Tuesday 12 March 2019

Tank vs Train

"To the Chief of the 4th Department of the ABTU, Military Engineer 1st Class, comrade Alymov

I report that at 18:15 on January 11th, 1940, during a QA run, a T-28 tank collided with a passenger train coming from Leningrad. The collision took place at a crossing between Ligovo and Negorelovo in the Baltic sector. The crossing was unguarded. There is no gate bar. There is no sound alarm. Weather condition was strong wind with blowing snow, it was also snowing. Military Technician 1st Class comrade Rozov was driving the tank. The results of the collision were:

Personnel:
  1. Out of the tank crew and train passengers, one person was wounded heavily, and five more wounded lightly.
  2. The heavily wounded man, QA plant inspector comrade Ilyin, died in the hospital.
  3. Military Technician 1st Class comrade Rozov has a head wound and was put into the hospital today.
Vehicle:
  1. A small turret was knocked off.
  2. The idler carrier was knocked off.
  3. The suspension was damaged.
  4. The hull needs repairs.
Train:
  1. The locomotive was derailed. Needs medium repairs.
  2. The mail car burned down.
  3. Two passenger cars need major repairs (one of the cars was Estonian) and one needs light repairs.
  4. 130 meters of track were damaged.
The railroad prosecutors transferred the collision investigation to the military prosecution of the Leningrad garrison.

Senior ABTU Representative, Military Engineer 2nd Class, Shpitanov."

3 comments:

  1. Drove past a M-60 tank in Charlie Company just minutes after someone drove right past the road guard and hit the tank with out applying his breaks. Actually knocked a roadwheel off and snapped the track.

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  2. Replies
    1. Quality assurance. New tanks were taken on a short drive to make sure that everything works as expected. Every so often a tank would be picked at random to perform a longer set of trials for more thorough testing.

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