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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armoured_train

An armoured train (Commonwealth English) or armored train (American English) is a railway train protected with heavy metal plating and which often includes railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns, and autocannons. Some have also had ports used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, especially in earlier armoured trains. For the most part, they were used during the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower into a new location.

Most countries have discontinued their use since road vehicles became much more powerful and offered more flexibility, train tracks proved too vulnerable to sabotage and attacks from the air, and air transportation was an even more flexible way to relocate firepower to a new location. However, there have been occasional uses in the late 20th century and early 21st century. Russia has used improvised armoured trains during the Second Chechen War (1999–2009) and in its invasion of Ukraine (2022–present).[1][2][3]

A Polish armoured train, the Danuta, in 1939. From the left: artillery wagon, infantry assault wagon, armoured locomotive, artillery wagon

Engraving captioned "The railroad battery on the Philadelphia and Baltimore Railroad, built to protect the workmen while rebuilding the burnt bridges on that road--From a Sketch by William C. Russell, of Wilmington Del. See Page 5."

French mobile artillery battery (1914)

Hungarian MÁVAG armoured train in 1914

Estonian improvised armoured train in 1919 during the Estonian War of Independence.

A German BP42 armoured train in the Balkans, 1943.

A RT-23 Molodets in the Saint Petersburg railway museum

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https://tank-afv.com/armored-trains/armored-trains-encyclopedia.php#google_vignette

D-3 Draisina (1934)

Dt45

T28 Railcar

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P.S.

[mafets]

https://www.rferl.org/a/the-odyssey-of-the-czechoslovak-legions-through-siberia-to-independence/29759515.html

From Siberia To Freedom: The Odyssey Of The Czechoslovak Legion

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But tensions were high. As Russia collapsed into chaos, the eastbound Czechoslovaks brushed past freed Austrian and Hungarian prisoners of war headed west.
In May, a freed POW flung an object at a Czech legionnaire, sparking a bloody brawl. Local Bolsheviks arrested the Czechs involved, but the legion wasn't having it and stormed in to free its comrades. Bolshevik leadership reacted furiously, demanding the Czechoslovaks be disarmed or “shot on the spot.”

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The legion responded by gunning up...

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...and capturing this armored train from the Bolsheviks.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacekeeper_Rail_Garrison

Train pulling the Garrison car, which would be painted to resemble a standard rail car. (Missile hidden inside)

This 26.5 meter railcar, painted as an ordinary Westinghouse railcar (one of the contractors), was a prototype built to carry and launch a single, nuclear-tipped LGM-118A Peacekeeper Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile. As part of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Deployment System, two of these cars plus two engines, two security, a fuel, a launch control, and a maintenance car would make up a complete train - one of 25 trains operated by the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command. Once deployed, they could roam the entire country until ordered to launch or stand down. This prototype railcar was retired to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio in 1994.

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P.S. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/735994/Russia-revives-mothballed-Soviet-train-fire-six-nuclear-ballistic-missiles

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Drésina blindada Wickham na linha de caminho-de-ferro do Mormugão, Goa portuguesa, então em via métrica.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/115754058595158/

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[mafets]

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/armored-trains.html

An armoured train, armed with Bren guns and two 3-inch guns and manned by a crew of 26 men, at Saxmundham, 14 August 1940.

South West Africa. c. 1915. A large gun mounted on a special armoured railway truck. HMAT Trafalgar is painted on the side of the truck.

An Armoured Train With British Naval Guns In Action.Photo: Jane Jones CC BY 2.0

Polish troops man an armored train – armed with a 6-pounder tank gun, two Boys anti-tank rifles and six Bren guns.

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P.S. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/britain-built-two-armored-trains-wwi.html

During World War I, the British built two armored trains. One was to protect the East Anglian coast from the German Navy, and the other was to protect the east coast of Scotland.

P.S. 2 - https://laststandonzombieisland.com/tag/improvised-armor/

A British armored train during the Second Boer War, covered with 6 inch anchor rope, provided by the Royal Navy, to provide it protection. The improvised additional armor was the source of its name, “Hairy Mary”.

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Panzerspäh-Zug

The German armored trains, also known as Panzerspäh-Zug, did play a significant role in Germany’s military strategy on the Eastern Front during World War II. These trains were utilized for reconnaissance purposes, protecting railway infrastructure, and providing rapid deployment of troops.

https://www.militaryimages.net/media/german-armored-trains.133170/









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[mafets]

https://www.stronghold-nation.com/history/ref/armored-trains

The addition of an Armored Car was developed. Built as a “normal” wooden and steel framed train car, The Armored Car was reinforced with 2 to 3-inch thick steel plating. With all “comforts” removed from the inside of the car. Small to medium artillery could be installed to protect the train. Often large multi-car components were made to provide an almost “Broadside” firing ability. Oddly, Union Armored Trains placed their cars at the FRONT of the Steam Engine, while Southern Forces tended to place them in lieu of the Cabose (or rear). Sometimes, when cannon were not available, an entire Company of Riflemen could be “safely” deployed. Armor Train pioneering would continue after the war, with specially made “Cars” used to transport Gold and Silver Reserves, as well as important Government figures.

https://www.firstmdus.net/Rail%20cars.htm

The Civil war saw the 1st use of armored rail cars.  With this page I hope to document the various designs used and proposed by the North and the South.  If you as find any information, drawings, or photos that I may use to round out the available information, please contact me at firstmdus@comcast.net

 

(Harold Zeigler model, 1991, Railroad Museum of PA, Strasburg PA)

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