A great deal of information pertinent to my modeling efforts
is preserved in the National Archives in College Park Maryland. The Archives are a pleasant place to do
research, but it does take a bit of preparation.
Archives
II, College Park, MD
Some of the finding aids are available on-line, but most of
the more useful aids are only available in the research rooms. You need to have a current researcher card to
gain access to the research floors, so plan ahead to spend some extra time on
you first day checking in and getting registered. Textual, photographic and cartographic
records are on separate floors, so if you need to access all three, plan on a
multi-day visit. And although you can
look at records on most Saturdays, you have to have them “pulled” during the
work week, so weekend only visits are only good for figuring out what you want
to look at when you can come back during the week. If you are going to look at military files,
as I have been doing, get familiar with the Army and Navy file plans for your
time frame, available on line. And they
did change how they organized things over time, so reference to the
contemporary master file plan really helps determine where to look.
Don’t bring a hand-held scanner, you won’t be allowed to use
it. Do bring a good digital camera it
makes a very good “DAD” (Data Acquisition Device). I have been using my Canon 30D with a 28-135
lens on a tripod with remote shutter release.
You can hand hold, but that gets tiresome. Ask me how I know. Your newer smart phone can also work, as can
your tablet. I have copied the finding
aid for the Office of the Chief of Transportation with my Kindle Fire. I now have a copy that I can refer to while
commuting.
In my last visit on 27 and 28 May, I finally found some
information on MAIN trains and Military Extras.
The MAIN train information came from formerly classified messages from
the traffic control division of the Army’s Office of the Chief of
Transportation, Record Group 336. When
working with any records, FOLLOW THE RULES! This goes triple for formerly classified
records. Make sure that the
declassification slip and the project number are visible in ALL copies and
photos you make of any item that is in a record box that has ANY formerly
classified records in it. Most of the
WWII records retain their original classification markings and were
declassified in bulk. Without the
numbers from the slip, you will have a very hard time proving that the Secret
document on your hard drive isn’t any more.
Having your hard drive confiscated is not something that you want to
deal with.
And here are a couple examples of what is there you can click to enlarge:
This message is addressed to the Commanding General (C.G)
Ninth Service Command (CMD), Army Service Forces (ASF), Fort (FT) Douglas, Utah
and to the San Francisco Port of Embarkation (SFPE), California
The above reads: Military impedimenta (IMPED) from Camp (CP)
Gruber, OK to Oakland, CA SFPE 1 box car, to Emeryville, CA SFPE 15 flat
cars. Both routed via Missouri Pacific,
Denver Rio Grande Western, Southern Pacific.
Leave (LV) to arrive (ARR) January 9th. Freight Route Order Military (MI) 6061 code 1190
Here’s one that I’ll need for Camp Stoneman:
7 Officers, 195 Enlisted Men arriving Camp Stoneman, CA from
Wilken, NC on 16 January. Consist of NEC
(Necessary) Tourist cars, 1 Baggage (BAG) and one Troop Kitchen (TC). Routed
Southern, Frisco, Santa Fe! How many
Tourist cars were necessary? Army policy
was to not have two enlisted in an upper, so the capacity of a section was two
EM in the lower and 1 in the upper. With
195 enlisted, that meant at least 65 sections. Officers usually travelled in standard Pullmans,
but apparently not in this case. They
did not have to share a berth though, so a max of two per section for 4-7 more
or 69 to 72 total sections for the troops in this move. To that, each sleeper also carried its
Pullman porter and I think each train also carried a Pullman conductor, but I
am not certain. To accommodate all the
troops and the Pullman personnel, would take at least six 13 section tourist
cars. If Pullman were able to provide
four 16 section cars plus another of any capacity, they could have reduced the
number of cars by one. This is a good
modelable MAIN train for me with a baggage car, three 13s, Troop Kitchen, three
more 13s. Time to get cracking on
building those Branchline 12-1s as 13s tourist cars with Tom Madden’s non-AC
roofs.
JOHN BARRY
30 May, 2016
Arlington, VA