A book about armoured trains or railway guns? Here are books on the history, development and technology of military railway stock.
Armoured Trains : An Illustrated Encyclopaedia 1826-2016
The military was quick to see the advantages of railways in warfare, whether for the rapid deployment of men or the movement of heavy equipment like artillery. From here it was a short step to making the train a potent weapon in its own right - a mobile fort or a battleship on rails. Armed and armoured, they became the first practical self-propelled war machines, which by the time of the American Civil War were able to make a significant contribution to battlefield success.
Thereafter, almost every belligerent nation with a railway system made some use of armoured rolling stock, ranging from low-intensity colonial policing to the massive employment of armoured trains during the Russian Civil War. And although they were somewhat eclipsed as frontline weapons by the development of the tank and other AFVs, armoured trains retained a role as late as the civil wars in the former republic of Yugoslavia.
This truly encyclopaedic book covers, country by country, the huge range of fighting equipment that rode the rails over nearly two centuries. While it outlines the place of armoured trains in the evolution of warfare, it concentrates on details of their design through a vast array of photographs and the author's meticulous drawings. Published in French in 1989, this highly regarded work has been completely revised and expanded for this English edition. It remains the last word on the subject.
Author:
Lt Col. Paul Malmassari
Specs:
528 pages, 29 x 24.5 cm / 11.4 x 9.7 in, hardback
Illustrations:
1500 photographs and drawings
Publisher:
Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2016)
Armoured Trains : An Illustrated Encyclopaedia 1826-2016
First seen during the American Civil War and later appearing in the Franco-Prussian War and the Anglo-Boer Wars, the armored train came to prominence on the Eastern Front during World War I. It was also deployed during the Russian Civil War and the technology traveled east into the Chinese Civil War, and the subsequent war with Japan. It saw service on the Russian Front in World War II, but was increasingly sidelined because of its vulnerability to air attack.
Steven J Zaloga examines the origins and development of the armored train, focusing equally on the technical detail and on the fascinating story of how armored trains were actually used in combat.
Contents: Introduction - Origins - World War I - The Russian Civil War - War of the Empires - Armored Dragons - World War II (Blitzkrieg Armored Trains) - Russan Developments, 1922-41 - Soviet Armored Trains, 1941-45 - Wehrmacht Armored Trains, 1941-45 - Other Armored Trains in World War II - The Decline of Armored Trains - Further Reading - Index.
Author:
Steven J. Zaloga
Specs:
48 pages, 24.5 x 18.5 x 0.5 cm / 9.7 x 7.3 x 0.2 in, paperback
World War I was the Golden Age of the railway gun. Even though at the start of the conflict none of the armies possessed any railway artillery pieces and the very idea was comparatively new, more railway guns were used during this war than in any other conflict. Designed to break the stalemate of trench warfare, the first railway guns were simple, improvised designs made by mounting surplus coastal defence, fortress, and naval guns onto existing commercial railway carriages.
As the war dragged on, railway artillery development shifted to longer range guns that could shell targets deep behind enemy lines. This change of role brought much larger and more sophisticated guns often manufactured by mounting long-barrel naval guns to specially-designed railway carriages.
This book details the design and development of railway guns during World War I from the very first basic designs to massive purpose built "monster" railway guns. Accompanying the text are many rare, never-before-published, photographs and colour illustrations depicting how these weapons were used during World War I.
Author:
Marc Romanych, Greg Heuer
Specs:
48 pages, 25 x 18.5 x 0.5 cm / 9.8 x 7.3 x 0.2 in, paperback
World War II marked the zenith of railway gun development. Although many of the railway guns deployed at the start of the conflict were of World War I vintage, Germany's ambitious development programme saw the introduction of a number of new classes, including the world's largest, the 80cm-calibre Schwerer Gustav and Schwerer Dora guns, which weighed in at 1,350 tons and fired a huge 7-ton shell.
This book provides an overview of the types of railway guns in service during World War II, with a special focus on the German railway artillery used in France, Italy and on the Eastern Front, and analyzes why railway guns largely disappeared from use following the end of the war.
Contents: Introduction - French Railway Artillery - Belgian Railway Artillery - German Railway Artillery - Italian Railway Artillery - Soviet Railway Artillery - Finnish Railway Artillery - Japanese Railway Artillery - British Railway Artillery - US Railway Artillery - Conclusion - Bibliography - Index.
Author:
Steven J. Zaloga
Specs:
48 pages, 25 x 18.5 x 0.5 cm / 9.8 x 7.3 x 0.2 in, paperback
