Armored Train
one of the modern instruments of war. Credit has been given to Admiral Fisher of the British navy for the first use of the armored train in war, when, in 1882, he covered ENGLISH ARMOR OF THE 16TH CENTURY steel plates. Great Britain employed armored trains in the Boer War which served as a model for all others that followed.
The protected engine carries a Maxim gun, and the protected cars have heavy field guns, operated by machinery, so that any part of the surrounding country can quickly be covered. Arrangements are made to compensate for the recoil, and also to give steadiness and ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS stability to the cars. This latter is accomplished by an arrangement for clamping the truck to the rails by strong screw clips whenever the gun is fired. There are also several steel-plated vans accompanying the train, in which horses and soldiers can be safely conveyed. change its base of action renders it a The rapidity with which the train can change its base of action renders it a difficult object for the batteries of an enemy to hit, and almost the only way ARMOR PLATES but a capped ball moving at the rate of 2,500 feet pierced it. A Harveyized plate has been pierced to the depth of 14 inches by a six-inch projectile. fore the charge explodes. The steel- Chilled iron shells often break up before the charge explodes. The steelfor projectiles is in every way superior. be rolled thinner, can carry a much heavier charge. heavier charge.
ARMORED TRAIN to defeat its operations is to wreck or derail it; then it becomes a helpless target for long-range guns. Probably the first attempt in the United States to provide an armored car was that made by the Michigan Central Railroad Company, on the order of the American Express Company, for the car was that made by the Michigan Cen- tral Railroad Company, on the order of cles carried on its special express trains.
These armored or "arsenal cars" were so constructed as to make the center of them with its steel plating a thoroughly bullet-proof room, with apertures so disposed as to enable the guards within to resist an attack by thieves from any quarter.
During the remarkable dash of the American troops in the Philippines into the northern part of the island of Luzon, in search of the fugitive insurgent leader Aguinaldo, in 1899, much effective work American troops in the Philippines into armored train. In the World War arthe northern part of the island of Luzon, in search of the fugitive insurgent leader Aguinaldo, in 1899, much effective work scale.