Armoured trains
https://www.rbth.com/economics/2014/06/03/the_armoured_trains_that_turned_the_tide_of_the_russian_civil_war_35699
someone needs to tell me how these are good idea when the tracks are vulnerable AF
scratches head
Limited use unless somebody is wanting to defend a train itself from being taken intact.
Tracks can be monitored by light patrols, by aircraft, and in open flat lands anybody with binoculars can keep an eye on the tracks over long distances during daylight/clear days. Radio/telegraph can be used to report track damages to keep the train from derailing, though it would impede travel. Also, damaging the track can hurt a partisan's efforts in the long term as a civilian populace probably needs the supplies that trains move around. Piss off the civilians too much and they'll turn on partisans.
yeah I can see these being good for preventing hijackings from the guerillas in the hills. maybe not for taking the fight to another army tho.
yeah.
Though, I'd imagine that being able to roll artillery along rail lines might make sense if you were needing to lay seige to a city on the way... shrugs
Tanks are slow, trains are fast. Train lines often link strategically important cities. It lets you arrive in a contested zone and fight at the same time as disembarking other more generally useful equipment.
yeah but the documentary Star Fox pretty clearly shows how tanks can be used to easily destroy a train like this.
You gotta shoot half the guns in the opposite direction. Yes, friendly fire was common.
