https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/b7727e3b-c81f-4c58-bad7-d2645cd1aee2 Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Visit our website www.PeriscopeFilm.com This film "Tale of the armored train" was produced in 1977 by "Letapis", the historical service of the Belorusfilm. It is narrated by Nicholas Vinogorov and directed by M. Zhdanovski. This short documentary tells the story of the Prolygin's "armored train" which helped the fledgling Soviet government gain the upper hand in the battle for Minsk in November 1917. The film features an interview with Pavel Zhukovin, a train engineer's assistant who witnessed the events. The actual train shown is not Prolygin's actual train, but a recreation. The original train was made from jerry-rigged, heavy hopper cars with bolted-on light armor, and armed with two 37-mm artillery pieces and eight machine guns. The train improved morale for the Minsk's Soviets and may have had more symbolic than actual military value. The train was damaged, repaired and upgraded many times during the Russian Civil War ranging from Ukraine to Siberia. It was then dismantled for spare parts sometime between 1924 and 1930. 0:59 Armored train moving out. Cards:"I remember" 1:08 Elderly Pavel Zhukovin's (assistant locomotive engineer) face. Narrator: "He was on the front lines of the WWI, near Minsk, when the revolution of October 1917 came." 1:35 Photo of young Pavel. "Witness and participant of those events." 1:41 Elderly Pavel Zhukovin again 1:50 Footage of WWI wartime trains in Imperial Russia. Popular sonnets"chastuski" - about war and revolution 2:10 Footage of the demobilized soldiers at Communist rallies. Re-enactment of revolutionary marines and seamen arming themselves. Narrator:"On the 25th of October, Minsk was already aware that the Revolution won in Petrograd." 2:35 Picture of Alexander Myaskikyan 2:39-2:46 Document:"Order no.1: To the population of the city of Minsk and its surroundings. The control of Petrograd is now in the hands of the Soviets/Council of the Worker and Peasant Representatives." 2:47 Streets of Minsk, branch office of the Sliozverg's credit union and a tailor shop. Archival footage of Russian imperial cavalry on the streets of Minsk 2:59 "They assembled 20,000 Cossack cavalry near Minsk, and we had only 2000 loyal to the Soviets to oppose them." 3:14 Armored train. Card:"Hvoyevo junction, 29th of October 1917" 3:21 Narrator:"The armored train's crew ignored that the Revolution happened, so its Kornilov's *(insurrectional) army officers wanted to drive it to help Kerenski *(the Russian Provisional Government)" 3:35 Card: "Provisional Government Stronghold" 3:45 Card: "This stronghold fell to Bolshevik Prolygin". Prolygin's photo. 3:55 Zhukovin: "In 1917, 28th of october at 4 pm, a junior-under-officer approached the train and says "Comrades, we must drive back into the hinterland to protect the Soviet government!"" 4:41 Soldiers running next to the train. Card:"Rushing to help!" 4:54 Narrator: "The mere word "Comrades" could lift the soldier's spirits and ignite the desire to help." 5:16 Newspaper:"On the 1st of November at approximately midnight, an up-armored train arrived in Minsk. Counterrevolutionaries tried to blow up the train but failed. The train guards the Minsk Soviet and the entire city." 5:26 Documents about Prolygin from the Tula's party archives, including his ID card: Pralygin Vassili Andrianovich born 1886, "Great Russian", mother tongue: Russian. 5:55 "In 1927 he drove the train to Minsk. The junction director refused to assign a track to the train, the officers refused as well and the train engineer ran away." 6:11 Card: "The Counter-revolution provokes!" 6:18 Negoreloe train station, "they tried to arrest him using a ruse at this train station" 7:00 Narrator: "There was an inquiry from Minsk about the order of passage of the train, which train were to come first, the hospital one, or the up-armored one. Prolygin answered 'hospital train' but instead departed first." 7:39 Narrator:"In Minsk the train disarmed the Cossacks and protected the Minsk Soviet". Note: this is not actually true, as the Civil War continued for the better part of the year, although the Imperial Cossacks did retreat from Minsk. 8:27 Zhukovin walking in the snow and with grandchildren. Narrator: "We could only find a single person who was back with Prolygin at the time. Pavel Yevseevich Zhukovin lives in Makeevka village, now 80 years old, father and grandfather to many grandchildren. He drove trains his entire life." 8:44 VL-series locomotive. 9:10 "The armored train participated in the liberation of Kiev, Samara and Simbirsk." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfQbt_OEQds Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Sat, 13 Jun 2026 14:48:21 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/b7727e3b-c81f-4c58-bad7-d2645cd1aee2 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.