This Russian O Class steam locomotive – OV 5067 – was built in 1896 and was converted into an armored train during the war. More than 9100 of this O class types were built between 1890 and 1928 making it the second most produced class of train in Russia. Photographed at the Central Museum of Armed Forces in Moscow 2009.
The Soviet or Russian Armored Locomotive – O Class
The Russian Armored Locomotive – O Class was a heavily armored railway locomotive used by the Soviet Union during the Russian Civil War and early years of World War II. Designed to protect vital railway routes and prevent enemy attacks on trains carrying troops, supplies, and equipment, the O Class locomotives were an innovative solution to rail transport security in hostile environments.
The O Class was based on the O-series Soviet steam locomotives, which were modified by adding armor plating to the engine and tender. The armor was typically 6 mm to 12 mm thick, designed to protect the locomotive from small arms fire, machine gun bursts, and shrapnel. The locomotive featured a large steam boiler that powered its piston-driven wheels, allowing it to achieve a top speed of 60 km/h (37 mph), depending on track conditions.
The armored O Class locomotives were equipped with multiple machine gun mounts and occasionally anti-aircraft guns to provide fire support during transport. They also had searchlights mounted for nighttime operations. The locomotives were used to pull armored trains, which often included artillery, troops, and additional armored cars, playing a key role in railway defense and offensive operations.
Although their use was largely limited to the early 20th century, the armored O Class represented an important step in the integration of armored vehicles into rail transport for military operations.
We learned from Yuri Pasholok that the armored train has been expanded with a flak train and a gun train, a T34 with a 76 mm gun turret and anti-aircraft guns have been added to the train set. Below are photos taken by Yuri somewhere in the 2020’s at the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow. It seems that the panzer train has been merged with the wagons of Poklonnaya Hill open-air museum in Moscow.
Wait until russia starts pulling these out..