Price $12.

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Volume 36 Issue 4 • 2020
 OFFICERS
Chairman of the Board:
David Rice • [email protected]
President: Tim Hensley • [email protected]
Vice President:
Volume 36 • Issue 4 • 2020 Stephen Warren • [email protected]
From The Editor’s Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Treasurer: Ron Davis • [email protected]
Secretary: Ken Miller • [email protected]
Letters from the RPO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
DIRECTORS
Sometimes coincidences happen, this email came into the Society as I
was working on laying out this issue. Tishia Boggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Frank Bongiovanni . . . [email protected]
The Norfolk and Western and World War II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Dr. Brent Greer . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Bud Jeffries tells the story of the Norfolk and Western’s efforts during the Ryan Merrill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
global conflict. Sam Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Rick Musser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Michael Rhodes . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
From the Editor: This, as you can tell, is a very special issue of the Arrow.
Most folks do not realize the dramatic impact the Norfolk and Western For address changes, subscription problems, or
(and Virginian!) had on the war effort. other membership information, please email:
[email protected]
or mail: PO Box 13908 Roanoke, VA 24038-3908
Coming Up In The Arrow:
The Beginnings of the Virginian continue • High Noon Continues with a look at
Roanoke Terminal at High Noon, August 1955 MANAGING EDITOR
Glade Spring Memories: Abe Burnett shares his detailed recollections of working Kenneth L. Miller
as a new brakeman on the Saltville Branch in the early 1960s
A Look at St. Paul Virginia Please send articles and all photos/illustrations
How SD-45 No. 1728 became N&W’s only low-nose SD-45 to: PO Box 13908 Roanoke, VA 24038-3908
[email protected]
Remember, articles are always needed, just because it might not have appeared CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
in the Arrow, does not mean it has been forgotten. It either needs some Gordon S. Hamilton Nuggets from the Archives
illustrations to carry it better, or simply space has not been available. There [email protected]
are a number of articles awaiting space right now, but we are committed to EDITORIAL BOARD
completing our Virginian Beginnings Series and the popular “High Noon” Bob Bowers • Ron Davis •Tim Hensley
Bud Jeffries • Jim Nichols
Ed Painter • Alex Schust
www.NWHS.org

A ll articles, photographs, and information should be submitted

to the Managing Editor at the above address. Unless otherwise
requested, all submissions will be held for future publication;
no compensation can be paid. The Arrow (ISSN 87555158) is
published by the Norfolk & Western Historical Society, Inc., a
non-profit organization. All content is © 2020 by N&WHS or the
individual writer. No material may be reproduced without prior
Cover written permission. The Norfolk & Western Historical Society,
Never underestimate the N&W’s contribution Inc. is for the preservation of history of the Norfolk & Western
and Virginian railways. It is not affiliated with, sponsored, nor
during World War II. The global conflict directly supported by the Norfolk & Western Railway or Norfolk Southern
affected the N&W as all American railroads were. Corporation. U.S. membership dues are $50 per year; sustaining
membership is $80 per year; International* is $50 per year;
The various covers of the N&W Magazines of the International* sustaining is $80* per year; all payable in U.S.
era reflect the time as well as a U.S. poster. funds. Membership applications, back issue requests, and other
society inquiries should be directed to the Roanoke, Virginia, office
N&WHS Archives Collection listed above. Be sure to visit us on the web at:

www.nwhs.org
* International is considered as any non-US mailing address. Those
members receive the Arrow as a downloadable PDF only, for rates for a
printed magazine, please email [email protected]
Fr o m t he R a i l w a y P o st Of f ice
Wr i te t h e Ed i to r at t hearrow @ NW HS.o rg

T
his is not so much an actual letter to the editor, but been from Duluth, Minnesota, where he was 19 in 1940, and
an email that came as an inquiry to our info@nwhs. worked as a laborer in railroad service, which turns out to
org address, of which I responded to. be the Northern Pacific Railway, as his address is in Duluth,
This is a case of subjects close to my heart, and it touched 4370 Minnesota Avenue. As he was only 19 in 1940 and still
me as I did a response. living at home with his parents and sister, it is possible that
Good Evening he did not marry prior to being in the Army, and therefore
A few weeks back I adopted the grave of John M McGillis. left no one but his family. I found his sister’s obituary from
John served in the 755th Railway Shop Battallion during 2012 who did not list any relative other than he and their
WW2 and was killed during an air raid or a V1 rocket attack. parents, her only family survivor was a cousin, who passed
I am trying to find a picture of John because right now he away in Ottawa, Canada in 2019.
is just a name on a cross on a foreign cemetery (Henri Chapelle My best guess at this point would be contacting the
Belgium) Minnesota Historical Society to see if they might be able
If my information is right the 755th was a Norfolk and to help. The US Military records are housed in a National
Western sponsored unit. Archives facility, which suffered a horrific fire in 1973 which
So I’m kind of hoping your archives hold pictures of the destroyed many military records, but not all.
755th and in the best case of John. If you could give me a short write up about you adopting
I really hope you can help me out in my quest to give John the grave and some background about that, I’d be glad to
back his face. publish it in our quarterly magazine which might generate
With kind regards an additional lead, and if you do come up with a photo, that
Jasper van Kampen the Netherlands would be a great followup.
This sort of letter touches me deeply, as I am a big First of all thank you for time and effort and of course your
supporter of our World War II veterans, and the simple fact quick reply. I love how most American people are willing to
that people in Belgium and the Netherlands adopt American make an effort if you ask about their fallen soldiers.
graves to this day is a strong statement on them as a people, So, About the adoption
and the significance of the American participation in World My father was born in 1937 so as a child he has witnessed
War II. WW2 from close by. He developed a great interest in the war
So, I did some quick research and responded to Jasper and of course this passed on to myself. I also live very close to a
with the following: infamous WW2 area, the Arnhem bridge held and lost by the
Good Evening Mr. van Kampen British in Operation Market Garden (editor’s note: as in the
First let me say thank you for your adoption of the grave film “A Bridge Too Far”).
of Mr. McGillis, it gives me great pride to hear of such for A few times a year we go on a weekend trip to the South of
our veterans. I have been involved with our local veterans for the Netherlands to the Provence of Limburg. This is where the
some time, helping them with things, taking them to events, only American Cemetery in the Netherlands is. It is also very
etc. It does my heart good to see folks say thank you for their close to the Ardenne region so lots of WW2 battlefields to explore.
service, but hearing of someone specifically taking care of one At Margraten Cemetery I learned about the Adoption
of our men so far from home, is just outstanding. programme and became interested. However all the graves and
I wish I had good news for you on a photo, but the names on the wall of the missing ( about 10.000 in total)
unfortunately we seem to have virtually nothing in our were already adopted. There is in fact a waiting list of 2000
Archives. One of our members did a story in our magazine people. This is were I turned my attention to Henri Chappelle
back over two issues in 2003, but unfortunately, Mr. American Cemetery.
McGillis is not mentioned as one of the actual N&W No waiting list there.
employees in the unit. There were apparently about a dozen As an adopter they expect you visit the grave at least twice a
N&W employees in the unit. year. And they encourage you to find out about “ your” soldier.
The N&W Photo files did not have a lot to offer either, So how do you pick a soldier and research his past? The easy
as the photos that might have appeared in the N&W way is of course to pick a member of the more famous Units like
Magazine would have been snapshots provided by the men 82nd and 101st airborne or the Big Red One. But I choose the
themselves as censorship would rarely allow much that could random option and got John.
be used by the enemy. First thing I noticed was his unit and to be honest I had
From my brief research, Mr McGillis appears to have never heard of the Transportation Corps and what they did.
2 • The Arrow • October. November, December 2020 • 36-4
 N&WHS Archives Collection AAR Photo 3149
GI railway men share the highly-prized
American cigarettes with two Belgium
Gendarmes who assist with guarding
the supply trains in Liege, Belgium.
Naturally, no date is specified, but the
crew men are identified as Fireman T/5
Richard Hardy, Gadsden AL, Engineman
T/4 James B. Roberts, Fresno CA on the
steps, the other person in the cab is only
identified as a Belgian railroad man.

No Hollywood movie has been made

about them.
I also started to reach out to a lot
of Institutions in the US like John’s
local library as well as local Facebook
groups.
That way I got the information
that all of his family has passed
away. And that got me even more
determined to find out everything I
can about him and his Unit. Because
right now I am John’s only hope to get
his face back.
There is a webpage called fields
of honour and they try to put a face
to every name buried in Holland
Belgium and Luxembourg. west of the town of Aachen. The Allies had captured the port
Every 2 years they have a Event where they put all the of Antwerp and gotten it operational in November of 1944,
photos found next to the graves. much freight and war supplies was moving through Antwerp
So my ultimate goal is to find a picture. to Liege via rail and truck. On December 16, 1944, the
So hopefully your readers are able to help. German Army began what would be its last major offensive,
I have also requested his IDPF which might have a picture. today known as the Battle of the Bulge. Liege, because of its
So again thank you very much for your time and effort and strategic importance as a transport center was the target of
if you decide to run a little story about this please feel free to fix multiple German V-1 flying bombs (the forerunner to today’s
my English and If you have any questions left feel free to ask. cruise missile) attacks during November and December of
With kind regards 1944. Liege was in danger of being overrun by German
Jasper forces, being roughly 50 miles from the front.
Jasper would love to find a photo, and I am hoping The weather during the first part of the Battle of the
that one of our readers might have another source or find Bulge kept aircraft from operating, therefore, the V-1 attacks
something that is helpful to him, anyhow feel free to get were immune.
in touch with him at [email protected] I’d also It was reported in 1945 that a lone German aircraft
appreciate being copied on anything you might find, or attacked Liege, Belgium on December 24th and dropped
if you wish contact me directly, and I will put whatever bombs on the billets of the 740th and 741st Railway
information this quest forward. Operating Battalions, killing seven and injuring others. It is
When researching photos for Bud Jeffries article, I was not known whether Mr. McGillis was one of those injured in
excited to find the photo shown here, as it directly relates to the attack and succumbed the next day, or had been injured
this story, and when I first saw it, was hoping that it might be in another attack earlier.
the missing link; unfortunately, as you see from the caption, In February 1945, the Railroad Transportation Corps
it was not to be. honored its victims by naming locomotives after them,
To give some further details the situation on Mr. Private McGillis was so honored on locomotive 2792. Sadly,
McGillis death. He died on Christmas Day, 1944, the exact we may never really know the actual details of Mr. McGillis,
details are not know. However, it appears that he was in but I hope that some reader can find a photo to answer Mr.
Liege, Belgium. For those who were not students of World van Kampen’s request.
War II, Liege was an important rail center, just south and •••••
The Arrow • October-November-December 2020 • 36-4 • 3