A railroad plough is a
rail vehicle
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can be ...
which supports an immensely strong, hook-shaped
plough
A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...
. It is used for destruction of
railroad ties (sleepers) in warfare, as part of a
scorched earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...
policy, so that the track becomes unusable for the enemy.
In use, the plough is lowered to rip up the middle of the track as it is hauled along by a
locomotive
A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...
. This action breaks the wooden ties (sleepers) which forces the steel rails out of alignment, making the line impassable by later rail vehicles.
Bridges and signalling equipment also suffer serious damage.
Deployment
A similar device, which ripped the rail off the ties, had been used by railway troops of the
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, during their
retreat from
Galicia and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. Railroad ploughs were in use by the
Czechoslovak Army
The Czechoslovak Army (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá armáda'') was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence from Austria-Hungary.
History
In t ...
during the
German occupation
German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...
in 1938,
''Pre-war fortification of Czechoslovakia in Czech Switzerland''
(entry for 24 September 1938) (Retrieved: 15 November 2007) and by German ''Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
'' armed forces retreating northward through Italy[ and westward from the Eastern Front in World War II.
The German author ]Arno Schmidt
Arno Schmidt (; 18 January 1914 – 3 June 1979) was a German author and translator. He is little known outside of German-speaking areas, in part because his works present a formidable challenge to translators. Although not among Germany's mo ...
(1914–1979) in his post-war novel ''Leviathan'' uses the image of a railroad plough as a symbol of evil.
Surviving vehicles
See also
* Sherman's neckties – A railway destruction tactic used in the American Civil War by the Union to prevent the Confederacy from using the tracks by making them difficult to repair.
* Nero Decree – Hitler's unfulfilled plan to destroy German infrastructure, during retreat, to avoid it being used by the Allied forces
References
External links
Schwellenpflug, the rail wolf used by Germans in retreat.
Photos of "rail wolf" in action and resultant damage
Video of German soldiers using a rail plough.
Andrew Grantham's blog
{{Authority control
Military railway equipment
Area denial weapons
Ploughs
Railway weapons