I never knew this. I'm sure it would have been posted with the major newspapers. Though I don't remember reading newspapers at 7-10 years old. http://www.iridetheharlemline.com/2...ork-central-the-railroads-ww2-combat-bombers/
Never knew this either -- such a noble effort and not once, but twice! Before the C&NW's North Western Station in Chicago was razed in 1984 , there was a very large plaque on the wall in the vast waiting room listing C&NW employees that had made the supreme sacrifice. Even as a kid, it had an impact on me (as did many other fine details in the station). I hope it survives somewhere.
This was not uncommon in WWII, for companies to fund aircraft. I thought it was an A-26 from the photos, which had a bad safety record, but the report says B-26 of which I know little. Good for the NYC employees!
I read recently about some Union Pacific employees doing the same thing with a B-17. http://www.up.com/timeline/index.cfm/spirit-of-union-pacific
I knew other companies had done such as tanks, B-17, bombs, and more. Just didn't know about the NYCS venture.
The NYC B-26 was known as the widow maker . With the small wing you had to fly to a landing and after the pilots were taught this its safety was as good or better than most planes . I had a friend in FL. who was the photo officer for a B-26 group known as the ,bridge busters, and he would give them cameras to take on bomb runs . He let me take copies of photos of all of his photo album . The Douglas B-26, A-26, was a different airplane and was used as a gun ship as well a bomber . It saw much service in Korea and following brush fire wars . LEW
The Martin was the original B-26 and was known as a hot ship due to its smallish wings and resultant high take off and landing speeds. Oh why did I join the Air Corps? Mother, dear mother knew best Here I lie 'neath the wreckage Marauder all over my chest. The Douglas got the A designation because it was originally destined for ground attack duties, but was ultimately determined to be a better medium bomber than the Martin, so when the Marauders were all retired the Douglas was redesignated from the A-26 to the B-26. That was about 1948. And there has been confusion ever since.
Actually the airplanes shown are Martin B26 Marauders. A very powerful high performance aircraft, but known as tough to fly. Heavy wing loading, brutish stall and spin caracteristics in case of too heavy pull up. But a fantastic airplane with great contribution in air power history. 1st NASA group astronaut Deke Slayton (passed away in 1993) flew them during World War II... BTW, wasn't there similar processes with other railroads? I remember Milwaukee Road logo on another aircraft, maybe a B17... Dom
