My Collection of Railway Operating Battalion / Military Railway Service Insignia

[Matthew1945]

Here's a compilation of Railway Operating Battalion (ROB) and related insignia from my collection. Railway Battalion/Military Railway Service (MRS) related militaria has always held a special place in my heart being a train nerd since I was young. I figured after I joined the Army I would have detached myself from that interest, until I realized the Army was a fan of trains themselves. Needless to say I went down the rabbit hole and here we are! Enjoy!

 

Also, if anyone has any MRS/ROB militaria, ephemera, please don't hesitate to comment or shoot me a message, I am always buying. Currently I am trying to collect all ROB/MRS DUIs, related insignia and patches, but I also collect Railway Engineer and MRS uniforms, photos and books. 

 

**All photos are copyrighted. If you wish to use one of my photos outside of this forum please send me a message.**

 

GHQ Military Railway Service

 

 

2nd Military Railway Service ("Perangusta Adaugusta" no spaces, most likely "Per Angusta Ad Augusta") (One)

 

 

 

2nd Military Railway Service (Two)

 

 

711th Engineer Battalion (Railway) ("On Schedule")

 

 

 

712th Railway Operating Battalion ("In Omnis Vincimus") (One)

 

 

 

 

712th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

 

 

713th Railway Operating Battalion ("Spiking Their Guns")

 

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion ("Through At Any Cost") (One)

 

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

)

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Three)

 

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Four)

 

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Five)

 

)

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Six)

 

 

 

715th Railway Operating Battalion ("Power Victorious")

 

 

716th Railway Operating Battalion ("Victory Rails")

 

 

719th Railway Operating Battalion/719th Transportation Battalion ("Sunset Route To Victory") (One)

 

 

719th Railway Operating Battalion/719th Transportation Battalion (Two)

 

 

719th Railway Operating Battalion/719th Transportation Battalion (Three)

 

 

 

719th Railway Operating Battalion/719th Transportation Battalion (Four) 

 

 

729th Railway Operating Battalion / 729th Transportation Battalion ("Equites Ferri") (One)

 

 

729th Railway Operating Battalion / 729th Transportation Battalion (Two)

 

 

729th Railway Operating Battalion / 729th Transportation Battalion (Three)

 

 

734th Railway Operating Battalion (One of my personal favorites as it depicts the contemporary Army consolidation locomotive during WWII, the S160)

 

 

746th Railway Operating Battalion (One)

 

 

746th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

 

746th Railway Operating Battalion (Three)

 

 

746th Railway Operating Battalion (Four)

 

 

750th Railway Operating Battalion (One)

 

 

750th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

 

 

752nd Railway Operating Battalion

 

 

753rd Railway Shop Battalion (Another personal favorite, a forum member here even hooked me up with a sweet Officer grouping with accompanying insignia (not shown)) (One)

 

 

 

753rd Railway Shop Battalion (Two)

 

 

 

754th Railway Shop Battalion (Another personal favorite) (One)

 

 

754th Railway Shop Battalion  (Two)

 

 

754th Railway Shop Battalion (Three)

 

 

754th Railway Shop Battalion (Four)

 

 

756th Railway Shop Battalion

 

 

759th Railway Operating Battalion (One)

 

 

759th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

 

763rd Railway Shop Battalion

 

 

766th Railway Shop Battalion 

 

 

 

 

[mikie]

30 minutes ago, Matthew1945 said:

Here's a compilation of Railway Operating Battalion (ROB) and related insignia from my collection. Railway Battalion/Military Railway Service (MRS) related militaria has always held a special place in my heart being a train nerd since I was young. I figured after I joined the Army I would have detached myself from that interest, until I realized the Army was a fan of trains themselves. Needless to say I went down the rabbit hole and here we are! Enjoy!

 

Also, if anyone has any MRS/ROB militaria, ephemera, please don't hesitate to comment or shoot me a message, I am always buying. Currently I am trying to collect all ROB/MRS DUIs, related insignia and patches, but I also collect Railway Engineer and MRS uniforms, photos and books. 

 

**All photos are copyrighted. If you wish to use one of my photos outside of this forum please send me a message.**

 

GHQ Military Railway Service

 

 

2nd Military Railway Service ("Perangusta Adaugusta" no spaces, most likely "Per Angusta Ad Augusta") (One)

 

 

 

2nd Military Railway Service (Two)

 

 

711th Engineer Battalion (Railway) ("On Schedule")

 

 

 

712th Railway Operating Battalion ("In Omnis Vincimus") (One)

 

 

 

 

712th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

 

 

713th Railway Operating Battalion ("Spiking Their Guns")

 

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion ("Through At Any Cost") (One)

 

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

)

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Three)

 

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Four)

 

 

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Five)

 

)

 

714th Railway Operating Battalion (Six)

 

 

 

715th Railway Operating Battalion ("Power Victorious")

 

 

716th Railway Operating Battalion ("Victory Rails")

 

 

719th Railway Operating Battalion/719th Transportation Battalion ("Sunset Route To Victory") (One)

 

 

719th Railway Operating Battalion/719th Transportation Battalion (Two)

 

 

719th Railway Operating Battalion/719th Transportation Battalion (Three)

 

 

 

719th Railway Operating Battalion/719th Transportation Battalion (Four) 

 

 

729th Railway Operating Battalion / 729th Transportation Battalion ("Equites Ferri") (One)

 

 

729th Railway Operating Battalion / 729th Transportation Battalion (Two)

 

 

729th Railway Operating Battalion / 729th Transportation Battalion (Three)

 

 

734th Railway Operating Battalion (One of my personal favorites as it depicts the contemporary Army consolidation locomotive during WWII, the S160)

 

 

746th Railway Operating Battalion (One)

 

 

746th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

 

746th Railway Operating Battalion (Three)

 

 

746th Railway Operating Battalion (Four)

 

 

750th Railway Operating Battalion (One)

 

 

750th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

 

 

752nd Railway Operating Battalion

 

 

753rd Railway Shop Battalion (Another personal favorite, a forum member here even hooked me up with a sweet Officer grouping with accompanying insignia (not shown)) (One)

 

 

 

753rd Railway Shop Battalion (Two)

 

 

 

754th Railway Shop Battalion (Another personal favorite) (One)

 

 

754th Railway Shop Battalion  (Two)

 

 

754th Railway Shop Battalion (Three)

 

 

754th Railway Shop Battalion (Four)

 

 

756th Railway Shop Battalion

 

 

759th Railway Operating Battalion (One)

 

 

759th Railway Operating Battalion (Two)

 

 

763rd Railway Shop Battalion

 

 

766th Railway Shop Battalion 

 

 

 

 

Wow, you have an amazing and unique collection. This is the first I've heard of this unit. I've read a bit about the military railroads run by the Union during the Civil War, but not this. I'll need to start reading up on it. Thanks! 

Mikie

[patches]

Fantastic array of units and time periods, though one was an ARESTA?

[Matthew1945]

Thanks Mikie! If you have any questions feel free to DM me and I'll try my best to answer them!

[Matthew1945]

12 minutes ago, patches said:

Fantastic array of units and time periods, though one was an ARESTA?

 

Yup, that should be the 715th ROB DUI. I honestly cannot attest this truly to be the insignia of the 715th (I unfortunately do not have the ASMIC catalog on Railway units), that is just what the seller had listed it as when I purchased it off Ebay so I labeled it here as such.

[patches]

10 minutes ago, Matthew1945 said:

 

Yup, that should be the 715th ROB DUI. I honestly cannot attest this truly to be the insignia of the 715th (I unfortunately do not have the ASMIC catalog on Railway units), that is just what the seller had listed it as when I purchased it off Ebay so I labeled it here as such.

There are a few talks on ARESTA, here's one of them.

 

 

[manayunkman]

Very nice DUI collection.

 

I have a very small collection of railway operators items myself.

[postmanusnac]

I alway enjoyed ROB stuff.  I have quite a few of their unit histories.  I also have a named uniform for a guy in Co. C, 718th ROB..  it has beautiful theatre made DIs.  (NFS)

[tredhed2]

Nice to know there are those interested in the MRS. 350,000 RR employees joined all branches of the US military during WW 2, and 44,000 joined the MRS. The War Dept (WD) got its act together by partnering civilian RRs w/ basically Army train battalions pre-war. The WD knew that in the 20s-30s and early 1940s the fastest and most efficient method of moving large quantities of anything was via the RRs. The WD transferred all MRS units from the Corps of Engrs (a WW 1 holdover) to Transportation Corps in Nov 42.

 

Amry MRS units were designated railway operating battalions (ROBs) , railway shop battalions (RSB), railway grand divisions (RGDs), and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd MRS units. The latter were admin units which worked like HW Co of field armies, directing RGDs which in turn directed ROBs and RGDs, which all operated in geographic areas.    

 

If you worked as an engineer for a civilian RR that sponsored a ROB for example, you could enlist for an engineer position, which was the T-3 grade. I will cite ROBs becasue rthere were more of them than other MRS units. When ROBs were formed, usually w/ cadres of formerly civilian RRs, they would undergo Army basic training and then the units would transfer to Army bases to hone their skills. ROBs would train with civilian RRs. ROBs had 3 companies - HQ, A Co (admin) B Co (minor repair, engr and rail plts) and C Co (train crews).  In Europe, there were D Cos for operating electric trains.          

 

RSBs had 4 companies- HQ, A Co (responsible for lathes, milling machines, and minor/major overhauls of locomotives) B Co (boiler repair, firebox rebuilds, and blacksmithing) C Co (forges, rebuilding/building new cars, e.g. hospital cars). 

 

RGDs were the admin units, appprox 100 personnel. 

 

An excellent book on the subject is Railroading in Eighteen Countries, by MG Carl Gray, who was the Director of the MRS. 

 

The MRS was gone by the end of WW II (+ occupation duties) and morphed into the Transportation Military Railway Service (TMRS).  The TMRS continued its legacy into and throughout the KW. The TMRS built many of the hospital cars used to transfer patients from the battle field to hospitals in Japane, and in Occupation Big Switch,

 

The original posts in this thread show an excellent collection of DIs and many are difficult to come by. Of course, not every MRS unit had a DI, and even fewer had patches. Most MRS uniforms/groupings feature COM Z patches and/or a field Army patch.

 

The ASMIC MRS (TC) DI and Patch catalog features both DIs (no fantasy pieces) and cloth insignia.     

 

In addition to the Aresta piece for the 715th ROB, the 711th ROB is a post war piece made for collectors in the 70s. The Bn was the first one organized and activated in WW 2, ran the "ROB School" at Camp Claibourne, LA. They built a training RR from Claibourne to Ft Polk, They eventually served in North Africa, Iran (ran supplies to the Russkies) and was inactivated in 1945.      

 

    

[Matthew1945]

1 hour ago, tredhed2 said:

Nice to know there are those interested in the MRS. 350,000 RR employees joined all branches of the US military during WW 2, and 44,000 joined the MRS. The War Dept (WD) got its act together by partnering civilian RRs w/ basically Army train battalions pre-war. The WD knew that in the 20s-30s and early 1940s the fastest and most efficient method of moving large quantities of anything was via the RRs. The WD transferred all MRS units from the Corps of Engrs (a WW 1 holdover) to Transportation Corps in Nov 42.

 

Amry MRS units were designated railway operating battalions (ROBs) , railway shop battalions (RSB), railway grand divisions (RGDs), and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd MRS units. The latter were admin units which worked like HW Co of field armies, directing RGDs which in turn directed ROBs and RGDs, which all operated in geographic areas.    

 

If you worked as an engineer for a civilian RR that sponsored a ROB for example, you could enlist for an engineer position, which was the T-3 grade. I will cite ROBs becasue rthere were more of them than other MRS units. When ROBs were formed, usually w/ cadres of formerly civilian RRs, they would undergo Army basic training and then the units would transfer to Army bases to hone their skills. ROBs would train with civilian RRs. ROBs had 3 companies - HQ, A Co (admin) B Co (minor repair, engr and rail plts) and C Co (train crews).  In Europe, there were D Cos for operating electric trains.          

 

RSBs had 4 companies- HQ, A Co (responsible for lathes, milling machines, and minor/major overhauls of locomotives) B Co (boiler repair, firebox rebuilds, and blacksmithing) C Co (forges, rebuilding/building new cars, e.g. hospital cars). 

 

RGDs were the admin units, appprox 100 personnel. 

 

An excellent book on the subject is Railroading in Eighteen Countries, by MG Carl Gray, who was the Director of the MRS. 

 

The MRS was gone by the end of WW II (+ occupation duties) and morphed into the Transportation Military Railway Service (TMRS).  The TMRS continued its legacy into and throughout the KW. The TMRS built many of the hospital cars used to transfer patients from the battle field to hospitals in Japane, and in Occupation Big Switch,

 

The original posts in this thread show an excellent collection of DIs and many are difficult to come by. Of course, not every MRS unit had a DI, and even fewer had patches. Most MRS uniforms/groupings feature COM Z patches and/or a field Army patch.

 

The ASMIC MRS (TC) DI and Patch catalog features both DIs (no fantasy pieces) and cloth insignia.     

 

In addition to the Aresta piece for the 715th ROB, the 711th ROB is a post war piece made for collectors in the 70s. The Bn was the first one organized and activated in WW 2, ran the "ROB School" at Camp Claibourne, LA. They built a training RR from Claibourne to Ft Polk, They eventually served in North Africa, Iran (ran supplies to the Russkies) and was inactivated in 1945.      

 

    

 

Excellent write up! Thanks for the info and corrections. Out of all the ROBs I have to say I am quite obsessed with the 711th, both when they were at Camp Claiborne (Still trying to get their unit history for the collection) and later on when they were part of the Persian Gulf Command. I have one album from the Gulf with a large amount of rail related photos in it but sadly none of the larger S200 class locomotives which became icons for steam operations in that region (For those wondering that's the locomotive in my profile pic). The 714th ROB and 770th ROB (which operated the White Pass and Yukon RR in Alaska for those that do not know) are also units that are close to my heart, such an interesting and unique story they have. Unfortunately, and in a way fortunately for us collectors, MRS and the ROBs are seldom known it seems outside of military railfans and those interested in the Transportation Corps but they were absolutely instrumental in getting much needed equipment and supplies to the front. I'm glad to see there are others of this forum who share an interest!

[Matthew1945]

13 hours ago, patches said:

There are a few talks on ARESTA, here's one of them.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info!

[Matthew1945]

5 hours ago, manayunkman said:

Very nice DUI collection.

 

I have a very small collection of railway operators items myself.

 

Thank you!

[Matthew1945]

4 hours ago, postmanusnac said:

I alway enjoyed ROB stuff.  I have quite a few of their unit histories.  I also have a named uniform for a guy in Co. C, 718th ROB..  it has beautiful theatre made DIs.  (NFS)

 

I would love to see a pic of it if you wouldn't mind sharing.

[manayunkman]

Here is my small 711th group from Mechanicsburg, Pa.

[Matthew1945]

That's an awesome grouping! I wonder if he wore the 711th DUI or the PCG one when overseas. 

[postmanusnac]

3 hours ago, Matthew1945 said:

 

I would love to see a pic of it if you wouldn't mind sharing.

Here you go.

[Matthew1945]

That's an amazing Ike! I have one from a soldier from the 2nd MRS, 750th, and an Ike that was given to me by a forum member here with a grouping from the 753rd.

[manayunkman]

2 hours ago, Matthew1945 said:

That's an awesome grouping! I wonder if he wore the 711th DUI or the PCG one when overseas. 

Wish I knew, glad you like it.

[rd12]

Excellent thread, so glad I saw it. I don't believe I've ever seen these before, Matthew1945 well done!

[Matthew1945]

On 7/2/2022 at 8:19 PM, rd12 said:

Excellent thread, so glad I saw it. I don't believe I've ever seen these before, Matthew1945 well done!

 

Thank you! I'm going to update this thread as I add to the collection and find more variations!

[Ilin1979]

Here is my small collection. 

[tredhed2]

16 hours ago, Ilin1979 said:

Here is my small collection. 

Your "8th Div Trains" on the bottom right is not for the MRS. It is for Div Trains, which usually consisted of the Div Maint and Supply & Transportation Bn (S & T Bn).

[Ilin1979]

3 hours ago, tredhed2 said:

Your "8th Div Trains" on the bottom right is not for the MRS. It is for Div Trains, which usually consisted of the Div Maint and Supply & Transportation Bn (S & T Bn).

Thank you,I know that (thanks to Asmic catalogs). Just figured I put it with the others.

[Matthew1945]

On 7/21/2022 at 8:18 PM, Ilin1979 said:

Here is my small collection. 

 

Awesome collection! I would love to be able to find an original 711th DUI and to get a nice 753rd DUI in silver.

[Yuri Bezmenov]

This is a pic of my grandfather's ROB Headquarters Company at Camp Claiborne before they deployed to Europe in July of 1944.