---
title: On rails, to ships, to victory! Keep 'em rolling
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/on-rails-to-ships-to-victory-1941/
description: 'Three stacked pictures: a heavy gun on a Union Pacific flatcar, a cargo ship at sea, and the same type of gun firing on land.'
section: Collection
---

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3. On rails, to ships, to victory! Keep 'em rolling

[![On rails, to ships, to victory! Keep 'em rolling, 1941 US poster: Three stacked pictures](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/on-rails-to-ships-to-victory-1941.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/on-rails-to-ships-to-victory-1941.jpg)

# On rails, to ships, to victory! Keep 'em rolling

Three stacked pictures: a heavy gun on a Union Pacific flatcar, a cargo ship at sea, and the same type of gun firing on land. The headline runs down the left side across them, and the foot reads 'Keep 'em rolling' and 'The railroads are the backbone of offense'. The sequence ties the railroad to the firing gun (transfer), and 'victory' is a virtue word.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
ON RAILS..
TO SHIPS..
TO VICTORY!
UNION PACIFIC
UNION
"KEEP 'EM ROLLING"
THE RAILROADS ARE THE BACKBONE OF OFFENSE
[signature: WILLMARTH]
```

[← O.K. Soldier! We'll do our part!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ok-soldier-well-do-our-part-1941/) [On the job →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/on-the-job-american-railroads-1941/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Colour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/lithograph-res-gestae-ancyra-heading-0014/) (Roman Empire · 0014 · Card stacking, Glittering generalities)
- [Bronze sestertius of Trajan, reverse S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S C, the emperor on horseback riding down an enemy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-trajan-optimo-principi-0103/) (Roman Empire · 0103 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/) (Roman Empire · 0313 · Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (Byzantine Empire · 0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I (Royal Museums Greenwich version), oil on panel](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/armada-portrait-elizabeth-i-greenwich-1588/) (England · 1588 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Medal of Elizabeth I: portrait in a ruff, reverse an ark on stormy waves with SAEVAS TRANQVILLA PER VNDAS (18th-century aftercast of a 1588 model)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/elizabeth-i-ark-medal-aftercast-1588/) (England · 1588 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (Dutch Republic · 1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)