Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/326

LEFT AEMOBED TRAIN 262 ARMORED TRAIN few cases, the cuirass. One of the few picturesque features of the World War was the revival of the use of armor in other protective devices of metal. a locomotive with boiler plate and equipped cars, similarly protected, with field guns and put them to effective prac- tical use. But the germ of the idea goes back further than 1882. When the Ger- mans closed their vise-like grip upon Paris, the French made frequent sorties from the city, and in many of these at- tacks the guns were mounted on rail- road cars protected at vital points by ITALIAN ARMOR, 1460 The word is applied to the metal pro- tection given to ships of war, usually the employment of steel helmets, and consisting of super-carbonized steel or nickel steel. See Armor Plates. ARMORED TRAIN, one of the modern instruments of war. Credit has been given to Admiral Fisher of the British navy for the first use of the armored train in war, when, in 1882, he covered ENGLISH armor OF THE 16TH CENTURY steel plates. Great Britain employed ar- mored trains in the Boer War which served as a model for all others that fol- lowed. The protected engine carries a Maxim gun, and the protected cars have heavy field guns, operated by machinery, so that any part of the surrounding coun- try can quickly be covered. Arrange- ments are made to compensate for the recoil, and also to give steadiness and