# Railway Gun



## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

I was reading about railway guns recently and decided I needed to build a railway gun train.



> Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered five 14"/50 caliber railway guns on trains for the United States Navy during April and May 1918. Each 14"/50 gun mounted on a 72-foot, 535,000-pound ) rail carriage with four 6-wheel bogies was under the command of a United States Navy lieutenant with a standard U.S. Army 2-8-0 locomotive, a 10-ton crane car, two armored ammunition cars carrying 25 shells each, two cars carrying the recoil pit foundation materials, two fuel and workshop cars, three berthing cars, a kitchen car, a commissary car, and a medical dispensary car. After delivery by ship, these trains were assembled in St. Nazaire in August and fired a total of 782 shells during 25 days on the Western Front at ranges between 27 and 36 kilometres (30,000 and 39,000 yd). Each 14-inch projectile weighed 1,400 pounds and was fired at 2,800 feet per second. The railway carriages could elevate the guns to 43 degrees, but elevations over 15 degrees required excavation of a pit with room for the gun to recoil and structural steel shoring foundations to prevent caving of the pit sides from recoil forces absorbed by the surrounding soil. The trains moved cautiously because axle loading under the gun barrels was 50,330 pounds (22.83 t) while French railways were designed for a maximum of 39,000 pounds (18 t). These axle journals overheated at speeds of more than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) per hour. After reaching its intended firing site and constructing the recoil pit, each gun could fire about two shells per hour.


https://www.navalhistory.org/2015/10/15/navy-on-the-western-front-the-14-railway-guns-in-wwi

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/14"/50_caliber_railway_gun

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So I bought a lot of "Army" rolling stock that had two of the big guns and a lot of 3 Pennsy passenger cars that were junk off fleabay. So far I have about $10 + freight invested in my USN Railway Gun kit bash. Some old-time box & passenger cars along with a derrick car kit will make up the rest of the consist.

.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

All the equipment on military trains I see these days, and IIRC during WWII, were tarped over.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

That should be easy to do, then.


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## Chip (Feb 11, 2016)

"Bang for your buck" trick, take thin cloth, cut to "tarp" size wet it, cover a tank, spray with glue when it dries, set it on a flatcar WALLA! Another "tarped Tank"


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## Riggzie (Dec 24, 2019)

Chip said:


> "Bang for your buck" trick, take thin cloth, cut to "tarp" size wet it, cover a tank, spray with glue when it dries, set it on a flatcar WALLA! Another "tarped Tank"


wow... good idea...


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## tiger (Dec 16, 2015)

Neat idea.

For a real challenge, try replicating "The Paris Gun". Might need a big layout...


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## QueenoftheGN (Dec 10, 2019)

tiger said:


> Neat idea.
> 
> For a real challenge, try replicating "The Paris Gun". Might need a big layout...



whoa... that is kinda gigantic..


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)




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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

LateStarter said:


> All the equipment on military trains I see these days, and IIRC during WWII, were tarped over.


Or loaded in specialty containers. They were never placed right out in the open. Guns, or missiles.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Last time we were at the NC Transportation Museum a train was passing on the main line with dozens of flat cars carrying military vehicles right out in the open. 

Tanks, Bradleys, APCs, Humvees, deuce and a halfs (halves?), you name it... not a tarp in sight.

Can't say what they did when moving a railway gun in WW1. Can't remember back that far.

Looks like Rivarossi at one time made a version of the K5 railway gun.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

The public (or enemy spies) is not likely to be as interested in tanks and Humvee's as would missiles or large field guns attract their attention.


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## Andreash (Dec 30, 2018)

As a kid, their was a toy company called COX....they had a military train that used that Rail gun, and a boxcar that the sides came down with big machine guns. I dreamed about that set in my youth. Tyco had I believe the same type of military set.


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## nxn (Feb 4, 2020)

Max range of 42000 yards at firing angle of 43 deg would give HO scale range of 481 yards or N scale range of 262 yards. No need to model all the intervening terrain, you could just model the impact blast crater in a separate layout 

Dave


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

MichaelE said:


> The public (or enemy spies) is not likely to be as interested in tanks and Humvee's as would missiles or large field guns attract their attention.


The budget office deemed that rooting out all spies and executing them would be cheaper than tarps. So it is done.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Andreash said:


> As a kid, their was a toy company called COX....they had a military train that used that Rail gun, and a boxcar that the sides came down with big machine guns. I dreamed about that set in my youth. Tyco had I believe the same type of military set.


One of the gun cars that was in the lot was in a Cox box. Got a .50 cal. car too, but not the boxcar.


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Old_Hobo said:


> View attachment 525644


Lol. That was good! Thanks.


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## Eilif (Nov 6, 2017)

I think that AHM and then later Model Power took over the Cox Tooling. Until the recent sale of much of MP's tooling to Lionel, these classics had been in near-continuous production (or at least periodic re-release) for many years. Big Gun, Missile Launcher, Exploding boxcar, boxcar with hidden guns, searchlight car, tanks on flat, etc. I've got most of these. My interests have mostly moved on, but they are fun to have and about half of them are from my childhood.

They're still easily available on Ebay and of course fairly common at shows.

What I'm wondering is whether if Lionel is successful with their current HO offerings they will proceed to reissue these cars too. It's not much a leap to assume that those who buy their current line of vintage toy'ish style HO (basically an HO version of their classic 0-27) would be interested in toy military HO trains too. Their current line even includes some military themed cars.


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

Did you ever finish the railway gun Stumpy ?


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

No. Another shelved project. 

Funny you ask. I ran across all of the cars/parts in a storage box about a day before you posted.


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

Would be an interesting project for sure, I was a gunner in the Navy


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## Gunner (7 mo ago)

Stumpy said:


> I was reading about railway guns recently and decided I needed to build a railway gun train.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Any ideas for a train to pull this? I am looking to build a railgun set myself and would like to have a period correct train. I was thinking about using a UP Challenger, since the one I'm using is a US army version of the gun that would have been used during WW2. It's probably not historically accurate, but for now I think it'll work until I can find something that works more in the historical timeline that I'm looking to accomplish.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

I think a Challenger would be a bit of overkill.
Something like a 2-8-2 or 2-6-2 would be more appropriate. 

I doubt the Army had any Challengers but it's your Army so why not.  

Magic


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

> ... a standard U.S. Army 2-8-0 locomotive


But that was WW1


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## SaxapahawRR (11 mo ago)

The Cox stuff are terribly toy like. The boxcar with the two Roco copied 88mm guns are particularly ghastly


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

WWII German rail guns were HUGE…..but I suspect the US version was pretty big as well….but they wouldn’t tow them around on trains, they were set up a various locations and pushed/pulled into firing position…..










Thus is what I was able to find on the German guns…..

_In addition to needing parallel tracks, the Schwerer Gustav required its track to be curved up to 15 degrees. The gun had no built-in ability to traverse, so horizontal aiming (azimuth) was accomplished by moving the entire gun along the curved track. Extra bracing was added to the inside rail of both tracks along the shooting curve. This bracing helped prevent the tracks from being damaged due to the gun’s recoil. A massive effort was needed to transport and set up the Schwerer Gustav for firing.

The gun was broken down and transported on 25 freight cars, which did not include crew or supplies. Near where the gun was to be deployed, a spur line was laid from the main rail line. Three parallel tracks were then laid where the Schwerer Gustav was to be assembled. Two of the tracks supported the gun, and the third track allowed for parts and equipment to be brought in. A single rail was laid on both sides of the three parallel tracks. These widespread rails were for two gantry cranes to take parts from the third track and move them in position to assemble the Schwerer Gustav. Two parallel tracks extended from the assembly point to the firing position of the Schwerer Gustav. Dirt was piled up high on both sides of the double track to protect the gun from attack and allow it to be covered by camouflage netting. It took around 250 men 54 hours to assemble the Schwerer Gustav, and it took weeks for 2,000 to 4,500 men to lay the needed tracks and prepare the gun’s firing position. In addition, two Flak (Flugabwehrkanone or air defense cannon) battalions were needed to protect the gun from an aerial assault.

Krupp built special diesel-electric locomotives to move the Schwerer Gustav into firing position and to transport supplies. These locomotives were designated D 311, and two were paired together to act as a single unit, for a total of four engines to move the gun. Each locomotive was powered by a 940 hp (700 kW) six-cylinder MAN diesel engine. The engine ran a generator that provided power to traction motors mounted on the locomotive’s bogies._


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## Murv2 (Nov 5, 2017)

That was the largest cannon in the world at 800mm. Far more common were 6-15" guns, and those were transportable and able to be fired from regular tracks if they could find them pointing the right way.


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