The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-11-08
new train AT front
AUTOMATIC TRANSPORTATION
Is THE NEW DEVICE
Thirty-Two Thousand CarsWere
Moved During Month OF
August

American Regulating Base, Ad-
vance Zone, France, September 2S.-
Correspondence of The Associated
Press 1.-The automatic train" is
one of the strange devices which has
sprung out of the war, and there is
nothing quite like it in the whole
range of railway transportation. 1t
has been developed by the American
military authorities here as one of
the necessities of keeping up an auto
matte daily supply of food forage
and all requirements. to every unit
of the American Expeditionary Force
in France To do this with unvary-
ing regularity each day, SO that every
man in every division stretching over
vast area along 800 miles of front.
would have his daily needs supplied
was a huge problem.
The only solution was to secure
absolute uniformity, or a standard
ization of trains by-which the make
up would be automatic day after day.
And out of this has has come the
automatic train" Of the American
army, which is one of the wonders of
American organization.
Watching The Make up.
Watching the makeup of the "au-
tomato trains" as they go forward
to the American divisions on the
fighting front, is like watching some
gigantic jig saw puzzle, for there is
the same fitting together of confused
parts, until at last all the pieces
form a completed whole of fifteen of
these so called automatic trains"
so cars to train, each train NOV
ing off to one of the American divi-
sions.
Here at a small interior village of
the American Advance Force is the
center from which the automatic
trains move out daily. The place is
well forward in the advance zone,
just far enough away from the fight
ing to be out of reach of hostile
raids and yet near enough to permit
the supplies to move forward with
the greatest facility.
The Sleepy Villages.
1t was sleepy village last Octo-
Der, with 1000 inhabitants, today it
is center of intense activity, with
an American working force of $4,000
eleven times the population year
ago-with seventy two miles of yard
trackage, forty five enormous ware
houses, and railways radiating to
every point of the long front held
wholly or in part by the American
troops.
Last month $4,000 cars were NOV.
ed, or over 1000 day in this stu
pendous stream of supplies going
forward to the fighting forces.
Colonel Hilgard, Commanding Off
Ger and Captain Bigger, regulating
officer explained the details of these
automatic trains, and later there
was an opportunity to see the trains
assembled like parts in a huge puzzle
and started on their way to the front
The basis on which the automatic
trains are made up is as follows:
Two cars of refrigerated fresh
beef.
Two cars of fresh bread
Seven cars of food comprised in
the soldiers ration
Four cars of fuel for cooking.
Fourteen cars of forage for horses.
One car of gasolene, mineral oil
and lubricants for motors.
OHe Car IOr mall ana packages.
Basis of Trains.
These are the fixed and practically
invariable elements of each automa-
tic train, the same wants of food
and forage being repeated day after
day.
In addition each division has vary
ing wants of clothing, ammunition,
medical supplies, etc., as it may be
in the midst of the fighting or fur
Their back in a calmer section. These
varying elements are added to each
train, according to the needs of the
division.
Thus, fifteen trains go out daily in
fifteen directions, each train having
some thirty to thirty five cars in the
fixed and automatic makeup, and
some fifteen or twenty cars with the
varying elements of ammunition,
medical supplies, colthing, etc., de-
pendent on the proximity to the
fighting