1943 model train layout

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chibobber
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by chibobber » Thu Jun 17, 2021 4:44 pm

Lee,
That is some next level stuff right there. Congrats.
Bob


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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Mon Jul 12, 2021 1:25 pm

Last week, I took some photos for a layout feature for O Scale Trains magazine, and while shooting a cover shot, I got this shot which didn't work as there's fascia on each side. So, I put it through some filters and really like how it turned out:
Image
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Fri Aug 13, 2021 5:09 pm

Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Fri Nov 12, 2021 2:14 pm

Greg Nidifer runs his train past an opposing commuter train bound for Buladeen with 'Captain' Cy Crumley waiting out back impatiently.
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Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:04 pm

Last night, I was playing around with my cell phone and managed to get a halfway decent shot with the main lights out...
Image
I've not done much with the layout recently as I'd had a pinched nerve in my neck that made my left arm very uncomfortable, but it's much better now.
Very soon, I fully intend on completing the Quonset hut for the Army railroaders. I'm really looking forward to this project.
My layout is on the Jan/Feb cover of O Scale Trains magazine, which is just now getting into the hands of subscribers.
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

chibobber
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by chibobber » Mon Dec 20, 2021 8:29 pm

Lee,
Get better soon.
Merry Christmas,
Bob

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Wed Jan 05, 2022 3:07 pm

I didn't even use Photoshop on this shot. I only cropped the photo, all the FX are in real time in the shot!

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Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Thu Jan 13, 2022 8:19 am

ET&WNC 11 takes a short commuter train past the Grindstaff store at Sadie, TN, blowing for the upcoming grade crossing...
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Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Mon Jan 31, 2022 8:36 am

I finished my Quonset Hut project over the weekend, with full interior and lighting. It's replaced the Nissen hut which really wasn't accurate for stateside WW2.
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The front has the usual names sign for the chain of command. “J Stuart” is my nephew’s first and middle name (he’s also a real life Army Captain, just like I was before I got out). “R Sayes” refers to one of my best friends, and a real mentor for model trains.
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Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Fri Feb 04, 2022 7:29 am

I broke out the good camera and experimented with shots of both the outside and the interior of the hut. It worked to have the light on for just a couple of seconds on a 90-second exposure:
Image
And of course I had to make a 40’s-looking shot out of it:
Image
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Mon Mar 07, 2022 9:19 am

Over the weekend, I painted this re-creation of my fictional Railway Operating Battalion insignia:
Image
Today I'll do whatever touchup is needed, then hit it with some dull coat. I'm not sure how I'll hang it. Maybe Velcro as it doesn't weight much as it's a piece of Masonite around ten inches tall.
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Wed Mar 09, 2022 9:30 am

I've been asked several times to explain my fictional railway unit insignia. So, I created the 'official' history of the unit's time along Stoney Creek:
Image

“The Stump Jumpers”
A history of the 796th Railway Operating Battalion, US Army
Compiled by the US Army Center of Military History, Fort McNair

The 796th Railway Operating Battalion (ROB) was established on paper by the US Army Transportation Command at Fort Eustis, Virginia on November 30, 1942. From the formation of the unit, the Clinchfield Railroad wanted to sponsor a ROB and they were asked to assist in the creation of this battalion. They provided a cadre of experienced railroaders, with the expectation of eventually running railroads in formerly occupied nations once they were liberated by Allied forces. Most railroaders in this unit throughout the war were formerly from the Clinchfield.
By January of 1943, the advance party of the ROB headquarters were in Johnson City, Tennessee to scout locations for their elements. Battalion HQ and most of the companies were set up near the narrow-gauge East Tennessee & Western North Carolina (ET&WNC) railroad shops and yard in Johnson City. As most of the effort for the 796th was devoted to running the Stoney Creek Branch, B Company was set up in various locations along that line and set up its company headquarters along a former logging spur near Winner, Tennessee.
Conditions long the line were spartan and supplies were long in coming. A dismantled Nissen hut which had been rejected during testing in Virginia was assembled along the spur and an ET&WNC shack was taken over as a little shop for anything needing hand tools. A former Stoney Creek Southern refrigerated car along the spur was taken over for storage. Perforated steel airfield “Marston matting” was placed in a square for a parking area for the unit’s heavier vehicles.
A trio of 2-6-2 tank engine ‘trench’ locomotives from the Great War were re-gauged at the ET&WNC shops and immediately put to work along the line, along with some narrow-gauge Army cars that arrived unannounced on the backs of some flat cars in the Johnson City yard. All this equipment was used in various locations along the line. One was set aside as a permanent switcher for the B Company, another dedicated to use around the battalion HQ.
Right away, track crews of the 796th went to work on the track which in most cases hadn’t been touched by crews in almost twenty years. In a few weeks, Army railroaders with 55-pound rail and newly cut ties, had the right of way was looking better than the locals said it had when it was new.
By the spring of 1943, soldier/railroaders of the 796th were out of shelter tents for good and housed in larger squad tents and Quonset huts that had arrived with additional heavy wheeled vehicles. Working closely with the ET&WNC, the 796th ran several freight and passenger and freight trains throughout the entire line. It was common to see soldier railroaders crewing trains anywhere between Johnson City to either Buladeen, Tennessee or Cranberry, North Carolina.
By summer of 1943, operations were well underway for tactical training and familiarity with European and Asian prototype equipment for eventual deployment overseas. A handful of European rolling stock captured in Africa was brought to Stoney Creek for the 796th to work with. A new Whitcomb 50-tonner diesel-electric locomotive was also brought in, though it proved to be unpopular with crews and somewhat unreliable.
In anticipation of the invasion of Europe during the spring of 1944, the 796th was ordered to prepare for movement to the New York port of Embarkation and eventual movement to the European Theater of Operations, where they later served with great distinction. The 796th ended the war at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany and the unit was disbanded in 1946.
The Battalion insignia is described as a ‘trench’ engine jumping over a stump, upon a shield of Transportation Corps yellow. The insignia was unofficially created by a member of HQ Company, who later said he had designed it after the initial review of the Stoney Creek right of way. During the review, one officer was heard to say, “Boys, looks like we’ll be jumping stumps for the rest of the war.”
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Tue Mar 29, 2022 8:22 am

I've decided to make patches of the 796th ROB insignia. I am very aware that Battalion-level units almost never had their own shoulder patches either during WW2 or at any point, but so many people have asked if I'll make them.
This is the digital scan of my insignia.
Image
The patches will be 3" high.
I'm not going to make a huge batch of them but I'll be selling a few at the national Narrow Gauge Convention in Tacoma when people come see my layout for layout tours. They'll probably be around $10 each. Once I have them in hand next month, I'll make them available here for anyone who might want a patch for what HAS to be the only Army railway unit insignia ever designed in the hobby.
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Thu Apr 07, 2022 1:23 pm

I have placed the order for some of the 796th ROB patches and they should be here next week. I'm trying to figure out how much to sell them for, but let me know if you're interest in one:
Image
They will be 3 inches high.
I'm quite sure these are the only military railway unit patches in the model railroad (or any other) hobby.
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:

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Lee Bishop
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Re: 1943 model train layout

Post by Lee Bishop » Tue Apr 26, 2022 10:08 am

The patches are finally here and ready to go!
Image
I only made one run (and not a great deal of them), so once they're gone, that's IT, for what must be the only model railroad fictional Army railroad unit patches ever made.
Image
Each will come with a history of the (fictional) 796th Railway Operating Battalion.
They're 3 inches tall and have the non-merrowed edges that are correct for US patches in WW2.
$9.00 each, postpaid WITHIN THE US ONLY
The easiest way is to pay via pay pal, to p51@hotmail.com
That's the only online way I'll accept payment. If you want to pay via the US mail, email me about that.
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:


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