# US Army Trains in Vietnam



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

The US Army operated some trains in Vietnam, this one was at Tuy Hoa, south of Qui Nhon.
US Army Train


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## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Jerry, I enjoyed that.
Rick


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Jerry. You are an old Army transportation guy aren't you? We went to Grafenwoehr on trains all the time. You'd be amazed how fast you can load and unload 50 tracked vehicles on a train. The link to the heavy boat outfit was nice too. We deployed off island Hawaii (artillery) on those. I have more "over the shore" landings then John Wayne.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the pics Jerry. Yep we use to load our 175 self propelled Howitzers on trains all the time to transport to the field for our maneuvers. Later RJD


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## baron67 (Jan 5, 2008)

Hi cousin-I was a helicopter pilot in the 1 CAV for a year flying from An Khe north to Danang. I flew up Hwy 1 a lot and the railroad paralleled it most of the way. The only thing I ever saw was destroyed bridges, burned out cars and a couple of steam engines on their sides. This is really interesting as I didn't think any of the RR in the south ran at that time. I was there in 66 and 67. 

Thanks, 

Jerry Barnes 
Plano, TX


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Jerry, cool we have the same name and were in Nam. 69-70 for me. I guess they had some trains down around Saigon also. See below. What kind of loco is that?









Pix by Randy Recht 


One at Tuy Hoa did not go far, if you read the article. I guess they have the train going again though, shows up on a search. Glad you made it back guy!


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

I've seen pictures of Vietnam's trains going along the coast. A flatcar was always ahead of the engine; probably so it would blow up if it hit a mine instead of the engine? 

At one time, you could go by train from Paris, France to Saigon when everything was linked. 

I enlisted near the end of Vietnam, but they weren't sending many people there so I don't have any war stories to tell, unfortunately (or fortunately?) 

Dave V


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Jerry; 

The DVD set War Trains shows footage of railway operations in Vietnam. I forget which disc it is on, but most of the Vietnam coverage is in color. Perhaps a local library would have the set. 

Yours, 
David Meashey


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## Doug C (Jan 14, 2008)

Wow, never even thought of trains involved in Vietnam, during that war. Interesting read !! 

amazing to hear they used to ride the rails all the way from Paris to the FarEast. Sad when you realize why they can't do it no more and not primarily the business aspect like here in N.A. !

". . . . had some trains down around Saigon also. See below. What kind of loco is that?" 

About 5 pics down in the article a similiar unit; " Here's U.S. Army No. 1995 (a Plymouth CR-8D)" 

doug c


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the distracon Jerry. I went to google earth and checked out the whole area. You should see the highway bridge they are in the middle of building at the river just south of Tuy Hoa.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I found a drawing online of the Army train. I blew it up to size, may try to make it someday.








It measures out at 20" long. Distance between axles on the trucks is 3 3/4". I have a USA motor block that size and Aristo FA blocks are about that size. Could be a project, as if I need another one! I thought I saw a LGB locomotive that is about this configuration, but not sure.


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## blattan (Jan 4, 2008)

I was in Nha Trang 1965-1966, but I never saw any railroad operations. I do remember watching for aircraft where a road crossed one end of a runway. 

Bert


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## Bob in Mich (Mar 8, 2008)

Jerry,I was in the Marines at Chu-Li in 1965 & 1966 and the Tracks Meter gage were along Hi way #1 @ Tam Kie No Trains but track.I was told that Steam was running at Danang.They were from France.But I never seen them.We were doing other things. 
Thanks for posting


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## jonathanj (Jan 24, 2008)

Jerry, 

Those ten locos were 1000hp Plymouth diesel hydraulics originally built for Thailand in 1962/3. They were hideously unreliable, and so when the US aid programme was casting around for locos to buy up and ship over the border into Vietnam, RSR (Thai Rlys) wasted no time in volunteering them for sale and replacing them with something they liked. I think that they're the same type as in the photos on the previous page, but not 100% certain. 

The loco on the 'rock train' in the other photos on the link looks like a GE U-8B, Vietnam had 23 of them, also in 1963.


J.


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