Railroad cannons - Rautatie tykit

Suomessa oli jo Suomen sisällissodan aikana käytössä rautatietykistöä. Toisen maailmansodan aikana Suomella oli yhteensä kolme sotasaalis alkuperä järeä tai raskas rautatiepatteri sekä muutama itse rakennettu. Viipurin ns Aavetykki oli kuuden tuuman rautatietykki, joka tulitti kaupunkia Perkjärven asemalta.

Hanko alue vuokra-aikana tuotu neuvostoliiton järeät patterit olivat myös rautatietykkejä. Muilla rintama osilla ne edusti nopeasti liikuteltavaa järeää tykistöä. Kaksi kaapattua patteria palautetaan venäläisille sodan jälkeen ja loput romutettiin hiljalleen.

Venäläisille palautettu Hango rintama 305 mm rautatietykki on esillä Jasnaja Goran tykkimuseo.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Second World War saw the final use of the railway gun, with the massive 80 cm (31 in) Schwerer Gustav gun, the largest artillery piece to be used in combat, deployed by Germany. The rise of the aeroplane effectively ended the usefulness of the railway gun. Similar to battleships, they were massive, expensive, and, in the correct conditions, easily destroyed from the air.

Both Germany and Great Britain employed railway-mounted guns that were capable of firing across the English Channel between the areas around Dover and Calais. Germany employed a number of 40 cm guns. Britain employed three 13.5-inch (342.9 mm) railway mounted guns on the East Kent Light Railway, located around Lydden and Shepherdswell. These were known as Gladiator, Sceneshifter and Peacemaker.

9.2 inch Mark 13 guns were located near Canterbury and Hythe, Kent; and 12 inch howitzers, Mk 3 and 5, located around Guston, north of Dover on the Southern Railway line to Deal and Ramsgate.

The 18 inch Howitzer, Boche Buster, featured here, was sited on the Elham Valley Railway, between Bridge, Kent, and Lyminge, and was intended for coastal defence against invasion. It was not capable of cross-channel firing, having a maximum range of only 20 km (12 miles).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------
                 
   TM-1-180, Krasnaya Gorka fort  -  TM-1-180, Yhinmäki, Venäjä