22A The Cedar Rapids Gazette: Sun..

July 12,1981

No trains to catch for WW II rail builders DELHI — They came by car and
they came by van to their 23rd reunion
at Delhi and Dyersville this weekend,
but none of these men who helped keep
the railroads running for t h e Allies in
World War II came by rail. That was the
irony for these surviving members of
Company A, 728th Railway Operating
Battalion: you can't get here from there
on a train anymore.
Between 30 and 35 veterans of "A"
and their families are winding down
three days of fun and nostalgia this
morning, preparatory to heading back to
Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsyl­
vania, as well as parts of Iowa and its
neighboring states.
Dick and Marian Overman of Delhi
hosted this year's reunion, which was
officially headquartered in the Colonial
Motel at Dyersville.
Friday was sort of a get-reacquainted
day a t the motel. On Saturday the
reunioners traveled to Delhi for a picnic
get-together a t the Overman home,
followed by some pontoon boating on
Lake Delhi. They held their banquet and
business meeting Saturday evening at
Ertl's restaurant in Dyersville.
It was a relatively quiet weekend for
survivors of Company A, which origi­
nally numbered about 200, quiet com­
pared to what these former railroad men
were doing in Europe nearly 40 years
ago.
Railroad battalions played vital roles
in World Wars I and II. They served for
the last time in the Korean conflict.
Their purpose was to move ammunition,
food, fuel, etc., across war-torn coun­
tries, because railroads could move more
in volume than any other source of
transportation.
Company A went to France with the
b a t t a l i o n a f t e r D-Day a n d r e b u i l t
bombed railroad yards and bridges and
operated railroads that had been taken
over by the U.S.
Railroad battalions were part of
Railway Grand Divisions, which oper­
ated under Military Railway Service,
each battalion sponsored by a U.S.
railroad. The 728th was sponsored by
the L&N Railroad. The battalion, about
1,000 strong a t the start, took i t s
Photo by Art Hough
technical training under the Santa Fe
J a c k W a d s w o r t h of W a u k o n d i s p l a y s o n e of s e v e r a l d o z e n p h o t o g r a p h s Railroad, in Clovis, N.M., spent a month
h e t o o k of t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of r a i l r o a d s in E u r o p e d u r i n g W o r l d W a r II. at Fort Snelling, Minn., then sailed from
Boston for the European Theater of
Operations, where they served for two
years in England, France and Germany.
The 728th was composed of four
companies, A, B, C and Headquarters,
most of them seasoned railroad men.
Company A was for section men; B, the
roundhouse gang, and C, train and
engine, brakemen and conductors, fire­
men and engineers.
Jack Wadsworth of Waukon, a mem­
ber of Company A, was "official"
photographer for his company. An
expert photographer, he shot several
hundred pictures, starting with basic
technical training at Clovis in 1943. He
brought along to the reunion over 50 of
the enlarged photographs, to feed the
nostalgia of his former buddies.
Jack recalls the company trained in
England for almost a year, putting
together gondolas and boxcars so they
were ready for use when they got to
France. Jack helped draw up maps of
French railroads during the bombing of
London.
In Germany, he said, there wasn't a
train running when they got there. He
said the Americans more or less super­
vised the reconstruction of the German
railroads, traveling through Bavaria by
motor car to check the facilities.
Wadsworth, who ended the war with
the rank of T / 5 instrument m a n /
surveyor, is high in his praise of the men
of Company A, most of whom were
railroad section hands long before the
war started.
"We used to try to lay out switches
with stakes," he recalled. "These old
section foremen would stand back with
their eye and look down the track. They
wouldn't pay any attention to the stakes,
see, and they could lay out a switch
better than we could."
Using his Zeiss Ikonta camera, Wads­
worth collected a variety of pictures of
the war — from complete devastation of
bridges and cities to unscathed cathe­
drals; men at work assembling railway
cars or repairing tracks; weekend breaks
in London, chow lines . . . pictures of
his buddies at work and at play.
Jack quickly shuffled through the pile
of pictures, talking as he went along:
"This," he laughed, "looks like they
were ready for a big battle. Actually,
they were going for a beer in Germany.
"One time, one of the cars derailed,"
he held up another picture, "and the
guard was thrown off. He hit a dog. A
farm girl came running out. They
thought she wanted to look after the
guard. She went for the dog."
Wadsworth, 66, graduated from the
University of Iowa in 1941 with a
bachelor's degree in commerce. He took
a job with the Milwaukee Road a t
Savanna, 111. Later, he got a job in train
service with the Milwaukee at Dubuque.
He enlisted in 1943 at the age of 28.
Still single when he returned t o
Waukon after the war, he had to register
with the draft board. Which was a good
thing, because that's how he met the
present Mrs. Wadsworth, who was a
clerk in the Selective Service office.
They were married in 1946 and have five
children.
Jack worked for the state Highway
Department for a year and then was with
the Welfare Department from 1950 to
1955, and with Iowa Blue Cross-Blue
Shield from 1955 t o 1968. He was
district manager at Wenatchee, Wash.,
of the Washington-Alaska Blue Cross-
Blue Shield from 1968 until his retire­
ment in 1978.
Railroads played a tremendous part in
moving troops and war materiel across
the United States during World War II.
But, most of the railroads are gone or
going now and in response to a question,
Jack Wadsworth painted a bleak picture
— not only for the future of railroads,
but for the future of civilization.
"Well, you know, if we have another
war I don't think it will be the war we
knew," he said. "I think it will be a
terrible, destructive war, an atomic war.
I don't think we'll use ground troops or
infantry.
"If they get this nuclear program
moving, it will be the end of us.
"We won't need railroads."

Brewing beer was integral part

of Amana Colonies' early days
Editor's Note: Ted Heinze, a
native of Middle Amana, occasion­
ally writes articles on historic as­
pects of the Amana Colonies.
By Ted Heinze
Free-lance writer
THE AMANA COLONIES —
W h i l e w i n e r i e s a b o u n d in t h e
Amana Colonies today, at one time
the settlement could boast of four
b e e r breweries.
The brewing of beer by the
founders of the Colonies dates back
to the earlier settlements of Upper,
Middle, Lower and New Ebenezer,
in New York state near Buffalo,
following. the settlers' emigration
from Germany.
When the settlers moved into
their new home in Iowa in the early
1850s, the C o l o n i e s e s t a b l i s h e d
breweries because beer remained
m o r e palatable, possibly safer to
drink than the local water and it did
supply some nourishment.
It is believed that the two beer
formulas used by the Amanas were
developed in the old Ebenezer
breweries, rather than in Germany,
because the formulas contain corn
as an adjunct to the barley malt to
provide a percentage of the starches
that are converted into sugar during
the brewing process. The use of corn
is an innovation of American brew­
eries.
There were four breweries in the
Colonies: one each in Amana, Mid­
dle Amana, Homestead and South
Amana. All the breweries had
cellars that were dug into hillsides
and were located near the village ice
house or butcher shop.
The best known brewery was at
Amana just east of the Meat Market.
The brewery was built into and over
the hillside, and large hooks in the
ceiling on the main floor were used
to suspend hoses so the beer
mixture could flow from upper
floors to a deep cellar for cooling
and fermenting. The brewery was
razed in the 1950s.
Figures on the beer production,
taken from a register of U.S.
breweries from 1876 to 1976, show
that the Colonies' breweries
produced approximately 62,000 gal­
lons annually. This amounted to an
average consumption of 35.3 gallons
of beer per person, which is some­
what more than the current U.S.
average of 24.3 gallons. However,
the Colonies' beer consumption was
less than in most European coun­
tries, according to the U.S. Brewers
Association and Encyclopedia Brit-
tanica.
It is notable that the Colonies'
high beer consumption was during a
time of hard work for Amana
settlers. There was construction oi*
residences in the seven villages,
factories and shops, and the digging
of a six-mile canal from the Iowa
River.
Also, it is notable that beer was
produced and consumed during the
entire time when the Colonies had
inspired religious leaders. Though,
as in most religions, excessive use
was denounced, beer drinking was
accepted and used as a natural part
of life in the Colonies.
It is surprising that many resi­
dents of the Amanas did not know
about the old breweries until about
10 years ago when Paul and Emma
Zimmerman of South Amana began
marketing beer m a d e with t h e old-
time Amana recipes. The beer is
brewed in Wisconsin and distributed
in the Colonies under the name
" G e m e i n d e B r a u " and " C o l o n i e
Brau."
This lack of knowledge about the
breweries is possible because they
operated from the 1850s until 1884,
when Iowa adopted a prohibition
law. The breweries were then closed
and eventually abandoned. How­ An old photo shows the brewery at Amana before it was razed in the 1950s.
ever, for a time they were used to
store communal wine used for
sacramental services.

'Concerts-in-the-park' On this date

In 1933, a new industrial code was established
to fix a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour in the
IOWA RUSIC INC.

planned at West Branch United States.

• ANNOUNCING: "PRODUCT OF THE MONTH" SPECIAL!
WEST BRANCH — The West Charles Gavin brass quintet; Aug. 6, if you live in one of these 16 Eastern
Branch Chamber of Commerce and
the National Park Service have
a surprise performance; Aug. 13, the
Ed Sarath jazz quartet; and Aug. 20, Iowa counties and normally pay a toll NOW! SUPER JULY SAVINGS!
scheduled six musical "concerts-in- West Branch Minstrels. charge to order a Gazette want ad . . . Plus Reduced Cooling and Heating Costs!
the-park" t o be offered free of
charge on consecutive Thursday With Rusco's revolutionary New
nights, beginning July 16, at the DIAL
Herbert Hoover National Historic
Site in West Branch. Coffee drinkers
The SUPER SEAL STORM DOOR
The concerts will be held at the Finland is the champion per
TOLL FREE Self-sealing all-weather Storm Door that seals like your
refrigerator door!
National Historic Site bandstand at capita coffee-consuming country in PRIVATE LOOK AT THESE GREAT FEATURES OF SUPER SEAL:
Parkside and Main streets. In the the world, gulping down about five Want Ad • MAGNETIC WEATHER SEAL • SELF-STORING SYSTEM
event of rain, the concerts will be cups a day for every man, woman • DRIP CAP-FOR CLEAN WINDOW • RUGGED FIBERGLASS SCREENS
held in the West Branch Town Hall
Number
and child. But the United States, • STRENGTH OF STEEL • MAR-RESISTANT
across the street from the band­ which averages less than half that 800-332-7976 • TEMPERED SAFETY GLASS • ADVANCED DESIGN
stand. amount per person, buys more • By 4:45 PM Day
All concerts begin at 7 p.m. The
schedule includes: July 16, West
coffee than anyone else; it pur­
chased some 1.2 million tons in
Preceding
Publication
'25 OFF SUPER SEAL STORM DOOR! • Choose yours
in exciting new
Branch Community Band; July 23, 1979.
Sweet Adelines Chorus; July 30, • 7:00 PM Friday
for Sunday
'25 OFF RUSCO'S NEW " R " DOOR! decorator colors

EXECUTIVE $ | 99 • 8 to 9 AM * Check everyday specials on super-saver Rusco windows.,. Plus

DRIVE PACIFIERS Saturday
for Monday
great values on the Complete RUSCO line!
COOL ^Hollywoo^Glasse^^^
J u m b o Playing Cards MATI/lEa Cancellations or cor-
CEDAR RAPIDS' Q U A L I T Y H O M E IMPROVEMENT C O M P A N Y
IN Your Car or Truck Invisible D o g Leash
HU I l V t « rections of want ads,

RUSIC
TOTAL AIR Hobo Cigar
CONDITIONING SERVICE. And Many More ^ or any other Gazette business, can­
. .and a whole lot morel not be accepted on the toll-free line. IOWA ImllVlrWILWii^J INC.
JIT/* AUT0&
Phone Orders Contract advertisers are requested to
HI V TRUCK CENTER
941 66th A v e . SW if 400 K I R K W O O D W Welcome call their regular account representa­ 801 3 3 r d A V E N U E S W • C E D A R RAPIDS • 364-0295
363-0229 (Off The Corner of Gilbert) Branch Stores in Ames tive on The Gazette number they nor-
4 Blocks West of TSC I O W A CITY 338-3330 and Dts Moines mally use.
 22A The Cedar Rapids Gazette: Sun.. July 12,1981

No trains to catch for WW II rail builders DELHI — They came by car and
they came by van to their 23rd reunion
at Delhi and Dyersville this weekend,
but none of these men who helped keep
the railroads running for t h e Allies in
World War II came by rail. That was the
irony for these surviving members of
Company A, 728th Railway Operating
Battalion: you can't get here from there
on a train anymore.
Between 30 and 35 veterans of "A"
and their families are winding down
three days of fun and nostalgia this
morning, preparatory to heading back to
Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsyl­
vania, as well as parts of Iowa and its
neighboring states.
Dick and Marian Overman of Delhi
hosted this year's reunion, which was
officially headquartered in the Colonial
Motel at Dyersville.
Friday was sort of a get-reacquainted
day a t the motel. On Saturday the
reunioners traveled to Delhi for a picnic
get-together a t the Overman home,
followed by some pontoon boating on
Lake Delhi. They held their banquet and
business meeting Saturday evening at
Ertl's restaurant in Dyersville.
It was a relatively quiet weekend for
survivors of Company A, which origi­
nally numbered about 200, quiet com­
pared to what these former railroad men
were doing in Europe nearly 40 years
ago.
Railroad battalions played vital roles
in World Wars I and II. They served for
the last time in the Korean conflict.
Their purpose was to move ammunition,
food, fuel, etc., across war-torn coun­
tries, because railroads could move more
in volume than any other source of
transportation.
Company A went to France with the
b a t t a l i o n a f t e r D-Day a n d r e b u i l t
bombed railroad yards and bridges and
operated railroads that had been taken
over by the U.S.
Railroad battalions were part of
Railway Grand Divisions, which oper­
ated under Military Railway Service,
each battalion sponsored by a U.S.
railroad. The 728th was sponsored by
the L&N Railroad. The battalion, about
1,000 strong a t the start, took i t s
Photo by Art Hough
technical training under the Santa Fe
J a c k W a d s w o r t h of W a u k o n d i s p l a y s o n e of s e v e r a l d o z e n p h o t o g r a p h s Railroad, in Clovis, N.M., spent a month
h e t o o k of t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of r a i l r o a d s in E u r o p e d u r i n g W o r l d W a r II. at Fort Snelling, Minn., then sailed from
Boston for the European Theater of
Operations, where they served for two
years in England, France and Germany.
The 728th was composed of four
companies, A, B, C and Headquarters,
most of them seasoned railroad men.
Company A was for section men; B, the
roundhouse gang, and C, train and
engine, brakemen and conductors, fire­
men and engineers.
Jack Wadsworth of Waukon, a mem­
ber of Company A, was "official"
photographer for his company. An
expert photographer, he shot several
hundred pictures, starting with basic
technical training at Clovis in 1943. He
brought along to the reunion over 50 of
the enlarged photographs, to feed the
nostalgia of his former buddies.
Jack recalls the company trained in
England for almost a year, putting
together gondolas and boxcars so they
were ready for use when they got to
France. Jack helped draw up maps of
French railroads during the bombing of
London.
In Germany, he said, there wasn't a
train running when they got there. He
said the Americans more or less super­
vised the reconstruction of the German
railroads, traveling through Bavaria by
motor car to check the facilities.
Wadsworth, who ended the war with
the rank of T / 5 instrument m a n /
surveyor, is high in his praise of the men
of Company A, most of whom were
railroad section hands long before the
war started.
"We used to try to lay out switches
with stakes," he recalled. "These old
section foremen would stand back with
their eye and look down the track. They
wouldn't pay any attention to the stakes,
see, and they could lay out a switch
better than we could."
Using his Zeiss Ikonta camera, Wads­
worth collected a variety of pictures of
the war — from complete devastation of
bridges and cities to unscathed cathe­
drals; men at work assembling railway
cars or repairing tracks; weekend breaks
in London, chow lines . . . pictures of
his buddies at work and at play.
Jack quickly shuffled through the pile
of pictures, talking as he went along:
"This," he laughed, "looks like they
were ready for a big battle. Actually,
they were going for a beer in Germany.
"One time, one of the cars derailed,"
he held up another picture, "and the
guard was thrown off. He hit a dog. A
farm girl came running out. They
thought she wanted to look after the
guard. She went for the dog."
Wadsworth, 66, graduated from the
University of Iowa in 1941 with a
bachelor's degree in commerce. He took
a job with the Milwaukee Road a t
Savanna, 111. Later, he got a job in train
service with the Milwaukee at Dubuque.
He enlisted in 1943 at the age of 28.
Still single when he returned t o
Waukon after the war, he had to register
with the draft board. Which was a good
thing, because that's how he met the
present Mrs. Wadsworth, who was a
clerk in the Selective Service office.
They were married in 1946 and have five
children.
Jack worked for the state Highway
Department for a year and then was with
the Welfare Department from 1950 to
1955, and with Iowa Blue Cross-Blue
Shield from 1955 t o 1968. He was
district manager at Wenatchee, Wash.,
of the Washington-Alaska Blue Cross-
Blue Shield from 1968 until his retire­
ment in 1978.
Railroads played a tremendous part in
moving troops and war materiel across
the United States during World War II.
But, most of the railroads are gone or
going now and in response to a question,
Jack Wadsworth painted a bleak picture
— not only for the future of railroads,
but for the future of civilization.
"Well, you know, if we have another
war I don't think it will be the war we
knew," he said. "I think it will be a
terrible, destructive war, an atomic war.
I don't think we'll use ground troops or
infantry.
"If they get this nuclear program
moving, it will be the end of us.
"We won't need railroads."

Brewing beer was integral part

of Amana Colonies' early days
Editor's Note: Ted Heinze, a
native of Middle Amana, occasion­
ally writes articles on historic as­
pects of the Amana Colonies.
By Ted Heinze
Free-lance writer
THE AMANA COLONIES —
W h i l e w i n e r i e s a b o u n d in t h e
Amana Colonies today, at one time
the settlement could boast of four
b e e r breweries.
The brewing of beer by the
founders of the Colonies dates back
to the earlier settlements of Upper,
Middle, Lower and New Ebenezer,
in New York state near Buffalo,
following. the settlers' emigration
from Germany.
When the settlers moved into
their new home in Iowa in the early
1850s, the C o l o n i e s e s t a b l i s h e d
breweries because beer remained
m o r e palatable, possibly safer to
drink than the local water and it did
supply some nourishment.
It is believed that the two beer
formulas used by the Amanas were
developed in the old Ebenezer
breweries, rather than in Germany,
because the formulas contain corn
as an adjunct to the barley malt to
provide a percentage of the starches
that are converted into sugar during
the brewing process. The use of corn
is an innovation of American brew­
eries.
There were four breweries in the
Colonies: one each in Amana, Mid­
dle Amana, Homestead and South
Amana. All the breweries had
cellars that were dug into hillsides
and were located near the village ice
house or butcher shop.
The best known brewery was at
Amana just east of the Meat Market.
The brewery was built into and over
the hillside, and large hooks in the
ceiling on the main floor were used
to suspend hoses so the beer
mixture could flow from upper
floors to a deep cellar for cooling
and fermenting. The brewery was
razed in the 1950s.
Figures on the beer production,
taken from a register of U.S.
breweries from 1876 to 1976, show
that the Colonies' breweries
produced approximately 62,000 gal­
lons annually. This amounted to an
average consumption of 35.3 gallons
of beer per person, which is some­
what more than the current U.S.
average of 24.3 gallons. However,
the Colonies' beer consumption was
less than in most European coun­
tries, according to the U.S. Brewers
Association and Encyclopedia Brit-
tanica.
It is notable that the Colonies'
high beer consumption was during a
time of hard work for Amana
settlers. There was construction oi*
residences in the seven villages,
factories and shops, and the digging
of a six-mile canal from the Iowa
River.
Also, it is notable that beer was
produced and consumed during the
entire time when the Colonies had
inspired religious leaders. Though,
as in most religions, excessive use
was denounced, beer drinking was
accepted and used as a natural part
of life in the Colonies.
It is surprising that many resi­
dents of the Amanas did not know
about the old breweries until about
10 years ago when Paul and Emma
Zimmerman of South Amana began
marketing beer m a d e with t h e old-
time Amana recipes. The beer is
brewed in Wisconsin and distributed
in the Colonies under the name
" G e m e i n d e B r a u " and " C o l o n i e
Brau."
This lack of knowledge about the
breweries is possible because they
operated from the 1850s until 1884,
when Iowa adopted a prohibition
law. The breweries were then closed
and eventually abandoned. How­ An old photo shows the brewery at Amana before it was razed in the 1950s.
ever, for a time they were used to
store communal wine used for
sacramental services.

'Concerts-in-the-park' On this date

In 1933, a new industrial code was established
to fix a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour in the
IOWA RUSIC INC.

planned at West Branch United States.

• ANNOUNCING: "PRODUCT OF THE MONTH" SPECIAL!
WEST BRANCH — The West Charles Gavin brass quintet; Aug. 6, if you live in one of these 16 Eastern
Branch Chamber of Commerce and
the National Park Service have
a surprise performance; Aug. 13, the
Ed Sarath jazz quartet; and Aug. 20, Iowa counties and normally pay a toll NOW! SUPER JULY SAVINGS!
scheduled six musical "concerts-in- West Branch Minstrels. charge to order a Gazette want ad . . . Plus Reduced Cooling and Heating Costs!
the-park" t o be offered free of
charge on consecutive Thursday With Rusco's revolutionary New
nights, beginning July 16, at the DIAL
Herbert Hoover National Historic
Site in West Branch. Coffee drinkers
The SUPER SEAL STORM DOOR
The concerts will be held at the Finland is the champion per
TOLL FREE Self-sealing all-weather Storm Door that seals like your
refrigerator door!
National Historic Site bandstand at capita coffee-consuming country in PRIVATE LOOK AT THESE GREAT FEATURES OF SUPER SEAL:
Parkside and Main streets. In the the world, gulping down about five Want Ad • MAGNETIC WEATHER SEAL • SELF-STORING SYSTEM
event of rain, the concerts will be cups a day for every man, woman • DRIP CAP-FOR CLEAN WINDOW • RUGGED FIBERGLASS SCREENS
held in the West Branch Town Hall
Number
and child. But the United States, • STRENGTH OF STEEL • MAR-RESISTANT
across the street from the band­ which averages less than half that 800-332-7976 • TEMPERED SAFETY GLASS • ADVANCED DESIGN
stand. amount per person, buys more • By 4:45 PM Day
All concerts begin at 7 p.m. The
schedule includes: July 16, West
coffee than anyone else; it pur­
chased some 1.2 million tons in
Preceding
Publication
'25 OFF SUPER SEAL STORM DOOR! • Choose yours
in exciting new
Branch Community Band; July 23, 1979.
Sweet Adelines Chorus; July 30, • 7:00 PM Friday
for Sunday
'25 OFF RUSCO'S NEW " R " DOOR! decorator colors

EXECUTIVE $ | 99 • 8 to 9 AM * Check everyday specials on super-saver Rusco windows.,. Plus

DRIVE PACIFIERS Saturday
for Monday
great values on the Complete RUSCO line!
COOL ^Hollywoo^Glasse^^^
J u m b o Playing Cards MATI/lEa Cancellations or cor-
CEDAR RAPIDS' Q U A L I T Y H O M E IMPROVEMENT C O M P A N Y
IN Your Car or Truck Invisible D o g Leash
HU I l V t « rections of want ads,

RUSIC
TOTAL AIR Hobo Cigar
CONDITIONING SERVICE. And Many More ^ or any other Gazette business, can­
. .and a whole lot morel not be accepted on the toll-free line. IOWA ImllVlrWILWii^J INC.
JIT/* AUT0&
Phone Orders Contract advertisers are requested to
HI V TRUCK CENTER
941 66th A v e . SW if 400 K I R K W O O D W Welcome call their regular account representa­ 801 3 3 r d A V E N U E S W • C E D A R RAPIDS • 364-0295
363-0229 (Off The Corner of Gilbert) Branch Stores in Ames tive on The Gazette number they nor-
4 Blocks West of TSC I O W A CITY 338-3330 and Dts Moines mally use.