Aerowagon
Encyclopedia
The Aerowagon or aeromotowagon was an experimental high-speed railcar
fitted with an aircraft engine
and propeller traction invented by Valerian Abakovsky
, a Russian engineer and communist from Latvia
. It was originally intended to carry Soviet officials.
took the Aerowagon from Moscow
to the Tula
collieries to test it. Abakovsky was also on board. Although they successfully arrived in Tula, on the return route to Moscow the Aerowagon derailed at high speed, killing everyone on board. The following people died in the accident:
All six were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis
.
railcar, the American M-497 Black Beetle
railcar and the later Soviet turbojet train
, all three of them being experimental vehicles featuring the combination of railcar
and aircraft engine
.
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
fitted with an aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
and propeller traction invented by Valerian Abakovsky
Valerian Abakovsky
-Early life:Ethnically Latvian, he was born in Riga on October 5, 1895. Although a talented inventor, he worked as a chauffeur for the Tambov Cheka.-The Aerowagon:...
, a Russian engineer and communist from Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. It was originally intended to carry Soviet officials.
Crash incident
On 24 July 1921, a group of communists led by Fyodor SergeyevFyodor Sergeyev
Fyodor Andreyevich Sergeyev , better known as Comrade Artyom , was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, agitator, and journalist. He was a close friend of Sergei Kirov and Stalin...
took the Aerowagon from Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to the Tula
Tula, Russia
Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
collieries to test it. Abakovsky was also on board. Although they successfully arrived in Tula, on the return route to Moscow the Aerowagon derailed at high speed, killing everyone on board. The following people died in the accident:
- John Freeman
- Oskar Heilbrich
- John William Hewlett
- Fyodor SergeyevFyodor SergeyevFyodor Andreyevich Sergeyev , better known as Comrade Artyom , was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, agitator, and journalist. He was a close friend of Sergei Kirov and Stalin...
(Artyom) - Otto Strupat
- Abakovsky himself, at the age of 25.
All six were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis
Kremlin Wall Necropolis
Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik victims of the October Revolution were buried in mass graves on Red Square. It is centered on both sides of Lenin's Mausoleum, initially built in wood in 1924 and rebuilt in granite in 1929–1930...
.
Legacy
The Aerowagon may be regarded as a precursor to the German SchienenzeppelinSchienenzeppelin
The ' or rail zeppelin was an experimental railcar which resembles a zeppelin airship in appearance. It was designed and developed by the German aircraft engineer Franz Kruckenberg in 1929. Propulsion was by means of a propeller located at the rear, it accelerated the railcar to setting the land...
railcar, the American M-497 Black Beetle
M-497 Black Beetle
The M-497 was an experimental jet-powered locomotive test bed of the New York Central Railroad corporation, developed and tested in 1966 in the United States of America...
railcar and the later Soviet turbojet train
Turbojet train
A turbojet train is a train powered by turbojet engines. Like a jet aircraft, but unlike a gas turbine locomotive, the train is propelled by the jet thrust of the engines, rather than by by its wheels....
, all three of them being experimental vehicles featuring the combination of railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
and aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
.