Milwaukee line runs at Redstone railroad club

Among all the model trains running on the tracks at the Redstone Model Railroad Club, the orange and black paint scheme on the three locomotives and ‘Milwaukee’ painted on the side has a connection to the Army. It’s that connection to the Army that fascinates Mike Mittlebeeler, a history buff and club president.

“I picked the Milwaukee Road because I’m a history buff,” Mittlebeeler said. “They had a huge role in World War II which I knew nothing about prior to getting into model trains.”

The Milwaukee Road Rail Line sponsored two Army battalions which fought in the European Theater following the invasion at Normandy. The battalions were officered and partially manned by Milwaukee Road management and union employees during the war, according to TrainBoard, a train enthusiast website.

The battalions were the 744th Railway Operating Battalion and the 757th Engineer Railway Battalion. The battalions were under fire by German bombers and fighters who constantly bombed and strafed railroad facilities and trains behind Allied lines.

The 744th Battalion moved more military and passenger freight behind Allied lines during the battle for Europe than any other transportation battalion. It was known as the “queue buster” for its ability to clear up snarled log jams of Allied military rail traffic and move massive amounts of war material and troops on France, Belgium and Germany’s wrecked railroads.

The 757th Battalion was never decommissioned. In fact, the Milwaukee Road lives on today through the 757th Battalion; the Battalion exists today as the 757th Transportation Battalion, Army Reserve. It is the only railway battalion left in the Army. The 757th is headquartered in Milwaukee. Its motto is “Source of Power.” The battalion trains reserve and active military engineers from across the Milwaukee Road’s territory, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Montana. The 757th saw service in war-torn Iraq repairing facilities at the Port of Qasr.

“They went from Minneapolis, St. Paul. Milwaukee and Chicago all the way to the West Coast,” Mittlebeeler said. “During the Great Depression, they took a huge gamble. They had a German who worked for them who was a mechanical genius. He modified an existing locomotive so they could have a passenger train do 100 mph. This was unheard of at the time. Other than maybe a couple of stretches in Europe, nobody could have a train go that fast. Being able for a businessman to get someplace in two hours instead of eight, that was a big deal at the time.”

The Milwaukee Road had to beef up all the bridges and railroad to handle this highspeed train.

“Well, then WWII happened,” Mittlebeeler said. “All that coal and steel from the Great Lakes has got to get to the West Coast to supply the fight in the Pacific. Same thing with people and Soldiers. So, all this had been strengthened for the highspeed train not knowing this would help get supplies to the industries to supply the fight in the Pacific.”

The Milwaukee Road enjoyed temporary success after World War II. With the wartime ban on new passenger service lifted, the company upgraded its trains and passenger service increased. But trains were in decline across the United States. Between 1974 and 1977, the Milwaukee Road lost $100 million, and the company filed for its third bankruptcy in 42 years in 1977 and Milwaukee Road was sold in 1985.

Much of the Milwaukee line is now rail trails.