Armoured train

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An armoured train is a train protected with armour. Usually they are equipped with artillery and machine gun railroad cars.

Contents

Design and equipment

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Armoured trains can be made up from various types of railroad cars, including:

Different types of armour were used to protect from attack by tanks. In addition to various metal plates, cement and sand bags were used in some cases.

Armoured trains were sometimes escorted by a kind of rail-tank called a draisine.

History

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Armoured trains saw use during in the 19th century in the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the Boer Wars (1880-81 and 1899-1902), and the First (1914-1918) and Second World Wars (1939-1945). The most intensive use of armoured trains was during the Russian Civil War (1918-1920). There are also reports of a limited use of armoured trains in the Second Chechen War (1999-2002).

During the Boer War on 15 November 1899, Winston Churchill, then a war-correspondent, was travelling onboard an armoured train when it was ambushed by Boer commandos. Churchill and many of the train's garrison were captured, though many others escaped, including wounded placed on the train's engine.

After the First World War the usage of armored trains declined. They were used in China in the twenties, most notably by the warlord Zhang Zongchang, who employed refugee White Russians to man them.

Poland used armoured trains extensively and successfully during the Polish September Campaign, which in turn prompted Nazi Germany to reintroduce them into its own armies.

One armored train that remains in regular use is the private train of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, which the former received as a gift from the Soviet Union.

An armoured train named "Krajina ekspres" (Krajina express) was used during the war in Croatia (part of the Yugoslav succession wars) of the early 90-ies by the army of Republika Srpska Krajina (self proclaimed republic of Serbs living within Croatia that seeked to remain in Yugoslavia). The train was used successfully as a mobile artillery battery (some AA guns were also mounted) due to lack of danger from the air (Croatia then posessed only a few aircraft mostly converted ex crop dusters as bombers). It has been reportedly hit on few occasions with some Anti-Tank Self-Propelled grenades, but the damage was minor as most of the train was covered with thick sheets of rubber which caused the grenades to explode somewhat too early to do real damage. The train was finally destroyed by it`s own crew (so that it doesn`t fall into enemy hands) during the Croatian offensive "Storm" which overran the Srpska Krajina (although the area was formally under protection of UN!).


Tactics

The advantage of armoured trains is that they can be quickly moved across great distances (which was especially important in the extremely mobile Russian Civil War). They can also carry a large quantity of supplies (including ammunition and materials for track repairs).

The obvious disadvantage is that they are tied to rail tracks, and destroying tracks immobilizes them.  They are also easy to spot and destroy from the air.  Because of this, armoured trains have virtually disappeared since World War II.

List of armored trains

Armoured trains of different countries:

See also

External links:

Quotes

  • "Poland had only few armoured trains, but their officers and soldiers were fighting well. Again and again they were emerging from a cover in thick forests, disturbing German lines"
from the history of Wehrmacht: "Wie das Gesetz es befehl"
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