War Clouds Gather...
This one's a little bit short, covering the war years...
War Clouds gather…
As War Clouds gathered in Europe, it did nothing but good for the North Central. American industry slowly started revving up, and with it, the demand for wood, stone, and food. Additionally, the economic growth spurred more tourist revenue. Even the US Army Railroad experts came to take a look; 2’ gauge trench railways had done great things in the previous war.
The railroad also spent some of its vast reserve of political capital—more of the money for things like the CCC and similar programs went to the railroad than to highways. And—roads, bridges, and the like were built so as to provide feeders for the railroads, not to compete with them.
And then: December 7, 1941. Total War. By mid Sunday afternoon or early evening (reports vary) the senior officer of the line available had announced that there would be no charge for men traveling to recruitment centers to join up. Also, as men started to form lines at the recruitment centers, volunteers brought food, soda and water (and beer, of course)
The initial panic added some of the strangest cars seen in Northern Maine yet. One of the line’s senior engineers was also a logistics officer in the Maine National Guard, and “arranged” for a dozen .50 cal machine guns and a pair of 37 mm anti-tank guns to be deployed for defending against a German invasion or air raid.
(Note: invasion and air raid fears were rampant, even in places that were simply impossible to invade. There were rumors of Japanese carriers coming up the Red River!)
The 37 mm guns were less than practical for a 2’ gauge railroad line, but the machine guns were hastily mounted. 2 flat cars each mounted 2 twin mounts, and the other 4 guns were deployed at various critical locations. (Accounts vary as to where, and at least one ended up on a pintel mount on a caboose.)
As the invasion scare faded, the guns were quietly placed in storage, and the flat cars parked in a sheltered location, the guns under canvas. The flat car with a 37 mm cannon mounted to it, complete with outriggers, was only accidentally re-discovered, along with the second cannon, and the machine guns, much later. This equipment was the basis for several scenes in the 1960’s comedy “Invasion” about the early days of the war.
In the war years, the little line continued to provide useful service, extracting resources from Maine farms, quarries, and forests. Few new roads were needed; it was easier to expand a section of Narrow Gauge track…and Maine politics favored the railroad.
When the US Army developed “Transporters,” metal containers of standard dimensions for shipping various materials, which made the line vastly more efficient when they adapted the concept. Loading them in Maine, and simply trans-shipping containers all of the same size, saved on handling costs.
At the same time, tourism fell off during wartime—but not completely. And, to conserve coal, a few locomotives were converted to burn scrap wood. This wasn’t especially successful, but was still pointed out as people doing their part to conserve—and allowed tourist trains to run without burning any strategic resources.
The railroad’s financial officers were looking ahead to the post-war era, planning for a major housing boom. That would be all but inevitable, with the number of troops coming home, so everything needed to be very ready. Railroad-owned stretches of timber, plans in place, and more. Like Fairbanks-Morse, the impending end of the war allowed a certain amount of preparation to be done. Some coaches were refitted, made ready for high speed service again, and flat cars were made ready for the increased loads of lumber—and furniture from the factories.
Good times were coming…perhaps…