Finally, the caboose appeared, the blinking lights ceased and the police cruiser crossed.Ī National Guard lieutenant stepped out of a jeep, walked over the tracks, looked in both directions and double-checked the warning lights. The second set, about 2 feet uphill, was shared by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and Erie Railroad.Īlready running late for supper, the guardsmen had to wait 10 minutes as a slow-moving freight train passed. The first two belonged to the Pennsylvania Railroad. “The armored vehicles rolled west across the Tuscarawas River and Ohio & Erie Canal before stopping abruptly at a railroad crossing on Fairview. From Lancaster Dispatcher (National Railway Historical Society): Sherman tanks of B Company, 137 Tank Battalion, Ohio National Guard crossed the tracks of Erie Railroad. The first post WW2 collision between tanks and trains occurred in Barberton (Ohio), on Apr 29, 1951.

But there were several others that remain overshadowed or simply forgotten.

The most known case is of course, the crash of Forst Zinna near the town of Juterbog, East Germany, in January 1988. Trains Vs Tanks There have been numerous accidents when trains have engaged tanks and armored vehicles.

Modern army tanks in transit by train