Poll for Railroad Line?

@Trainlover160 posted:

With all the recent Army rolling  stock with tanks, canons, Jeeps, etc., and locomotives, especially the recent Lionel Legacy Army Veranda, I am feeling a little frustrated.

My Dad was in the Army Air Corp and ended up in the Philipines as a POW for 3.5 years. He came within 1 day of going on the death March.

With that being said, over the years I have asked MTH, Lionel, and dealers to do an engine or any piece of rolling stock as Army Air Corp. Nothing released to date.

I have considered modifying existing Army rolling stock by adding Air Corp. To graphics , just was not sure how it would look.

I believe the Army Air Corp was the early branch of the Air Force. I am wondering if this is why nothing has been made, due to possibly little interest?

What are your thoughts?

Joe Gozzo

Remember it was the Army Air Corp , there was no Air Force  until 1947

Hi Joe,

The US Army Air Corps was not a separate service.  It was part of the Army much like Artillery, Infantry, Cavalry , etc.  It was not until 1947 that the Air Corps was split off from the Army to form the US Air Force as a separate service.   So WWII period RR equipment would likely have been lettered for the US Army regardless of what particular segment of the Army it serviced.  

Regardless, I salute your father and his service to our country!

To clear up:  the United States Army Air Forces was formed in 1941 from the smaller, simpler US Army Air Corps.  The USAF as an independent service came in 1947.

The United States Air Force was formed on the back of the political capital gained by the very naive movement toward a one-service, all-nuclear force that would nearly instantly win all future wars, leaving mopping up to a few AF police troops.  This silliness persisted long enough to nearly sink the Navy's carrier program and lasted right up until the N. Koreans stupidly crossed the 38th Parallel on June 25th, 1950.  It was at that point that everyone realized that the vision sold by the USAF to Congress was a monumental con game, and some sanity was reinserted into defense thinking and spending.

Since 1945, the AF has dropped no nukes, but the Army, Navy, and Marines-and, to be fair, TAC Air--have been more or less constantly in action somewhere.

There are a few models with decals or printing for the U.S. Army Air Forces.

How about a GP7 painted in a fantasy scheme with a P40 Warhawk Flying Tigers shark mouth on the cab like I painted my canoe.  
Ok, probably not what your looking for but it would be cool.

Cheers,       W1