> How things were when the Army rode the trains.
> 
> http://www.tehistory.org/hqda/html/v42/v42n2p035.html
> 
> Don


Nice find Don.

Camp Kilmer, located near Edison NJ, was the largest embarkation post in the United States, and *processed more than 2.5 million troops for the European Theatre* during World War II. Its rail terminal had a capacity of fifteen 20-car troop trains, with track leading to the rights-of-way of the PRR, the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad.

One for my Jersey thread.

I remember Camp Kilmer, but I wasn't around back when it was busy in the early 40's. 
Little by little barracks and buildings were torn down and warehouses took their place.
There is still a small section that has some of the original barracks in use today. 
There was a lot of track throughout the facility, most is now gone. 

People who hate reading history can leave now.

Post war Camp Kilmer, from wiki,

In the fall of 1950, with hostilities in Korea, the camp was reactivated. It was placed on inactive status again in June 1955. In November 1956 it served as an initial place for housing for refugees from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution until June 1957. In March 1958, Camp Kilmer became Headquarters for the U.S. Army II Corps, the controlling headquarters for United States Army Reserve units across the northeast. Camp Kilmer also housed a maintenance and repair facility supporting the Nike/Hercules missile sites in the greater New York metropolitan area. This facility included large, armored rooms with heavy blast doors where missile engines and conventional warheads were stored and maintained.

The concentration camp scenes for the 1964 movie The Pawnbroker were filmed in the section of Camp Kilmer which had been used for the movement of prisoners-of-war.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the remnants of Camp Kilmer, then known as the Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Reserve Center, was the location for Headquarters, 78th Division (TS) and for the Division's 1st Brigade (BCST) headquarters, both units of the US Army Reserve. The 78th Division (TS), nicknamed the "Lightning Division" or "Jersey Lightning", is the lineal descendant of the 78th Division of World War I and the 78th Infantry Division of World War II. The current 78th Division (TS) is responsible for conducting simulations exercises and field training for US Army Reserve and Army National Guard units across 14 states from North Carolina to the Canadian border.

As of October 2009 the Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Reserve Center has been closed as per the recommendation of the Base Realignment and Closure, 2005.[4] The last tenant units have relocated to Fort Dix, N.J.

Areas surrounding the former base now belong to Piscataway Township or to Rutgers University and many existent buildings and facilities were clearly part of the former Camp Kilmer. Portions of the World War II-era camp are still used by the Edison Job Corps, including some of the original barracks, the chapel and post flag pole. Most of the site is now occupied by the Timothy Christian School.

There was also the raritan arsenal in Edison, right where the train show takes place today.
In the 50's the concrete parking lots were filled with tanks, half tracks, jeeps, artillery guns and more. The lots stretched for miles all filled. I remember when I was a kid we used to go boat riding and the road that went by the arsenal sat high giving an excellent view of the base. 
Years ago I tried to search for some pictures of it filled with all the vehicles and I couldn't find any. I tried again today and came up with nothing.
What a site it was to see, I guess what I saw there came back from Korea?
I don't know, I wish there was a picture to show what I saw.
Even though I was just a young kid when I saw them, I still see it in my mind. 

Too bad I can't project an image from my brain and post it here, who knows maybe in the future we will be able to do something like that.

Nice find I bookmarked it.:smokin::thumbsup:


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## eljefe (Jun 11, 2011)

Here is a related thread...

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=16479


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## rkenney (Aug 10, 2013)

DonR said:


> How things were when the Army rode the trains.
> 
> http://www.tehistory.org/hqda/html/v42/v42n2p035.html
> 
> Don


Here is a PDF of the same page if anyone is interested. 

http://www.tehistory.org/hqda/pdf/v42/Volume42_N2_035.pdf 

:smokin:


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

microbuss said:


> yeah
> Now do anyone make those cars in HO?


Looks like a few but what a wonderful opportunity to scratch build something. Shouldn't be too hard. 

Thanks to DonR big ed et al for bringing that bit of history to our attention.


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