Speed Graphic Film and Video | Wartime Trains: OWI and US Army Railroad Film @SpeedGraphicFilmVideo | Uploaded October 2020 | Updated October 2024, 21 hours ago.
This is a collection of scenes and outtakes taken by the Office of War Information (OWI) and the U.S. Army during World War II. They show civilian trains, troop trains and operations on the military railroad attached to Camp Claiborne in Louisiana.
0:00 The opening shots show a double-headed troop train headed into a tunnel. Unknown railroad and location.
0:35 Two great shots of Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boys, the first of the 4017 showing its flexibility as it leaves a yard, then the 4006 out on the mainline at Ogden.
0:55 Unknown railroad, unknown location
0:58 A practically head-on shot of a Southern Pacific GS-2 4-8-4, location unknown.
1:02 Unknown railroad, unknown location, though it certainly looks like the southwest.
1:13 This and following scenes were shot on the Claiborne-Polk Military Railroad, attached to Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. Its purpose was to train personnel how to operate and maintain a railroad under combat conditions.
2:48 A few scenes from "Troop Train," a 1943 OWI film showing what it took to move a battalion by rail. You can see the original film here: youtube.com/watch?v=qjB9JZJXNHw
3:31 This and following scenes are from a short OWI film encouraging civilians to save metal cans for re-use. They appear to have been taken in Detroit.
4:13 These last scenes are from a film promoting the Lend-Lease program that sent ships and materiel to Great Britain.
There was no on-location sound with any of these clips, so I've added a musical soundtrack. It's from Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 6, premiered in 1968. It's not a perfect fit, but I thought the solo snare drum opening was appropriate.
This is a collection of scenes and outtakes taken by the Office of War Information (OWI) and the U.S. Army during World War II. They show civilian trains, troop trains and operations on the military railroad attached to Camp Claiborne in Louisiana.
0:00 The opening shots show a double-headed troop train headed into a tunnel. Unknown railroad and location.
0:35 Two great shots of Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boys, the first of the 4017 showing its flexibility as it leaves a yard, then the 4006 out on the mainline at Ogden.
0:55 Unknown railroad, unknown location
0:58 A practically head-on shot of a Southern Pacific GS-2 4-8-4, location unknown.
1:02 Unknown railroad, unknown location, though it certainly looks like the southwest.
1:13 This and following scenes were shot on the Claiborne-Polk Military Railroad, attached to Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. Its purpose was to train personnel how to operate and maintain a railroad under combat conditions.
2:48 A few scenes from "Troop Train," a 1943 OWI film showing what it took to move a battalion by rail. You can see the original film here: youtube.com/watch?v=qjB9JZJXNHw
3:31 This and following scenes are from a short OWI film encouraging civilians to save metal cans for re-use. They appear to have been taken in Detroit.
4:13 These last scenes are from a film promoting the Lend-Lease program that sent ships and materiel to Great Britain.
There was no on-location sound with any of these clips, so I've added a musical soundtrack. It's from Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 6, premiered in 1968. It's not a perfect fit, but I thought the solo snare drum opening was appropriate.
