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In the summer of 1914, Europe was on the brink of war.

After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand,

the major powers mobilized millions of soldiers and tons of material in preparation for the conflict we know is

World War I.

In those days the world ran on steam power. It would be steam locomotives that

delivered armies and ammunition to the front lines. At the start of the war

some 90 trains a day arrived at Southampton, England loaded with men and supplies bound for the continent.

On August the 18th alone, 20,000 men, 1,200 horses, 210 bicycles, 20 cars, and 600 other vehicles were unloaded there all on their

way to the front.

Over the next four years, Britain would feed two and a half million men into the war effort,

all transported by rail.

But there was a problem with a steam locomotive, smoke. Plumes of white exhaust from the coal-fired engines were visible for miles,

making any train near the front, an easy target for enemy guns.

What could be done? The gasoline engine was being used to power cars but it lacked the

horsepower to directly drive the massive weight of a train.

Electricity was also coming of age and electric trains were in use in some cities,

but they depended on having power lines strung above the tracks

and no lines were in place near the fighting.

So the Allies faced a dilemma. and no lines were in place near the fighting.

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