Product Code Database
An armoured train (Commonwealth English) or armored train (American English) is a railway train protected with vehicle armour and which often includes railway wagons armed with artillery, , and . Some have also had Firing port 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).
Armoured trains were historically fighting systems, equipped with heavy weapons such as artillery. An exception was the US "White Train", the Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Transport Train, armoured and escorted by personnel armed with personal weapons.
It is not to be confused with Railway gun, which includes a large-caliber gun and its crew, but without special protection from them. Trains simply equipped with light weapons without elaborate protective devices, e. g. a simple wagon with a few machine guns sheltered behind sandbags, are also not considered to be armoured trains.
Different types of armour were used to protect from attack by tanks. In addition to various metal plates, concrete and sandbags were used in some cases for improvised armoured trains.
Armoured trains were sometimes escorted by a kind of rail-tank called a draisine. One such example was the 'Littorina' armoured trolley which had a cab in the front and rear, each with a control set so it could be driven down the tracks in either direction. Littorina mounted two dual 7.92 mm MG13 machine gun turrets from Panzer I light tanks.
Early in the 20th century, Russia used armoured trains during the Russo-Japanese War. Armoured trains were also used during the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) and World War I (1914–1918). The most intensive use of armoured trains was during the Russian Civil War (1918–1920). During the Chinese Civil War, White Russian emigrants in the service of Marshal Zhang Zuchang built 14 armored trains in 1924–1928. Some of them, for example "Peking" ("Beijing") were built on the model of the First World War of the type "Zaamurets" (later the Czech "Orlik"). The Spanish Civil War saw a little use of armoured trains, though World War II (1939–1945) saw more. The French used them during the First Indochina War (1946–1954), a number of countries had armoured trains during the Cold War, and they were used during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Austria-Hungary also fielded armoured trains against the Italians in World War I.
A Royal Navy armoured train from Britain, armed with four QF 6 inch naval guns and one QF 4 inch naval gun, was used in support of the British Expeditionary Force in the opening phase of the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914. 1914: The Days of Hope, Lyn MacDonald, Penguin Books 1989 Two armoured trains were constructed at Crewe Works during 1915 for British coastal defense duties; one was based in Norfolk and one in Edinburgh to patrol rail routes on stretches of coast considered vulnerable to amphibious assault. The trains comprised two gun trucks, one at each end, mounted with a 12-pounder quick firing gun and a machine gun; an armoured cabin behind the artillery piece contained the magazine. Inboard of each gun truck was a truck for infantry quarters. This was also armoured, with observation ports and Firing port for rifle fire. The armoured locomotive, with the cab and motion protected, was marshalled into the centre of the train. The driver took up a position at whichever end of the train was leading, with the regulator controlled by a mechanical connection. The intention was that the infantry, with artillery support from the train's guns, was to hold off a hostile landing force until reinforcements could be deployed.
Italy fitted twelve armed trains (under the control of the Regia Marina) to protect its Adriatic Sea coast from raids on part of the Kuk Kriegsmarine; each train was supplemented by a support one. Each armed train was formed by a FS Class 290 locomotive, three to five gun cars, two to four ammo cars and a command car; there were three types of armed train, one with 152 mm guns, another with 120 mm guns and the last with 76 mm AA guns. These trains were considered overall a success, and blunted attempted Austro-Hungarian raids on the Italian coast.
Two armoured trains were produced in the railway workshop located at Ajmer, British Raj. One sent to Mesopotamia (now Iraq) by sea route for the Mesopotamian Campaign. Each train consists six wagons, Two wagons of each trains were ceiling less, each train consists 12-pounder guns, two Maxim heavy machine guns, two mine-exploding wagons, search light truck and a dynamo telegraph accommodation truck.
The Czechoslovak Legion used heavily armed and armoured trains to control large lengths of the Trans-Siberian Railway (and of Russia itself) during the Russian Civil War at the end of World War I. First World War – Willmott, H.P.; Dorling Kindersley, 2003, Page 251
Estonia built a total of 13 armoured trains during the Estonian War of Independence: six on broad-gauge and seven on narrow-gauge railways. The first three armoured trains with fully volunteer crews formed the backbone of the front in critical early stages of conflict. Carriages were former goods carriages and at first armor was limited to wood and sand, but later steel plating, machine guns, and cannons were added. Estonia later created a regiment for its armoured trains in 1934, called the Armoured Train Regiment, which consisted of 3 armoured trains. The regiment was dissolved in 1940, after the Soviet Union invaded the Baltic States, and its railway artillery cannons were transferred to the Red Army.
Lithuania had three armoured trains, named after the Grand Dukes of Lithuania: Gediminas, Kęstutis and Algirdas. The armoured trains were used from 1920 to 1935. The first of them, Gediminas, was used in the Polish–Lithuanian War.
After the First World War the use of armoured trains declined. They were used in China in the twenties and early thirties during the Chinese Civil War, "Armored Car Like Oil Tanker Used by Chinese" Popular Mechanics, March 1930 most notably by the warlord Zhang Zongchang, who employed refugee Russians to man them.
This prompted Nazi Germany to reintroduce armoured trains into its own armies. Germany then used them to a small degree during World War II.see also Wolfgang Sawodny (2003): Deutsche Panzerzüge, They introduced significant designs of a versatile and well-equipped nature, including railcars which housed anti-aircraft gun turrets, or designed to load and unload tanks and railcars which had complete armour protection with a large concealed gun/howitzer. Germany also had fully armoured locomotives which were used on such trains. In July 1944 the German garrison of Lublin attempted to break out to the west, using an armoured train and an infantry battalion to cover the break. But Soviet tanks bought the train under close and heavy fire, blowing it to pieces and killing scores of escaping German soldiers. The commandant of Lublin was taken prisoner.
During the Slovak National Uprising, the Slovak resistance used three armoured trains. They were named Hurban, Štefánik and Masaryk. They were built in the Zvolen railway factory in very short time – Štefánik was built just in 14 days, Hurban in 11 days. Boiler plates were used as the armor. In case of tank cars, whole tanks were used – LT-35 tanks were placed at the platform wagon and armored construction was built around the hull. Trains saw combat near Stará Kremnička, Čremošné, around Brezno. Later they were abandoned near Harmanec. Some of train cars were later used by Germans for training and for patrolling. Two original cars from the Štefánik train are preserved – the tank car (with original LT-35 tank inside) and machine gun car, and they are exhibited in the Museum of Slovak National Uprising in Banská Bystrica. Another train is exhibited in Zvolen – it is a replica of armoured train Hurban, which was built for the movie Deň, ktorý neumrie. This replica differs in comparison with the original trains by having bigger turrets from the T-34-85 tank, instead of turrets from LT-35.
Britain formed twelve armoured trains in 1940 as part of the preparations to face a German invasion; these were initially armed with QF 6 pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss guns and six Bren Guns. They were operated by Royal Engineer crews and manned by Royal Armoured Corps troops. In late 1940 preparations began to hand the trains over to the Polish Army in the West, who operated them until 1942.Balfour, G 1981. The Armoured Train: its development and usage. Batsford They continued in use in Scotland and were operated by the Home Guard until the last one was withdrawn in November 1944. A 6-pounder wagon from one of these trains is preserved at the Tank Museum. A miniature armoured train ran on the 15-inch gauge Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
Canada used an armoured train to patrol the Canadian National Railway along the Skeena River from Prince Rupert, British Columbia to the Pacific coast, against a possible Japanese seaborne raid. The train was equipped with a 75 mm gun, two Bofors 40 mm guns, and could accommodate a full infantry company. The No 1 Armoured Train entered service in June 1942, was put into reserve in September 1943, and dismantled the following year.Rowse, Sue Harper (2005), In Times of War: Prince Rupert 1939-1945 (pp. 82–84)
In 1940 Italy had twelve armed trains ready for use (again under Regia Marina control), nine for anti-ship duties and three for AA duties; six were assigned to La Spezia, and the other six to Taranto. One of them was heavily involved in the Battle of the Alps, shelling French forts in support of an Italian attack towards Menton, and suffering heavy damage by return fire. By 1943, eight trains had been deployed to Sicily; Allied air superiority did not allow them to have any meaningful role, and eventually they were all abandoned and destroyed by their crews.Caiti, pp. 84–89
The Imperial Japanese Army also utilized armored trains. In the 1920s, they utilized converted passenger trains to guard the rail lines in Manchuria. In the 1930s they produced specific armored trains, which were used in Manchuria and when they engaged Chinese NRA and CPC troops in Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page: Improvised Armored Train Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page: Special Armored Train Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page: Type 94 Armored Train
The Soviet Red Army had a large number of armoured trains at the start of World War II but many were lost in 1941. Trains built later in the war tended to be fitted with T-34 or KV series Gun turret. Others were fitted as specialist anti-aircraft batteries. A few were fitted as heavy artillery batteries often using guns taken from ships.
Fulgencio Batista's army operated an armoured train during the Cuban Revolution; it was derailed and destroyed during the Battle of Santa Clara, and is commemorated by the Tren Blindado (armoured train) memorial.
An improvised armoured train named the "Krajina express" ( Krajina ekspres) was used during the Croatian War of Independence of the early 1990s by the army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Composed of three fighting cars and three freight cars hooked to the front to protect it from mine blasts, "Krajina Express" enhances Serb Firepower near Bihac Deseret News, 4 December 1994 the train carried a M18 Hellcat with a 76 mm cannon, a 40 mm Bofors, a 20 mm cannon, twin 57 mm rocket launchers and a 120 mm mortar, plus several machine guns of between 12.7 and 7.62 mm.Radic, Aleksandar (2008). Историја – Крајина експрес. Арсенал magazine, nº 14, pp. 51-54. Minister of Defence of Serbia, 15 February 2008 During the Siege of Bihać in 1994, it was attacked on a few occasions with antitank rocket-propelled grenades and 76 mm guns and hit by a 9K11 Malyutka missile, but the damage was minor, as most of the train was covered with thick sheets of rubber which caused the missile's warhead to explode too early to do any real damage. The train was eventually destroyed by its own crew lest it fall into enemy hands during Operation Storm, Croatia's successful effort to reclaim the territories under occupation by Serbs. The Army of Republika Srpska operated a similar train that was ambushed and destroyed in October 1992 at the entrance to the town of Gradačac by Bosnian Muslim forces that included a T-55 tank. The wreckage was later converted into a museum. The Croatian Army deployed a two-wagon armoured train built in Split with a shield composed of two plates, one 8 mm and the other 6 mm thick, with a 30–50 mm gap filled with sand between them. The vehicle was armed with 12.7 mm machine guns. Hrvatski oklopni voz
One armoured train that remains in regular use is that of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, which the former received as a gift from the Soviet Union and the latter used heavily for state visits to China and Russia as he had a fear of flying.
Towards the end of the Cold War, both superpowers began to develop railway-based mounted on armoured trains; the Soviets deployed the SS-24 missile in 1987, but budget costs and the changing international situation led to the cancellation of the programme, with all remaining railway-based missiles finally being deactivated in 2005.
An armoured train made up of two diesel locomotives powering eight various railcars, which carried anti-aircraft weaponry and unknown cargo supported the southern flank of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. A Russian Railway Troops armoured train named Yenisei used in Ukraine was later reported in more detail; it was made up of two locomotives and eight cars. Ukrainian sources accused Russia of stealing Ukrainian Railways assets to build Yenisei. Russia released video of another armoured train in June 2022. In total, Russia's armoured train fleet consist of four known trains: Yenisei, Baikal, Volga and Amur.
|
|
