Here in America we think of armored trains, if we think of them at all, as relics of a bygone age. Perhaps we recall steel clad locomotives steaming across the African veldt, armed with Martini Henrys, gatlings, Lees and Maxims. Or World Wars I and II, in which battle trains were famously active. Today? Not so much. But hold on, readers.
Armored trains are very much alive and well, especially in Eastern Europe. Serbia, for example, deployed the famous Krajina Express. Here's a photo:
And Russia notoriously armored up some rolling stock in the Chechen conflict, Baikal, Amur, Terek, and Don. These battle wagons were armed with 23 mm ZU-23-2 guns, a T 62 on a flatbed, and 30 mm BMP cannon, to say nothing of small arms, jamming equipment, missiles and whatever else the Russkies strap onto the rolling beasts.
After the second Chechen war these ferocious trains were put in storage only to reappear in rail intensive Ukraine, where they've seen extensive service. Apparently several Chechen conflict trains have been combined into one train, the Volga.
What can we say? The message is clear, surely, armored trains are awesome and we want one, or more. Texas demands it.
Casey Jones,
LSP
