HOW TO
BUILD AN ARMOURED TRAIN
Inspired by the young Winston Churchill’s exploits in South Africa, Alan Rowlands adapted some Hornby and Lima models to recreate an armoured train for the Boer War period.
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAN ROWLANDS
An armoured reconnaissance train in action near Kimberley, during the second Boer War.
ALAMY
Having purchased an Oxford Rail Howitzer rail-mounted gun, I generated a range of support vehicles by remodelling various old Lima wagons. A friend was so impressed that he asked me to tackle an armoured train suitable for the South African Boer War period of 1892-1902. Further discussions centred around Winston Churchill’s exploits there. The future Prime Minister was captured during the conflict, along with an armoured train, but his subsequent escape and journey home via another train proved to be a major event in his life, adding enormously to his fame.