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How did railway mountings allow armies to use extremely heavy artillery guns?

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Find out what types of artillery were used during the American Civil War — artillery Learn about the types of artillery used in the American Civil War.

Railway mountings were developed as a solution for transporting and deploying extremely heavy artillery that exceeded the weight limits for road movement and could not be dismantled into smaller components.1

By utilizing railway infrastructure, armies could move massive guns—reaching calibres up to 520 millimetres—directly to firing positions. These systems allowed for the distribution of the immense weight of the weapon across a large number of wheels, ensuring the load was supported evenly by the railway track.1

Once transported to the desired location, these guns were often either fired directly from the railway carriage or, in the case of some of the largest weapons like the Paris Gun, lowered onto a specially prepared ground platform for stability during operation. This technology proved essential during World War I, enabling the deployment of long-range, heavy-calibre howitzers that would have otherwise been impossible to maneuver.1