In 1941 the Ferrocarril del Sud put an armoured railcar into service. Built by Buxton Ltd in Buenos Aires on the chassis of an Austin truck, it was designed to transport cash on the railway network at a maximum speed of 50km/h (30mph), and weighed 7.52 tonnes. Light weapons could be fired through slits, and security was enhanced by automatic doors, which were quite rare at the time. It was used to convey cash collected at the railway stations. This vehicle was restored by the Ferroclub Argentino between September 2001 and September 2007.
Front view of the PE-1 Railcar. It has a wheelbase of 4m (13ft 1½in), was 6.78m (22ft 3in) long overall, and 1.88m (6ft 2in) wide.
Despite appearing almost symmetrical, the PE-1 has only one driving position (here on the left), and has to be turned by means of a turntable seen here resting on top of a wooden block.
(Photos: Ferroclub Argentino)