BACKTRACKING
714th Railroad Battalion
By Terry
Hogan
I suppose
about anyone who spent some time on active duty in the military has a tale or
two to tell. If not, they probably
just werenÕt paying attention. My
time was 1969-1971. I was in the
Army. We were at war in
Vietnam. But I stayed
state-side. I was one of the lucky
ones.
I found
myself assigned to the S-4 (logistics) section of the Army 7th
Transportation Brigade at Fort Eustis, Virginia. It sat on a peninsula or an island, with the James River on
one side and the York River on the other.
I think it was about 4 feet above high tide. It was hot. It was humid. It was loaded with mosquitoes. But nobody was trying to shoot you.
However one
of the great benefits of living on post was the 714th Railroad
Battalion. It was the only active
duty army railroad unit. Its
domestic mission was to keep a core group of military men that could operate
and maintain steam locomotives in a foreign country, if the need were to
arise. At that time, a number of
countries still relied on steam power, and if the army was to make use of the
existing infrastructure, it needed expertise to operate the system.
However for
my wife and me, it was purely an opportunity to wake to the sound of a steam
locomotive huffing and puffing, and the occasional blast of the whistle. The fort was relatively small and
largely surrounded by water.
Further, the army locomotives were restricted to operating on military
tracks on the base. As such, it
would somewhat resemble a toy train set with the circular paths the locomotives
had to take.
Because of the small size of the fort, and its tendency to resemble a large
wetland rather than an army base, the railroad tracks and available roads often
tended to run side by side on the higher ground. As such, the old steam locomotives, pulling a few cars, were
easily encountered.
One of the
destinations that the locomotives had available to it was ÒThird PortÓ. Third Port was a training site along
the James River where the ArmyÕs only active stevedore company and only active
tugboat companies were located.
Yep, the Army had tug boats.
It had a small collection of 65 foot, 80 foot, and 100 foot long tug
boats if my memory hasnÕt failed me.
The two larger sizes had crews that lived on the boats. The 65 footers did not. Like the
railroad battalion, these odd creatures of the army existed to provide limited
in-house capability for the army to move ships about in harbor and to load and
unload supplies from those ships.
It had a mockup of a large ship, complete with necessary equipment for
loading and unloading it. It was
dubbed the ÒUSS NeversailÓ as it resembled a shipÕs deck, but was not a
complete ship.
It occurred
to me recently that there might be a few folks interested in the old 714th,
as Galesburg is steeped in railroad history. I decided to get on the trusty internet and see if the 714th
was still running the old steam locomotives in tight circles at Fort Eustis. To
my dismay, I found that not only does the 714th no longer exist on
active duty, but also that it didnÕt last long after my departure in 1971. It left the scene in 1972. Much of the
rolling stock is gone, but there apparently is a railroad museum of some type
that may be open to the public.
The internet site said it was open to the public, but given the more
stringent security measures broadly taken, it may not be the case. I tried to contact the Ft. Eustis
historian listed on the home page, but the email address ÒbouncedÓ.
One of the
Ft. Eustis engines took place in the ceremony of the marriage of the rails,
where the first intercontinental railroad was completed. Ft. Eustis had initially hope to be
able to run the steam locomotive to Utah, but federal regulations intervened. It appeared that the engine did not
have all the tests and certifications required to run outside of the Ft. Eustis
rail system. So, the large
locomotive had to be loaded on a flat car and hauled to the commemorative event
in May 1969 marking the 100th
anniversary of the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. It was too bad. Many of adults and children missed the
opportunity to see an army steam locomotive steaming down the tracks, out to
complete a mission.
Alas, the
old steam locomotives no longer hiss and whistle across the swamps of Ft.
Eustis, Virginia, just a few miles down the road from Williamsburg. The site is rich in history, beyond
railroads. Remnants of battles fought during the Revolutionary War and the
Civil War are visible to the keen eye.
Perhaps on
a hot, steamy evening, as the mosquitosÕ sound like a DC-3 warming up its
engines, a small ripple may appear on the surface of the James River, created
by the haunting whistle of a ghostly steam locomotive. The sound might even be reflected back
by the old Òmothball fleetÓ that used to be anchored in the James –
remnants of the WWII naval castaways. They survived the war, but not the peace.
To be sure,
I did not enjoy my two years on active duty. I learned that I was neither officer material nor was I
pre-disposed to fit the military mode.
I left the army the day before I would have made captain. Promotion was fast back then; company
grade officers were in great demand as Òcannon fodderÓ.
But, there
were some things to enjoy about Ft. Eustis. And the sounds and sights of the old 714th
Railroad Battalion fell in that category.
History is where you find it.
6/26/08