Summer of '45

That is COOL! Thanks for sharing.

Brad

Great story!

Peter

There appears to be a rejuvenated popularity of military rolling stock. beautiful piece and thanks for sharing it with us. Liked your story as well.

I always enjoy military modeling, part of our history.  Nice job!

Nice.  always loved the Sherman.

during korea a train stopped in La Grange and all it was was flatcars with shermans on them.  me being a rather persistent kid, (actually probably a pain in the ***) i was able to get inside one and a huge sgt, in Khaki and with a sidearm colt 45 let me play to my hearts content, he showed me ho to load cannon, fire cannon machine guns were in the tank and he mounted the one for the a driver,  showed me the radio set how it worked and we actually moved the turret

waaaaaaaaaay cool

  this little attempt is me crawling inside one

Tanks were shipped back to the states for arsenal rebuilds, but mostly early in the war when they weren't cranking them out fast enough. By 1944, European theater armor never crossed the channel going West as there were several ordnance depots in England for that. Anything that would require a complete rebuild would have been done over there or it'd been scrapped

Be prepared for the wet blanket...

As a former Ordnance officer and a current WW2 historian, I noticed the following right away that are common errors in modeling:

• European additions in armor plate. So that backs up your story well
• That said, by 1945, nobody was shipping these back to the states from Europe. Many were cut up or given to other countries
• While it was good you removed the commander's .50 caliber machine gun from the turret, there's still the .30 cal machine gun for the assistant driver. That would have been removed long before it was placed on the flat car. Can't tell if there's the extra .50 cal in the socket mount on the mantlet or not...

I'm not sure what the crates are for but that would be extra weight for shipping back across the channel, whatever it was. The tank would have come back alone if at all

Not slamming you, just noticing. I strongly suggest the Belton Cooper book, "Death Traps" if you have any interest in WW2 armor and what happened to them when they were hit. Cooper was an Ordnance liaison within a command of the 3rd Armored Division and saw countless ventillated Shermans.

I had a similar gig on active duty for a while in the late 90s, and I'm glad I never had to handle that job in combat as a destroyed tank is really messy inside, even if the crew wasn't in it at the time...

My tank commander decided he HE wanted to leave the air cooled 30 cal right where it was so he could take picture of it,  someone removed the 50 cal ma deuce , without asking and the tank commander shot the sob, the crates are full of the crews personal gear and some souvenirs that they removed from Germany  They had buddies from the 501'st and they got loaded with booze from Herr Goering hootch, 

BESIDES THIS IS MY FANTASY, BUILD YOUR OWN.

My biggest complaint was the M4 itself, weak on armor, light on firepower, out motored, needed a LOT more armor, needed more hitting power, and needed turbo diesel

but like i said build your own fantasy put my tank up m60

you know what , if i were having a dream that involved k Deneuve and you knew it you would wake me up, believe me that would not have been a good move

Well, then you probably shouldn't have put it out there for people to comment if you can't handle anything other than people fawning all over your premise.
Mine isn't fantasy at all, just historical facts.

I'm now sorry I wasted the time to comment at all.

Not a waste of time. I have read "Death Traps"-great book. No Sherman ever built took 4 hits to the turret but it is a good story. I was amazed the paper work they did for knocked out tanks-serial numbers and map locations !!  WE had M48s in Germany and got to ride on the back deck many times.

we had to bring in m48's m60's too heavy, but riding on back was better than humping radio, belted ammo, frags, batteries so forth

what were those??

The M4 Medium was the perfect tank for its job.

Its job was NOT to fight tanks.  US Armored doctrine assigned killing tanks to anti-tank guns and Tank Destroyers.  Tanks were assault, infantry support vehicles.

And Belton cooper has a personal ax to grind--he was not capable of taking an objective view of his subject.

okaaaay, but when they came face to face??  cut and run? I never got involved in combination tank and infantry ops like dessert storm  my era was vietnam and we just did not use tanks, sometimes they go out but they usually got destroyed and or bogged down, they were used at Hue city

what is a belton cooper?

I humped a Browning 32 lb. 30 cal with all the other stuff plus a small gas stove to hat rations but this isn't the place to debate the merits or otherwise of the M4 Sherman. I did like the model on the flat car.

I think these were M2A4 tanks.  The train was a Santa Fe troop train, most likely very early in WWII.

Four hits from Tigers? This is what your flatcar load should look like....

Hi Pelago,

I liked your story,you dont have to please every one check this out on Google,tank battle Cologne March 7,1945,you too P-51,my dad was there.

Mikey

ammo made by shindler, i have a helmet that took a round from 12 foot away,  7.62X54  it was a ricochet,my head was in it, and i have the hogs tooth from the nva that shot it,  ricochets did happen, you dont like my work so what, dont like me so what, i am still having fun.  i am still vertical, and still on the right side of the grass

having fun, is what counts

that tank, well not that one but that model is in front of the admin building at camp perry ohio home of the national matches, looks kinda light

 Spoken like a true light fighter. But dead wrong. US Army doctrine for the use of Armor has not changed much since the beginning of WWII. Tank units were assigned to support Infantry Divisions during WWII. 3rd Army drive across Germany was lead by Tanks with mechanized Infantry in support.. The Marine Corp used it tanks to support the infantry. Desert Storm was the first time that they used their M1s the same way the US Army.  Marine Tankers have to shoot Table 8 (individual crews)and table 12( Platoon gunnery qualification) just as the Army to qualify. The Main purpose is the ability to kill tanks. Now understand the M4 had its issues but by the late 1944 the US was fielding the Chaffee and the Pershing to tank units in Germany. the later had a 90mm cannon. Lee would know this since he ordnance officer.  I am still an armor guy at heart.

uhh, Sarge, we've got a problem.   

Pelago

we may have chewed some of the same rice patty. Google four gates to hell and take a look. only day we had tanks with us. I was outta there before the siege. Hill 881 was what it was called I think.

Semper Fi

hill 861 is the reason i collect in excess of 100% from the VA, was a nasty place, lot of rain, cold, and always someone trying to kill you

semper fi bro  5th comm bn assigned as radio op to 9th to run hf equip that is when i got my hogs tooth

yupper!!

Don't worry, corporal, just watch those 88 shells ricochet off us.    

"Most tanks at the time ran on diesel, a safer and less flammable fuel than gasoline. The Sherman’s powerplant was a 400-horsepower gas engine that, combined with the ammo on board, could transform the tank into a Hellish inferno after taking a hit."

"All it took was a German adversary like the awe-inspiring Tiger tank with its 88-millimeter gun. One round could punch through the Sherman’s comparatively thin armor. If they were lucky, the tank’s five crew might have seconds to escape before they burned alive.

Hence, the Sherman’s grim nickname—Ronson, like the cigarette lighter, because “it lights up the first time, every time.”

Ah, but you forgot about the 8 more shermans and 5 hellcats that would be accompanying the m4 there....

Ah, but you forgot about the 8 more shermans and 5 hellcats that would be accompanying the m4 there....

So you're talking about making it more of a fair fight, huh? 

Nice job Pelago,

Looks like you're having fun, while being productive and completing tasks.

Hope you don't let the arrogance of others offering unsolicited critiques molesting your super models in a non scale forum  interrupt your dreams.

Thanks for sharing.

You should read "Tank Tactics", good book on WW II armor combat. The author says that a study after the war showed that most Sherman fires were caused by ammo igniting. The armor vehicles ad combat in WW II could be debated ad nauseum.  This is a RR forum.

I used to know a man that was a former tanker in WWII.  He had a scrap book of pictures of tanks that belonged to his unit.  Several had been hit multiple times by German Tanks and they still looked like a M4 sherman not a pile of scrap metal.  He said the worst place on the Sherman was where the white star was painted.  He said the German gunners would use the star as the bullseye.  Many of the pictures showed tanks with holes that went in one side and came out the other.  At one time there were many old hulks out on the ranges that were used as targets.  Most have been removed and cut up for scrap back in the early 80's.  I like what you have done, it's your railroad and your the only one that you have to please.

"I like what you have done, it's your railroad and your the only one that you have to please."

Thanks, you are correct it is my layout, and at that time which farm pond where i would fish first after school let out,  where was i going to find parts for my 35 ford pick up, these things were important.  France still reeling from dien bien phu, and i have not killed anyone............. yet.  much happier time

I speak English today because of my Father's generation. Thank you to all who served.

Gilly

you nailed that! thanks to my Dad, my Uncle Jim, Uncle jack, Uncle Lou all gone now, best generation yet