Aerowagon

Аэроваго́н
Manufacturer	Valerian Ivanovich Abakovsky
Built at	Russia
Constructed	1917
Scrapped	1921
Number built	1
Specifications
Prime mover(s)	aircraft engine

The Aerowagon or aeromotowagon (Russian: Аэроваго́н, аэродрези́на) was an experimental high-speed railcar fitted with an aircraft engine and propeller traction invented by Valerian Abakovsky, a Soviet engineer from Latvia. It produced speeds of up to 140 km/h. The aerowagon was originally intended to carry Soviet officials.

On 24 July 1921, a group of delegates to the First Congress of the Profintern, led by Fyodor Sergeyev, 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 near Serpukhov, killing 6 of the 22 on board. A seventh man later died of his injuries.

The following people died as a result of the accident:

The seven men killed at the time of the crash were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, after lying in state at the House of the Unions.

The Aerowagon may be regarded as a precursor to the German Schienenzeppelin 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.

Alexey Abramov / Алексей Абрамов, By the Kremlin Wall / У кремлёвской стены, Moscow / Москва́, Politizdat / Политиздат, 1978, pp./стр. 399 (Russian)

...
Wikipedia