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An Armoured Train in Ukraine |
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Armoured trains seem to have been a feature of the former Soviet Union, Harvey
Smith's reports of the scene in Russia today include examples preserved at Victory
Park, Moscow, the Central Armed Forces Museum,
Moscow and the St. Petersburg Outdoor Railway Museum.
He also reports an armoured O class steam locomotive at the depot in Nizhny Novgorod.
In case you have come directly here from a search engine, the Ukraine section of this website mentions two other armoured trains at Odessa and Kanev. Now Parker Wilson reports: Steam locomotive EL-2500 is displayed in Sevastopol, Crimea. This formerly armoured train was built in 1941 and participated in the battle of Sevastopol. It would hide in a tunnel and emerge only to attack German positions. This earned it the nickname of "The Green Ghost" among the Germans. The Soviets affectionately call it "Zheleznyakov". During a Luftwaffe bombing raid on June 28th, 1942 the tunnel was destroyed. The Germans rebuilt it though and used it until the Soviets eventually reclaimed the city in 1944. After the war it was restored for regular use and was finally put on display at its current location in October 1967. It is located right in between the train station and the bus station. It is the first thing anyone sees when arriving in the city. It is impossible to miss. The side of the tender reads "Death to Fascism"
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Rob Dickinson
Email: webmaster@internationalsteam.co.uk