Aerowagon
The Aerowagon or Aeromotowagon 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. The Aerowagon was originally intended for the express transportation of important documents and to carry Soviet officials on government business.
Crash incident
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 meet with local miners and to visit an arms factory. 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 six of the 22 people on board. A seventh man later died of his injuries.An official investigation concluded that the cause of the derailment was the poor condition of the railway track. Artyom Sergeyev claimed sabotage arranged by Trotsky.
Deaths
The following people died as a result of the accident:- , Bulgarian delegate
- Paul Freeman, Australian delegate
- , German delegate
- William James Hewlett, British delegate
- Fyodor Sergeyev
- , German delegate
- Valerian Abakovsky, the Aerowagon's inventor