Stranger Than Fiction Armor

[cyberia]

I thought "Road Warrior"!

[cyberia]

The Fahrpanzer Mobile Fortification Rail Unit

The only surviving specimen of The Fahrpanzer (mobile shielding) is on display at Royal Army Museum of Brussels.

This interesting "canned-operator" concept was created in Germany in the beginning of the last century to ride along rails and packed a 50mm gun in a hand cranked rotating turret.

The Fahrpanzer however was not motorized, and was operated pretty much "Fred Flintstone style" along railroad tracks.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by cyberia

The Fahrpanzer however was not motorized, and was operated pretty much "Fred Flintstone style" along railroad tracks.

No wonder only one survived the war.

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by Jim O

No wonder only one survived the war.

Think about that photo. All that armor, all the way around, yet those wheels dropped below it. All one had to do was aim between the rails and the wheels at the feet.

[MAGNA]

I wondered where the prototype for the Dalek's came from.

[cyberia]

From the French...

Now, the text for this one claimed this French machine could "walk over wire and clear a trench", but I can't make out how this between the wars vehicle actually worked.

Did the frame actually revolve like tank tracks?

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by cyberia

Did the frame actually revolve like tank tracks?

It does look that way. It looks as though there are wheels at the top and bottom of the "crew compartment" and that they were inside an inner track or perhaps on a rail like train wheels.

I can only guess why this didn't see any action...

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by Jim O

It does look that way. It looks as though there are wheels at the top and bottom of the "crew compartment" and that they were inside an inner track or perhaps on a rail like train wheels.

I can only guess why this didn't see any action...

I can't figure it out. It doesn't make sense. Those crazy French!

[cyberia]

As near as I can figure is they picked it up, dropped it on the wire, and continued to repeat step one as necessary.

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by cyberia

As near as I can figure is they picked it up, dropped it on the wire, and continued to repeat step one as necessary.

OK, I see it now!

At the top of the "engine" is a cam that rotates possibly from the shaft extending down and to the right of the "engine" (that may just be a support rod). The cam attached at the top under the frame, turns counter clockwise and lifts the frame a "little bit" maybe a foot or so off the ground (half the diameter of the cam). As the cam rotates it begins to lift the frame at a 3 o'clock position to a maxium height at "12 o'clock" and then the frame moves forward and is lowered down at the 9 o'clock position a couple feet in front of where it started (the diameter of the cam). This is how it could "walk" over the battle ground.

The engine is feeble so the frame above it needs to be light. Hence the rickety nature of the thing. As the cam rotates to the 6 o' clock position, the frame flexes at the joints and becomes flatter. Once the frame gets in position it acts as a bridge where the troops can scrambled over it. That why the slope in the back is less then the front. The front will be stuffed in a trench and the back will be on the level ground.

Good one Cyberia! I've never seen such a contraption (for good reason) and you're making me think. More detailed photos would be required to confirm my "theory of motion".