Zaamurets Armoured Train

[David]

The Armoured Train was a special category of AFV used by most countries in WW1, but especially by those involved in combat on the Eastern Front, were the distances often were huge and the railway net crucial. The Russian Army used several Armoured Trains during the war, one of them the Zaamurets. The Zaamurets had been designed in 1916 on a Fax-Arbel flatbed, it had walls of 12-16mm armour and two Italian 60-hp petrol motors. It was a so called motor wagon, i.e. it could move independently, by it’s own, or pull other armoured wagon trains. The turrets could rotate 360 degrees and the 57mm Nordenfelt guns had an elevation of 10 degrees up and 60 degrees down. It was also armed with eight machine guns, and also had eight periscopes, an intercom system, signalling equipment, searchlights and range finders. It was submitted to several re-designs: in 1917 small square fire control turrets were added, and in 1918 the Nordenfeld guns were changed to 76.2mm Putilovs. During the Civil War the Zaamuret was first used by the Reds, and then captured by The Czech Legion in in Simbirsk on 22 July 1918. It was then a part of the Bolshevik armored train No. 4, Polupanov. The Czechs renamed this armored train Orlik.