This improvised armoured train was built in Slovakia by the Slovak resistance movement to resist German forces and the collaborationist government that had occupied Slovak territory.
Work on this train started on 4 September 1944 and was finished on 18 September the same month. They drove two Škoda – CKD LT vz. 35 tanks with 37mm guns onto two rail carts and built defensive screens around it. This tank in German hands was named the Panzerkampfwagen 35 (t). Together with upgraded cargo wagons equipped with 75mm Chechoslovak Mountain Cannons type vz.15 and ten 7.92mm machine guns on each cart they created an armoured train in two weeks. Together with a locomotive and a flat cart they were part of the Slovak National Uprising in September 1944.
The train had a crew of 70 men. Its first action was on 27 September 1944, fighting against German forces near the Slovak city of Zvolen. Some days later the Luftwaffe destroyed the trains locomotive with could proceed after repair. It successful fought at three other cities and was attacked by the German Luftwaffe several times before it was blocked by another train on its tracks.
After discharging all weapons the crew left the train behind and moved into the woods to join Partisan forces.
After World War Two the Armored Train became obsolete and over time wagons and carts were scattered over the country. The Štefánik was restored and reunited to a complete train in 2009.
