The presence of civilian employees on a military railroad, particularly in the lower grades, is likely to prove a source of friction with the personnel of the service of defense, with the railroad troops and with troops of all kinds traveling on the line. Furthermore, the lack of military discipline is prone to cause difficulty in strikes, disagreements as to pay and promotion and individual insubordination and desertion. It is seldom practicable to secure a purely military organization, but in the case of railroads operated in occupied foreign ter ritory effort should be made to ta secure a mili ry organization with fixed military rank,pay and allowances for all employees, if possible, and in any case for all train crews, yard oper atives and the higher officials. The transpor tation and equipment of railway troops should be that provided for an engineer regiment in so far as relates to supply, shelter and admin istration: technical emnpment witn its neces sary transportation is furnished as deemed nec essary from the base by the director of rail ways. Sanitary personnel and equipment should be the same as provided for an engineer regiment The duties of the director of railways of an army and his staff are, to operate the railroads so as to promote the plans of the commanding general, to supply the military knowledge not possessed by the railway staff and to shield the railway operatives and officials from unau thorized military interference. In any large theatre of operations there are one or more independent lines of railway. For military purposes all such lines should be operated as a single system under the director of railways. If only one line exists, the director of railways acts as the military executive of the line. If more than one line exists, he acts as military executor of the system and assigns an assistant director of railways to each separate line to act as military executive of that line. If two or more lines of communications exist in one theatre of operations, they might be operated as separate systems under separate heads if they were entirely separate lines physically; but if at any point they come together, they should be operated under a single director of railways. • As soon as a railroad is taken under military control, a bulletin for railway use is published, giving the capacity of cars, and the maximum number of cars, loaded and empty, to be run in trains, where the whole tonnage rating of the engines cannot be utilized. The carrying
capacity of coaches and other cars is given for both normal transportation and hurried trans portation; the normal transportation is used unless the other be specifically stated, in which case trains are made to carry every available man that safety will permit. Rations to the men on the train are carried in the baggage cars, or kitchen cars if provided.
When an entire unit cannot be carried on one train, battalions can be broken tip and certain companies assigned to one train, while the re mainder follow in another. The assignment of troops to trains rests with the railway officials. Where regiments carry tentage and camp equipage these are normally sent ahead of the troops in one train and is not divided up amongst the trains carrying the troops. In in fantry regiments, the officers' horses are shipped ahead in the train with the camp equipage. In mounted regiments, the first trains carry the horses, with men to look after them. The picket lines and a proper amount of forage are carried on the horse trains. Guns, caissons and wagons follow on trains in the rear of the regiments to which they beloiig. In loading artillery wagons on trains, they are loaded on the cars from a platform or from portable ramps. They are loaded on one car and run by hand or horse power to the car on which they are to be carried. The openings between cars are covered by plates of iron, or wooden runways, over which the vehicles may run. Unloading of troops and animals at or near the railhead must he expedited in every possible way, platforms and portable ramps being supplied at all unloading points. The method of unloading is the converse of the method of loading.
The defense of a railway against a brigade or division that may be sent against it or its systematic destruction can only be made by a force of sufficient strength to meet and defeat the raiding forces. Besides these attacks by large bodies there are the continual depreda tions against the line made by small bodies ranging from a regiment down to the lone indi vidual who tries to burn a bridge or misplace a switch. The greatest difficulties in operating a road come from small bands which can operate against the line, especially in a hostile country, without great danger of apprehension. The defense of the railway is usually maintained by the combined use of block houses and armored trains. See RAILWAY ENGINEERING AND CON STRUCTION and SUPPLY RAILWAYS.