boer war railway gun

[Westfalia Chris]

I mean something like these 12" howitzers in 1940 at Catterick (UK) (not France, that was WW1, sorry about that):



,As for the MkVII 6in, the gun was pretty much left as is, with the complete assembly of gun, recoil absorber, recuperator, and pedestal mount simply mounted to a sturdy rail chassis. The WW2 MkV 12" howitzer was the same as in 1918, and the design of recoil absorbers for artillery had only been moderately refined in the interwar period. There was considerable refinement as for tank guns, but the basic concept was pretty much finalised in 1890-1900.

[former user]

thx for the info

I find it interesting to know that the British managed to build 12 '' howitzers that could fire broadside without outriggers, whereas the Germans limited traverse railway guns to 15 cm.
Must have something to do with the expertise of naval artillery.
The railway mount looks interesting however. You don't possibly have a pic from the side?
I happen to have a railway gun with traverse mount on the schedule for next year 

[Westfalia Chris]

thx for the info

I find it interesting to know that the British managed to build 12 '' howitzers that could fire broadside without outriggers, whereas the Germans limited traverse railway guns to 15 cm.
Must have something to do with the expertise of naval artillery.

I cannot think, though, that they did not use ANY kind of support. The 12" must have support legs not visible in the shot, or not deployed, because I agree with you that without ANY support, they would probably topple over. I´ll try to find more images, over the christmas holidays at the latest, because now my interest has been picqued as well.

The railway mount looks interesting however. You don't possibly have a pic from the side?
I happen to have a railway gun with traverse mount on the schedule for next year 

Do you mean the 6" MkVII or the 12" MkV? I should be able to dig up some pics, but I don´t have the books here right now. Will have to wait until christmas. As for the 6", it should basically be a pedestal such as this one:

[Overlord]

Too late they realised that the giant tortoises had overrun the guns! 

[former user]

not the gun, the railway carriage is what I would like to see in more detail 
I wanted to make a traverse railway gun of my own, cause the usual forward firers are rather ... boring 

take Your time, I'm not on the run 

[Westfalia Chris]

not the gun, the railway carriage is what I would like to see in more detail 
I wanted to make a traverse railway gun of my own, cause the usual forward firers are rather ... boring 

Ahh, I see!

As for the carriage, I think you and Luthaaren are right about it being a crane chassis for the Boer War gun.

Here's a picture of a 65-ton railcrane for the Kowloon-Canton railway, which shows the general boxy layout well.

The crane chassis would indeed be a sensible choice, since it is very stable, torsion-resistant, and (as for modern models) includes the aforementioned extending stabilizers.

As for Boer War railroad artillery, it was far more common to mount light guns (quickfirers of around 3" caliber) on pedestals in the ends of boxcars, with each gun covering an angle between 120-150° to the front right and rear left end of the car. As well as that, pom-poms on pedestals were used in the same configuration:

[former user]

wow!

did You whip that up off the wrist.....?
impressing

[Westfalia Chris]

wow!

did You whip that up off the wrist.....?
impressing

Yes, for a quick image since I couldn´t find it on the web. I´ll try to scan the images from the Bishop and Davis book over christmas, which are far prettier.

[former user]

it was actually this


I wanted to see from the side and mre closely
since I don't get the principle
one time they very high on the carriage, the other time they are lowered to the ground ...

[Westfalia Chris]

since I don't get the principle
one time they very high on the carriage, the other time they are lowered to the ground ...

Actually, you DO get the principle - the carriage can be lowered hydraulically to make physical contact with the ground, which will then absorb some of the recoil.

Another variant would be a "shooting pit" beneath the middle part of the carriage, so the gun could recoil into the empty space. The French used this concept extensively, but of course it required far more elaborate preparation of firing positions.

[former user]

but I thought they were fired from the elevated 90° traverse position ??
like in the first picture?? 
bit confused...

OK
so this is actually some special railway carriage that can lower the mount and thus is not really 360°
MKI - MK IV
whereas MKV is 360° traverse and fires from high position?

[Westfalia Chris]

but I thought they were fired from the elevated 90° traverse position ??
like in the first picture?? 
bit confused...

OK
so this is actually some special railway carriage that can lower the mount and thus is not really 360°
MKI - MK IV
whereas MKV is 360° traverse and fires from high position?

The first photo might be a staged shot with the carriage not fully depressed. Furthermore, the really "High" position is not the gun, but a service platform.

Apart from that, the 12" didn´t have a 360° arc of fire, but rather 120° to either side, IIRC.

[former user]

aaahhhh

blink - bulb on! 

thank You