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Armoured Trains: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1825-2016
Completely revised and expanded since its French publication, Armoured An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1825-2016 is the first English-language edition of the authoritative work on the subject. Military forces around the world were 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 this realization, 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 armored, they became the first practical self-propelled war machines. As demonstrated in the American Civil War, these trains were able to make a significant contribution to battlefield success. Thereafter, almost every belligerent nation with a railway system made some use of armored rolling stock, ranging from low-intensity colonial policing to the massive employment of armored trains during the Russian Civil War. Although they were somewhat eclipsed as frontline weapons by the development of the tank and other armored fighting vehicles, armored trains retained a role as late as the civil wars in the former republic of Yugoslavia. This truly encyclopedic book covers, country by country, the range of fighting equipment that rode the rails over nearly two centuries. While this book outlines the place of armored 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.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published November 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 28, 2023
It's only been recently that I've had access to this book, but I've been aware of it pretty much since it's been published, and I wondered how much you could actually say about this topic. This is speaking as someone who has long been fascinated by the minutiae of military machines.
Well, it turns out that there is a great deal to say about armored trains, as the author appears to have left no stone unturned in regards to documenting their world-wide usage, though the wide-open spaces of Eurasia appear to have been their natural habitat. There's good reason to put a Soviet example of the type on the cover of the book.
As for whether you want to invest in this book, keep in mind that Malmassari is a train fan first, so that is the primary audience. I've seldom seen relatively inexpensive used copies of this work, but at least it's in print and yet to become an expensive collector's item.
Well, it turns out that there is a great deal to say about armored trains, as the author appears to have left no stone unturned in regards to documenting their world-wide usage, though the wide-open spaces of Eurasia appear to have been their natural habitat. There's good reason to put a Soviet example of the type on the cover of the book.
As for whether you want to invest in this book, keep in mind that Malmassari is a train fan first, so that is the primary audience. I've seldom seen relatively inexpensive used copies of this work, but at least it's in print and yet to become an expensive collector's item.
August 3, 2019
I've been interested in armored trains for a long time, especially spurred by Joan Mohr's book on the Czech Legion. When I saw this listed in the Naval Institute Press catalog, it was an instant sale.
Just reading the 24 pages of Introduction -- which includes a photo of damage to a railway caused by one of Lawrence of Arabia's bombs -- convinced me I'd made a good choice. I learned a great deal, and this makes for a pretty thorough reference work.
This is a difficult subject to organize, and the decision to do the listings by country is probably the soundest. Things were going to be confusing anyway, because armored trains had the bad habit of surviving a defeat, and being captured, repaired, and employed by the new owner. So it would not be unheard of for an Austro-Hungarian armored train to be captured by Russia, then captured by the Whites or the Czech Legion, then retreated to China after the end of the White Counter-Revolution, and ultimately captured and used by the Japanese in WWII. (Yes, WWI armored trains were often still usable in the following World War.)
The "country" listings have the problem of nations going in and out of existence, but I felt the way Malmassari chose to make those divisions always made sense.
While some of the black-and-white photos are a little dark in reproduction, the photos are a fantastic selection. The color section at the end, with numerous comic books, postage stamps, postcards, posters, and so on, is excellent.
I had no idea of the extent to which armored trolleys were, and are, used. I knew about some light tanks and armored cars being refitted to run on rails, but I don't think I knew about putting them in pairs, back-to-back, to make them equally speedy in either direction. Nor about mounting and dismounting tanks and tank killers to be used both as artillery cars and as independent off-rail vehicles.
Fascinating subject, scads of pictures, lists of sources for info on each country, this is an excellent one-volume resource. It would also be a steampunk or dieselpunk writer's goldmine. Illustrators, ditto.
The bad news? I am now worried about rail torpedoes.
Errata:
On page 238 there is mention of dismantling "Fowler road trains" for their armor, but there is no explanation of what these were, or picture thereof. A photo says the armor is "clearly visible" but it won't be to a reader who has no idea what we are talking about. (Fowler road trains were armored trucks pulled by tractors. The street version of the armored train.)
Also on 238 there is a reference to "the theories put forward by Captain Girouard" with no explanation of what they were or who he might be. There is a Major Girouard mentioned on page 236 (but spelled Giroud in the Index), but no theories mentioned. I am guessing that this was Captain Girouard of the Royal Engineers, who did railway construction in support of the Dongola Expedition, but there is no mention of him in that section of this book. I'm guessing he was promoted Major by the time of the Boer War.
The article on Malawi is a little incoherent. I'm assuming something got lost in translation.
There are places (for example on p. 390) where it appears that a revision of the translation was put in, but the original version not deleted; producing redundant lines.
Just reading the 24 pages of Introduction -- which includes a photo of damage to a railway caused by one of Lawrence of Arabia's bombs -- convinced me I'd made a good choice. I learned a great deal, and this makes for a pretty thorough reference work.
This is a difficult subject to organize, and the decision to do the listings by country is probably the soundest. Things were going to be confusing anyway, because armored trains had the bad habit of surviving a defeat, and being captured, repaired, and employed by the new owner. So it would not be unheard of for an Austro-Hungarian armored train to be captured by Russia, then captured by the Whites or the Czech Legion, then retreated to China after the end of the White Counter-Revolution, and ultimately captured and used by the Japanese in WWII. (Yes, WWI armored trains were often still usable in the following World War.)
The "country" listings have the problem of nations going in and out of existence, but I felt the way Malmassari chose to make those divisions always made sense.
While some of the black-and-white photos are a little dark in reproduction, the photos are a fantastic selection. The color section at the end, with numerous comic books, postage stamps, postcards, posters, and so on, is excellent.
I had no idea of the extent to which armored trolleys were, and are, used. I knew about some light tanks and armored cars being refitted to run on rails, but I don't think I knew about putting them in pairs, back-to-back, to make them equally speedy in either direction. Nor about mounting and dismounting tanks and tank killers to be used both as artillery cars and as independent off-rail vehicles.
Fascinating subject, scads of pictures, lists of sources for info on each country, this is an excellent one-volume resource. It would also be a steampunk or dieselpunk writer's goldmine. Illustrators, ditto.
The bad news? I am now worried about rail torpedoes.
Errata:
On page 238 there is mention of dismantling "Fowler road trains" for their armor, but there is no explanation of what these were, or picture thereof. A photo says the armor is "clearly visible" but it won't be to a reader who has no idea what we are talking about. (Fowler road trains were armored trucks pulled by tractors. The street version of the armored train.)
Also on 238 there is a reference to "the theories put forward by Captain Girouard" with no explanation of what they were or who he might be. There is a Major Girouard mentioned on page 236 (but spelled Giroud in the Index), but no theories mentioned. I am guessing that this was Captain Girouard of the Royal Engineers, who did railway construction in support of the Dongola Expedition, but there is no mention of him in that section of this book. I'm guessing he was promoted Major by the time of the Boer War.
The article on Malawi is a little incoherent. I'm assuming something got lost in translation.
There are places (for example on p. 390) where it appears that a revision of the translation was put in, but the original version not deleted; producing redundant lines.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews