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This is a list of armoured trains of different countries.

Poland[]

Before regaining the independence in 1918[]

  • Dywizja Syberyjska (Siberian Division) had 3 armoured trains: Warszawa, Kraków and Poznań, and captured a fourth: Poznań II
  • 10 February-10 May1918 improvised armoured train of Związek Broni.

Battle of Lwów (1918)[]

Polish-Soviet War[]

Names of fifty trains have been confirmed, but it is hard to be sure the exact number that remain to be found. Near the end of the war, on December 1, 1920, twenty-six trains formed the part of the armoured train Polish forces:

Other:

Lost in 1920:

In mid-1921, twelve trains were disbanded, and others were standardized. The twelve were retained and formed six divisions (dywizjon), which were attached to three regiments (pułks) of train sappers:

In 1924 those divisions were disbanded, and their equipment deposited in mobilisation reserve stores. For training purposes a training division was created (attached to the 2nd Regiment of Train Sappers in Jabłonno. This division retained two trains:

In January 1925 this division was renamed 'Armoured Train Training Division'.

Third Silesian Uprising (1921)[]

June 1921: 1 dywizjon

2 dywizjon

3 dywizjon

4 dywizjon

5 dywizjon

6 dywizjon

7 dywizjon

8 dywizjon

Other:

September 1939[]

Polish armoured trains in United Kingdom (1940-1943)[]

Armoured trains of Railway Defence Service (Służba Ochrony Kolei, SOK) after 1945[]

Retired from service after 1950.

Train artillery[]

  • On the basis of German armoured train in 1947 a train artillery division DAKOL was formed.[citation needed]

Surviving units[]

  • armoured wagon (likely from nr 11 Poznańczyk) in Poznań
  • heavy armoured handcar PT16 (Panzertriebwagen 16) in Muzeum Kolejnictwa w Warszawie.

Russia[]

Slovakia[]

Japan (for use in Manchukuo)[]

Armoured vehicles and auxiliary support vehicles[]

Railway Heavy Cannon[]

Armoured trains[]

Type 94 Armoured Train There were seven:[citation needed]

  • Waggon-1 Reconnaissance Waggon (Manchuria Railway 50t coal waggon "Tai" modified)
  • Waggon-2 Canone Waggon Ko (Manchuria Railway 60t waggon "Chii" modified)
  • Waggon-3 Canone Waggon otsu (Manchuria Railway 60t waggon "Chii" modified)
  • Waggon-4 Canone Waggon Hei (Manchuria Railway 60t waggon "Chii" modified)
  • Waggon-5 Command Waggon (Manchuria Railway 60t coal waggon "Tasa" modified)
  • Locomotive (Manchuria Railway type "Mikado")
  • Waggon-6 Tender Waggon (as support waggon)
  • Waggon-7 Power Supply Waggon (Manchuria Railway 60t coal waggon "Tasa" modified)

Special Armoured Train[]

  • Waggon-1 Protective Waggon (Manchuria Railway 30t waggon modified)[citation needed]
  • Waggon-2 Heavy Canone Waggon (Manchuria Railway 50t coal waggon "Tai" modified)
  • Waggon-3 Light Canone Waggon (Manchuria Railway 50t coal waggon "Tai" modified)
  • Waggon-4 Infantry Waggon (Manchuria Railway 30t waggon modified)[citation needed]
  • Waggon-5 Command Waggon (waggon was built two floors)
  • Locomotive (Manchuria Railway type "Sorii" locomotive modified)
  • Waggon-6 Auxiliary Tender (Manchuria Railway 50t coal waggon "Tai" modified)[citation needed]
  • Waggon-7 Materials Waggon (Manchuria Railway third class bogey "Ha-2" modified)
  • Waggon-8 Infantry Waggon (Manchuria Railway 30t waggon modified)
  • Waggon-9 Light Canone Waggon (Manchuria Railway 50t coal waggon "Tai" modified)[citation needed]
  • Waggon-10 Howitzer Waggon (Manchuria Railway 50t coal waggon "Tai" modified)[citation needed]
  • Waggon-11 Protective Waggon (Manchuria Railway 30t waggon modified)

Others types of Japanese Armoured trains[]

  • Improvised Armoured Train

In 1920s, the Japanese built some improvised armoured trains converted from normal trains. They were used to guard the railways in Manchuria.[citation needed]

Iraq[]

  • Iraqi Armored Train

During the Anglo-Iraqi War the British reported capturing an Iraqi armoured train near Basra in May 1941.

Croatia[]

  • Croatian Armored Train

Croatian Army possesses one armoured train which mounted French Hotchkiss H38 turrets.

Republika Srpska Krajina[]

  • Krajina express

The Serb army of Krajina used an armoured train with M-18 and a AA cannon M-55 20/3mm

France[]

First Indochina War (1946-1954)[]

  • La Rafale, two trains blindés ("TB", armoured trains) were used by the 2e Etranger (French Foreign Legion) from 1948 to 1954 in French Indochina (Vietnam and Cambodia).

United Kingdom[]

World War II[]

13 armoured trains were formed in June 1940 for coastal defence. They were typically formed by a small locomotive between two armoured wagons, usually small steel coal wagons with extra armour, and other wagons carrying ammunition. Each armoured wagon carried a mounted QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss gun and a Vickers machine gun or Lewis Gun. The infantry section on each wagon was also armed with a variery of small arms including Bren light machine guns, Thompson submachine guns and Lee-Enfield rifles. With the threat of invasion over, armoured trains were disbanded in November 1944.[1]

They trains were initially operated by Royal Engineers crews and armoured wagons were manned by Royal Armoured Corps troops. From late 1940 until 1942 they were operated by railway company crews and armoured wagons were manned by troops of the Polish Armed Forces in the West.[1] From 1942 they were operated by Home Guard units, composed of employees of the railway companies, until they were disbanded in November 1944.

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch armoured train

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch armoured train, October 1940

The narrow gauge Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway also had a miniature armoured train. Due to its small size it could not carry Hotchkiss guns and instead carried two Boys anti-tank rifles and four Lewis guns. It was manned by the 6th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry and credited with shooting down a Messerschmitt Bf 109, a Heinkel He 111 and a Dornier Do 17.[1]

Royal Train[]

Armoured saloons were constructed by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1941.

Battle of Malaya[]

In Malaya in 1942, an armoured train was part of Operation Krohcol, the British advance into Siam to resist the Japanese attack.

Hungary[]

1939-1945[]

101. sz. páncélvonat - high train:[citation needed]

  • machine-gun wagon ( 1 x 36M 37mm AT gun, 1 x 36M 20mm AP gun, 4 x 31M 8mm machine gun)
  • MÁV 377 locomotive
  • casemate-wagon (1 x 18M 8 cm field gun, 1 x 36M 20mm AP gun, 2 x 31M 8mm machine gun)

102. sz. páncélvonat - flat train:[citation needed]

  • machinegun wagon ( 1 x 36M 37mm AT gun, 1 x 36M 20mm heavy gun, 4 x 31M 8mm machine gun)
  • MÁV 377 locomotive
  • artillery wagon (1 x 22M 8 cm field gun, 1 x 36M 20mm AP gun, 2 x 31M 8mm machine gun)

103. sz. páncélvonat - high train:[citation needed]

  • machine-gun wagon ( 1 x 36M 37mm AT gun, 1 x 36M 20mm AP gun, 4 x 31M 8mm machine gun)
  • MÁV 377 locomotive
  • casemate-wagon (1 x 22M 8 cm field gun, 1 x 36M 20mm AP gun, 2 x 31M 8mm machine gun)

104. sz. páncélvonat - self-propelled, motor-driven train ( 1 x 36M 20mm AP gun, 1 x 22M 8 cm field gun, 2 x 31M 8mm machine gun)[citation needed]

United States[]

At least one armored diesel locomotive was built by Alco as #10001 for WWI usage, however with the Armistice just 14 days away, it never left the country.

Between 1953 and 1957, the St. Louis Car Company built an armored "White Train" for the United States Department of Energy. It was used for transporting nuclear weapons from the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas to various locations throughout the Continental United States. It consisted of armored transport, escort and support cars. The armored escort cars mounted heavy machine guns and carried armed security couriers from the Office of Secure Transportation. The train was initially painted white. Individual cars were subsequently repainted into different colors to make them less conspicuous, but it continued to be known as the White Train. It was withdrawn in 1987, replaced by newer vehicles which could be marshalled into any freight train. Some of the White Train cars are now preserved at the Amarillo Railroad Museum.[2]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 G. Balfour (1981). The armoured train: its development and usage. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-2547-4. 
  2. "White Train". Amarillo Railroad Museum. http://amarillorailmuseum.com/white_train.html. 
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