Claiborne and Polk Railroad -The Road to Victory

In 1941 the War Department decided that a training facility was needed to train
men to go to war. Adolph Hitler was creating a fuss overseas. What began as a series of
training exercises soon became a necessity. Central Louisiana was selected for its
wonderful climate, available workforce, and land availability. History began.
Anyone can be a soldier, but it takes training to be a railroader. The United States didn’t
have the time to train so they recruited experience. It was an unusual case of Industry
stepping up and working with the Army to get the job done. Whole GROB (Grand
Railway Operating Battalions) and ROB (Railway Operating Battalions), and RSB
(Railway Shop Battalions) were sponsored by individual railroads. These battalions were
organized similar to real working railroads. When the call came from the government to
activate these battalions a few men were surprised to find out that the men they worked
with as civilians were now serving their country right along side them. If you were
drafted and said that you had worked on the railroad you could almost guarantee that you
were headed to war with a railway operating battalion. The average age for a soldier
assigned to a ROB was 25-40, since most had been employed full time with the railroad.
Some of these units trained on the C & P, but many stayed and trained on their own lines
until they were called to duty overseas or within the United States.
To simulate wartime problems that would occur under combat and rebuilding conditions
the Claiborne-Polk Military Railroad was constructed. It was originally planned that the
line would follow the old roadbed from the Red River and Gulf railroad then would veer
down to Camp Polk, but that plan fell through. They used instead an abandoned logging
railway from the Hillyer-Deutches-Edwards Logging Road. The railroad would only be
about 50 miles, but what a fifty miles. It included a 2 degree turn that wasn’t suppose to
be, but was. The railroad had twenty-five bridges. The tallest was the bridge crossing
over the Red River and Gulf at 30 ft high. The longest bridge was the 2,200 ft bridge
over the Calcasieu River. The construction was originally started with the 91st and the
92d Engineers in October of 1942 assisting with the bridge work. An interesting side
note is that the 91st and 92d were both all African American units who were stationed at
Camp Claiborne. The Golden spike that marked the completion of the railroad was
driven at mile 27 near Lacamp on July 10, 1942 and another source states March, 1942.
Dignitaries were there that include a British Officer and the President of the KCS,
William Deramus, Sr. as well as standard military brass. The first time card was issued
Sunday, 20 September, 1942 effective at 0001 hours. The first Army owned railroad went
into business in Louisiana. These fifty miles of track became known as the “Crime and
Punishment” and a new chapter in railroad history was begun.
The Army loved the location, but the railroad didn’t. It was hard going getting it built to
the standards that had been established for building railroads. Louisiana soil didn’t want
to cooperate. Engineer units fought sinking tracks and quicksand. (Rumor has it that an
engine is still buried in quicksand. My great-uncle was a chief engineer for the gas
company when this construction was going on. My grandfather remembers his telling the
story of the engine falling into the quicksand and them having to rescue some of them
“Yankees” who didn’t know what quicksand was.) If a piece of equipment fell in and
was not able to be recovered the pieces of equipment were then used to anchor the bed
and the construction continued. The instability of track and roadbeds made operating the
C&P a challenge, but by the end of the war the units that trained there had her operating
like a dream compared to the first runs on the line.
Units that trained on the “Crime and Punishment” were sent all over the globe to fight for
freedom. The 725th left Camp Claiborne and served with distinction in India on the
Bengal and Assam Railroad. The 714th left and was assigned to Alaska to operate the
Alaska Railroad to keep our troops there supplied. What a climate change! Before the
end of hostilities they returned to Camp Claiborne and then went to Ft. Eustis, VA. The
712th went to England and then to Normandy France. They began the job of rebuilding
after D-Day.
Derailments were expected, not unexpected. If you moved and didn’t derail then you had
had a good day. Of the equipment that was used on the C&P the only thing new were the
crane and two converted oil burning engines.. The Crane was no longer new when the
units that trained on the Claiborne and Polk were finished with it. When you departed
your station you were followed by this beloved piece of equipment at a discrete distance.
When the engine would derail for any number of reasons the crane would set it aright.
Then the engine would assist the crane getting back up aright and the trip would continue.
One notable trip consisted of 5 derailments by the engine and 3 from the crane. When the
tracks would sink the crane came into play again. The last car in the train would be
picked up, the maintenance of way boys would rebuild the track under it, and this process
was repeated with each car until the train was right again and continued on its route.
There was a plan to crosstrain the Chaplain as an Engineer so that he could issue last
rights for the crews when the train decided to leave the route and take off through the
Louisiana woods. This was not an uncommon occurrence. If you fell asleep lulled by the
tracks you could wake up with no tracks under you. Rains would cause the roadbed to
become unstable and they would sink into the ground. Constant vigilance was necessary
to make sure that you didn’t take a trip on the wild side.
Not only were the men honing their skills as railroaders, but they were also soldiers. The
purpose of the training was learning to operate in combat situations. Throw in
explosives, drill and ceremony, continuing improvements to quarters, and strafing runs
and you have railroading Army style. What a way to run a railroad! Tracks would be
blown up in front of engines. The maintenance of way (gandy dancers) was called in, or
the engineers if a bridge had been destroyed. Tracks were put back in place and bridges
rebuilt. All this was done while being flour bombed from planes out of nearby Esler
Field. Security had to be provided and communications maintained. It was said that
once a unit trained on the C & P that every duty station was easy compared to what they
had experienced during training.
The Railroad soldiers not only fought Louisiana mud, but Louisiana Flora and Fauna.
The mosquitoes prepared them for Alaska. Open ranges with half wild pigs and cows
caused daily disruptions to timetables. It was the alligators that caused many a problem.
One report from an old magazine article tells that an officer came barreling up wanting to
know why a train was late, and why it was just sitting there on the tracks. The Engineer
(not being a southern boy) informed him that the tracks were blocked. The officer
barreled around the engine to come face to long snout with a bull alligator sunning
himself on the tracks. The engineer told the officer,” We blew our horns, we let out
steam, but he wasn’t moving.” The officer picked up a rock, chunked it at the alligator
and the alligator ambled off the track with a roar. The engineer said,” We didn’t think
about that.” The officer replied as he was going back to his speeder (small powered car);
“You aren’t an officer”.
The equipment used on the C & P had no doubt seen its better days. The equipment list
for the C & P consisted of 7 -79-ton ten wheelers and two new 85 consolidation type
locomotives (all oil burners), two coaches and two combination cars, 16 boxcars, 50
flatcars, 25 gondolas, 12 tank cars, and four refrigerator cars. Six cars were converted
into cabooses by the mechanical forces of the 711th. Some of the boxcars were of
European 4wheel origin (they were old during the First World War) and had an aversion
to curves.
Maintenance on the engines proved to be a challenge, but troops always have a way of
“engineering” a fix. It was noted that the Supply chain never seemed to run out of bailing
wire. One of the engines was in such a sad state of affairs that a coat of paint wasn’t an
option, but a necessity. Paint was in short supply around Claiborne, but not at other
camps. (There were five in Central Louisiana: Camps Beauregard, Livingston, Polk, and
Esler Field, not to mention Barksdale Army Air Base.) The old girl was painted and
admired by the artists. The engine cab was a bright cerise. The boiler was in various
shades of blue from sky to robin’s egg in streaks, circles, and bands. The smokestack
was something out of this world. But the front of the locomotive was the crowning
touch. Some lucky man had unearthed a can of rather luminous aluminum paint and put
on a coat from cowcatcher to smokestack. She was christened “The Painted Pansy” and
left on a midnight run glowing in the moonlight. She scared cows and men who thought
they were seeing a ghost train. (Ghost Trains are not uncommon in that part of the state
because of the number of old abandoned logging trams. We have one running over my
grandparent’s property and sometimes hear train whistles and feel puffs of air in the
middle of where the old tram ran.)
What is left of this amazing railroad today? Trees and abandoned roads are the
remnants of a post that once covered 23,000 acres and trained over 500,000 men. In
1945 the line was closed. The tracks and equipment were salvaged and sent to Eglin Air
Force Base in Florida. Buildings were sold to anyone who would purchase them. Some
of these buildings were purchased by Southeast Louisiana State University. A drive to
Camp Claiborne will show you the front gates, a historical marker, and foundations
where major post buildings were located. The area that was once clear cut and full of life
is reverted back to the natural side. It is part of the Kisatchie National Forest and has
trails for hiking and off-road vehicle use. Trying to locate the old railroad line proved to
be fruitless without a GPS system and an accurate map.
Melinda West
Member of the Red River Valley Railroad Historical Society
2007
mwest@northlouisianatrainshow.org

Works Cited
MG Carl R. Gray, Jr. “MRS Troops and Their Training.” The Military Railway Service
Journal March, 1956: 7-15.
John Barry. “Barry Rides a Railroad That is Bad on Purpose.” The Military Railway
Service Journal, July, 1959: 8-12.
Bertram B. Fowler. “Worst Railroad on Earth.” The Military Railway Service Journal
July, 1959: 8-13.
Unknown. “Eglin AFB, FL.” GlobalSecurity.org: 03/16/2007
<www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/eglin.htm>.
Dave Kaufman. “The 725 Railway Operating Battalion.” Insigne (1995): 03/11/2007
<www.insigne.org/725ROB-I.htm>.
Lowell G. McManus. “The Claiborne-Polk Military Railroad.” The Louisiana Rail Site
(2004): 03/09/2007<http://lrs.railstuff.net/h-cpmr.htm>.
Robertson. “Louisiana Maneuvers Camps and Bases.” 03/11/2007
<www.crt.sttate.la.us/tourism/lawwii/Maneuvers/Robertson/Camps.htm>.
Wikipedia. “Camp Claiborne.” Wikipedia. 03/11/2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Claiborne>.
First-Team. “WW II, The Engineers’ War.” Historical Missions (revised 19 Aug 04):
03/11/2007 <www.first-team.us/journals/engr_bde/91_ndx01.html>.
Unknown. “714th Transportation Battalion.” 10/27/06
<www.lic.eustis.army.mil/documents/714th>.
Unknown.” A History of the 712th Railway Operating Battalion.” 10/27/2006
<www.lic.eustis.ary.mil/documents/712th>
Jerry Purvis Sanson, PhD. “Studying War: Central Louisiana and the Training of United
States Troops 1939-1945.” 03/12/2007
<www.crt.state.la.us/tourism/lawwii/Maneuvers/Studying_War.htm>.
Mike Palmieri. “Claiborne-Polk Military Railroad.” Mike Palmieri’s Louisiana Rail Site
(3 Feb 1998): 03/12/2007 <http://lrs.railstuff.net/r-cpmr.htm>.