 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Armoured train" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Anarmoured train (Commonwealth English) orarmored train (American English) is a railwaytrain protected withheavy metal plating and which often includes railway wagons armed withartillery,machine guns, andautocannons. Some have also hadports used to firesmall 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 offirepower 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 tosabotage 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 theSecond Chechen War (1999–2009) and in itsinvasion of Ukraine (2022–present).[1][2][3]
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.[4]
An armoured train is characterized by the armour from which it takes its name.
It is not to be confused withrailway artillery, 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.[5]
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(October 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The rail cars on an armoured train were designed for many tasks. Typical roles included:
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 adraisine. 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 mmMG13 machine gun turrets fromPanzer I light tanks.
Armoured and armed trains saw use during the 19th century in theAmerican Civil War (1861–1865), theFranco-Prussian War (1870–1871), theFirst andSecond Boer Wars (1880–1881 and 1899–1902). During the Second Boer WarWinston Churchill, then awar correspondent, was travelling on an armoured train which was ambushed by aBoercommando led by GeneralLouis Botha on 15 November 1899; the Boers captured Churchill and many of the train's contingent.[5]
Early in the 20th century, Russia used armoured trains during theRusso-Japanese War.[6] Armoured trains were also used during theMexican Revolution (1910–1920) andWorld War I (1914–1918). The most intensive use of armoured trains was during theRussian Civil War (1918–1920). During theChinese 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").[7] TheSpanish Civil War saw a little use of armoured trains, thoughWorld War II (1939–1945) saw more. The French used them during theFirst Indochina War (1946–1954), a number of countries had armoured trains during the Cold War, and they were used during theYugoslav wars of the 1990s and the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The most successful armed train was a single armoured wagon built to defend thePhiladelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. The railroad had been attacked by southern forces to prevent transport of Union soldiers to the front, and snipers were discouraging men attempting to repair the damage.Baldwin Locomotive Works modified a baggage wagon in late April 1861. A24-pounderhowitzer was placed on a swivel mount at the opposite end of the wagon from the pushing locomotive. The sides of the wagon were sheathed with 2.5-inch (6.4 cm) oak planks covered with 0.5-inch (1.3 cm) boiler plate. The end of the wagon around the howitzer was fitted with hinged 2-foot (61 cm) panels which could be temporarily lifted to aim and fire the howitzer and then lowered to protect the crew of six men loading the howitzer withcanister shot orgrapeshot. The remainder of the wagon contained fifty ports for riflemen. The wagon was effective for its original purpose, but vulnerability to artillery rendered such wagons of comparatively little use during later stages of the war. In August 1864, a Confederate raiding party disabled aBaltimore and Ohio Railroad locomotive pushing an armoured wagon, and then piled ties around the armoured wagon and set them afire.[8]
In 1884 Charles Gervaise Boxall (1852–1914), aBrighton-born solicitor and officer in the1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers, publishedThe Armoured Train for Coast Defence in Great Britain, outlining a new way to employ heavy artillery. In 1894, when he had become commanding officer of the 1st Sussex AV, railway workers among the volunteers of No 6 Garrison Company manned an armoured train constructed in the workshops of theLondon, Brighton and South Coast Railway (of which the unit's Honorary Colonel,Sir Julian Goldsmid, was a director).[9][10][11]
TheBritish Army employed armoured trains during theSecond Boer War, most famously a train that was extemporised in the railway workshops atLadysmith just before thesiege was closed round the town. On 15 November 1899 it left the town on reconnaissance manned by a company of theRoyal Dublin Fusiliers under the command of CaptainAylmer Haldane, a company of volunteers of theDurban Light Infantry, and a7-pounder mountain gun manned by sailors from HMSTartar.Winston Churchill accompanied the mission as a war correspondent. The train was ambushed and part-derailed, and Haldane, Churchill and some 70 of the troops were captured after a fire-fight, although the locomotive got away with the wounded.[12][13][14] Recalling his experience inMy Early Life, Churchill wrote "Nothing looks more formidable and impressive than an armoured train; but nothing is in fact more vulnerable and helpless. It was only necessary to blow up a bridge of culvert to leave the monster stranded, far from home and help, at the mercy of the enemy".[15]
.jpg)
DuringWorld War I Russia used a mix of light and heavy armoured trains. The heavy trains mounted 4.2 inch or 6 inch guns; the light trains were equipped with 7.62 mm guns.[6]
Austria-Hungary also fielded armoured trains against theItalians in World War I.
ARoyal Navy armoured train from Britain, armed with fourQF 6 inch naval guns and oneQF 4 inch naval gun, was used in support of theBritish Expeditionary Force in the opening phase of theFirst Battle of Ypres in October 1914.[16]
Two armoured trains were constructed atCrewe Works during 1915 for British coastal defense duties; one was based inNorfolk and one inEdinburgh 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 a12-pounder quick firing gun and a machine gun; an armoured cabin behind the artillery piece contained themagazine. Inboard of each gun truck was a truck for infantry quarters. This was also armoured, with observation ports andloops for rifle fire. The armoured locomotive, with the cab andmotion protected, was marshalled into the centre of the train. The driver took up a position at whichever end of the train was leading, with theregulator 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.[17][18][19]
Italy fitted twelve armed trains (under the control of theRegia Marina) to protect itsAdriatic coast from raids on part of thek.u.k Kriegsmarine; each train was supplemented by a support one. Each armed train was formed by aFS 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.[20]
Two armoured trains were produced in the railway workshop located atAjmer,India. One sent toMesopotamia (nowIraq) by sea route for theMesopotamian 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.[21]
TheBolshevik forces in the Russian Civil War used a wide range of armoured trains, includingTrotsky's one.[22] Many were improvised by locals, others were constructed by naval engineers at thePutilov andIzhorskiy factories.[22] As a result, the trains ranged from little more than sandbagged flatbeds to the heavily armed and armoured trains produced by the naval engineers.[22] An attempt to standardise the design from October 1919 only had limited success.[22] By the end of the war the Bolshevik forces had 103 armoured trains of all types.[22]
TheCzechoslovak Legion used heavily armed and armoured trains to control large lengths of theTrans-Siberian Railway (and of Russia itself) during the Russian Civil War at the end of World War I.[23]
Estonia built a total of 13 armoured trains during theEstonian War of Independence: six onbroad-gauge and seven onnarrow-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.[24] Estonia later created a regiment for its armoured trains in 1934, called theArmoured Train Regiment, which consisted of 3 armoured trains.[25] The regiment was dissolved in 1940, after theUSSRinvaded the Baltic States, and its railway artillery cannons were transferred to theSoviet army.[26]
Lithuania had three armoured trains, named after theGrand Dukes of Lithuania:Gediminas,Kęstutis andAlgirdas. The armoured trains were used from 1920 to 1935. The first of them,Gediminas, was used in thePolish–Lithuanian War.[27]
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,[28] most notably by thewarlordZhang Zongchang, who employed refugee Russians to man them.
Six armored trains were built by Paulista forces during theConstitutionalist Revolution.They were designed by French immigrant M.Clément de Baujane and built in the railway workshops with orientations from the polytechnic school[29]
Poland used armoured trains extensively during theinvasion of Poland. One observer noted that "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".[30]
This promptedNazi Germany to reintroduce armoured trains into its own armies. Germany then used them to a small degree during World War II.[31] 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.[citation needed] 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.[32]
.jpg)
During theSlovak National Uprising, the Slovak resistance used three armoured trains. They were namedHurban,Štefánik andMasaryk. They were built in theZvolen railway factory in very short time – Štefánik was built just in 14 days,[33] Hurban in 11 days.[34] 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.[34] Two original cars from the Štefánik train are preserved – the tank car (with originalLT-35 tank inside) and machine gun car, and they are exhibited in the Museum of Slovak National Uprising inBanská Bystrica.[33] Another train is exhibited inZvolen – it is a replica of armoured train Hurban, which was built for the movieDeň, ktorý neumrie.[34] This replica differs in comparison with the original trains by having bigger turrets from theT-34-85 tank, instead of turrets fromLT-35.
Britain formed twelve armoured trains in 1940 as part of the preparations to facea German invasion; these were initially armed withQF 6 pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss guns and six Bren Guns. They were operated by Royal Engineer crews and manned byRoyal Armoured Corps troops. In late 1940 preparations began to hand the trains over to thePolish Army in the West,who operated them until 1942.[35] They continued in use in Scotland and were operated by theHome Guard until the last one was withdrawn in November 1944. A 6-pounder wagon from one of these trains is preserved at theTank Museum.[36] A miniature armoured train ran on the 15-inch gaugeRomney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.[37]
Canada used an armoured train to patrol theCanadian National Railway along theSkeena River fromPrince Rupert, British Columbia to the Pacific coast, against a possible Japanese seaborne raid. The train was equipped with a 75 mm gun, twoBofors 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.[38]
In 1940 Italy had twelve armed trains ready for use (again underRegia Marina control), nine for anti-ship duties and three for AA duties; six were assigned toLa Spezia, and the other six toTaranto. One of them was heavily involved in theBattle of the Alps, shelling French forts in support of an Italian attack towardsMenton, and suffering heavy damage by return fire. By 1943, eight trains had been deployed toSicily; Allied air superiority did not allow them to have any meaningful role, and eventually they were all abandoned and destroyed by their crews.[39]
TheImperial Japanese Army also utilized armored trains. In the 1920s, they utilized converted passenger trains to guard the rail lines inManchuria. In the 1930s they produced specific armored trains, which were used in Manchuria and when they engaged ChineseNRA and CPC troops inSecond Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).[40][41][42]
The SovietRed Army had a large number of armoured trains at the start of World War II but many were lost in 1941.[43] Trains built later in the war tended to be fitted withT-34 orKV seriestank turrets.[43] Others were fitted as specialist anti-aircraft batteries.[43] A few were fitted as heavy artillery batteries often using guns taken from ships.[43]
In theFirst Indochina War, theFrench Union used the armoured and armed trainLa Rafale as both a cargo-carrier and a mobile surveillance unit.[44][45] In February 1951 the first Rafale was in service on theSaigon-Nha Trang line,Vietnam[46][47] while from 1947 to May 1952 the second one which was escorted by onboard Cambodian troops of the BSPP (Brigade de Surveillance de Phnom Penh) was used on thePhnom Penh-Battambang line,Cambodia.[48] In 1953 both trains were attacked by theViet-Minhguerrillas who destroyed or mined stone bridges when passing by.[49]
Fulgencio Batista's army operated an armoured train during theCuban Revolution; it was derailed and destroyed during theBattle of Santa Clara, and is commemorated by theTren Blindado (armoured train) memorial.
An improvised armoured train named the "Krajina express" (Krajina ekspres) was used during theCroatian War of Independence of the early 1990s by the army of theRepublic of Serbian Krajina. Composed of three fighting cars and three freight cars hooked to the front to protect it from mine blasts,[50] the train carried aM18 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.[51] During theSiege of Bihać in 1994, it was attacked on a few occasions with antitank rocket-propelled grenades and 76 mm guns and hit by a9K11 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.[50] The train was eventually destroyed by its own crew[citation needed] lest it fall into enemy hands duringOperation Storm, Croatia's successful effort to reclaim the territories under occupation by Serbs. TheArmy of Republika Srpska operated a similar train that was ambushed and destroyed in October 1992 at the entrance to the town ofGradačac by Bosnian Muslim forces that included aT-55 tank. The wreckage was later converted into a museum.[52] TheCroatian Army deployed a two-wagon armoured train built inSplit 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.[53]
One armoured train that remains in regular use is that ofKim Il Sung andKim Jong Il, which the former received as a gift from theSoviet Union and the latter used heavily for state visits to China and Russia as he had a fear of flying.
Facing the threat of Chinese cross-border raids during theSino-Soviet split, the USSR developed armoured trains in the early 1970s to protect theTrans-Siberian Railway. According to different accounts, four or five trains were built. Every train included tenmain battle tanks, twolight amphibious tanks, severalAA guns, as well as severalarmoured personnel carriers, supply vehicles and equipment for railway repairs. They were all mounted on open platforms or in special rail cars. Different parts of the train were protected with 5–20 mm thick armour. These trains were used by theSoviet Army to intimidate nationalist paramilitary units in 1990 during the early stages of theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War.[54][55]
Towards the end of theCold War, both superpowers began to develop railway-basedICBMs mounted on armoured trains; the Soviets deployed theSS-24 missile in 1987, but budget costs and thechanging international situation led to the cancellation of the programme, with all remaining railway-based missiles finally being deactivated in 2005.[citation needed]
Regular armoured trains have continued to be used by the post-Soviet Russian military. Two were deployed during theSecond Chechen War, assisting in theBattle of Grozny (1999–2000); one was sent to the2008 Russo-Georgian War. Outside of the formal Russian military hierarchy,Russian-backed militants in theDonbas region ofUkraine were pictured operating a homemade armoured train in late 2015.[56]
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 the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1][2] ARussian Railway Troops armoured train namedYenisei used in Ukraine was later reported in more detail; it was made up of two locomotives and eight cars.[57] Ukrainian sources accused Russia of stealingUkrainian Railways assets to build Yenisei.[58] Russia released video of another armoured train in June 2022.[3] In total, Russia's armoured train fleet consist of four known trains:Yenisei,Baikal,Volga andAmur.
Armouredtrams have also been used, although not purpose-built. The just-formedRed Army used at least one armoured tram during the fighting for Moscow in theOctober Revolution in 1917.[59][60][61] The Slovak National Uprising, better known for its armoured trains described above, also used at least one makeshift example.[62]
