Railroad Inspection Car

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

As some of y'all may already know, besides Model-As, Model-Ts, brass-era cars, and racing, one of my other strong interests is in Railroad Inspection or Speeder cars and riding the rails.




Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VDPMB3P_-8 to watch a YouTube video showing a 15+ year old 1931 Victoria being used as a mule to transport passengers on a passenger car trailer just north of Houston, TX area. It even shows them jacking the car up and spinning it on a jack acting as a turntable to reverse the direction of the car.


I would love to have those wheels, but geez that poor car would be a rough one to restore!! Enjoy!!
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[Chuck Dempsey]

Amazing. Thanks for sharing....

[Dan Partain]

I really enjoyed that Brent! Thank you.

[2manycars]

My former customer also likes speeders, and took this photo on one of his outings on the rails. Notice the flathead engine.

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

I can’t believe the variations in the track.

[J Franklin]

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Here is a photo of my grandfather with my mother on the left and her sister headed from town in rural Montana, a while ago!

[Vern]

Thanks for posting this Brent. Tom Endy, newsletter editor for the Victoria Association had a small article, with photos, in the April 2015 issue. According to the article, the poor Victoria was used on the Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine Railroad, known to the locals as the Wobble, Bobble, Turnover & Stop, perhaps the best indication of the operating conditions. At the height of its operation it owned 114 miles of track running thru Texas, Missouri & Kansas. The WBT&S went into receivership in 1930 and operated until it went out of business in 1961. Tom reports that nothing is known about the Victoria leatherback rail car other than "it appears they were careful to park it in the garage at night".

[Tom Wesenberg]

I have a speeder, which was made by Fairmont in MN. It's their smallest model with 5 H.P.

[Brad in Germany]

...some other Model A's on the rails:








....and some rail busses:


....somewhere in Brazil:


....a couple of years ago:


....as it looks today:


Brad in Maryland

[Alaska Mike]

I also have a speeder, or rail car. Mine came out of Canada. I would love to have a Model A or Model T adapted to rails! Lots of tours out there, all over the United States. You get to see things, you will never see from the road.

[Bill's Auto Works]

Thank you Brent & Brad for posting these cool pictures. These are a segment of the hobby that are not seen very often.

God bless
Bill

[Ed Saniewski]

I love the way they turn the car around by jacking up the trans and spinning around the car.

[Mr. Ed]

Brent. I just joined and have a new thread about a railbus I am working on. It has a '30 Model A motor and a narrowed Model T rear. Once I have enough posts, I'll post a photo or two.


Later!
Mr. Ed

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Alaska Mike

I also have a speeder, or rail car. Mine came out of Canada. I would love to have a Model A or Model T adapted to rails! Lots of tours out there, all over the United States. You get to see things, you will never see from the road.

Mike, I believe they just had a 500 mile each way, week long excursion up your way last month that was well attended and liked. I too would like to have a Model-A powered Gang Car.

[russcochiolo]

More photos and information at www.psrm.org (Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum). Enjoy

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Bill's Auto Works

Thank you Brent & Brad for posting these cool pictures. These are a segment of the hobby that are not seen very often.

God bless
Bill

Here is a similar car that did not require a turntable. This gang car would have been used by several men and pulled a trailer (-or two) to go out and inspect/repair rail that needed maintenance. Below is some original advertising for a Model-B powered gang car. Notice how the rear end is made where it uses two ring gears on one pinion. This is done so the car can be reversed to travel the same speed in either direction.

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[Pete]

I too have done some time with speeders and hi-rails.
I used to work for a couple of tourist railroads. Besides working in operations I did track inspection and was the pilot when the local speeder club showed up for a tour over our lines. The speeders were the company's, the hi-rail was mine.
The speeders didn't have model A engines but they were Ford 4's. (173's)
Running the hi-rail all over the NW on privately owned track was probably the most fun I ever had with my clothes on.

[Tom Endy]

Attached are the two pages of the Victoria Association newsletter from April 2015 as indicated by Vern in an earlier post.


Tom Endy

[Railcarmover]

Work on maintenance of way equipment and car movers,that Vicky on the Wobbly line is whats called a tractive effort car mover,it doesn't have a coupler that lifts weight from the attached car like weight transfer machines,it provides its own weight for traction.Given they also jack it to turntable it it doesnt have much weight..so if the engineer pushes it too hard the drive wheels break loose and chatter, its probably why she looks like it does,she gets shaken to death

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

I have a speeder, which was made by Fairmont in MN. It's their smallest model with 5 H.P.

"speeder"? When I was growing up on a farm about 15 miles west of Fairmont we called them "putt-putt" cars. Never heard the term "speeder" until years later.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

"speeder"? When I was growing up on a farm about 15 miles west of Fairmont we called them "putt-putt" cars. Never heard the term "speeder" until years later.

The "putt-putts" were the Fairmont 2-cycle inspection cars however those engines were superceded by 4-cycle engines such as Onans in the Fairmonts. Also during that same era were the bigger gang cars by Fairmont that used 4 cylinder (-and even 6 cylinder) engines. Relatively speaking, there were just as many non putt-putt speeders as there were putt-putt speeders.

[Ray in La Mesa]

The Southwest Railroad Museum in Campo, California has a speeder with a Model A engine in it. We rebuilt about 25 years ago for them. The are on the San Diego & Arizona Eastern railroad Line built by John Spreckels in 1906 through the Carrizo Gorge and called the "Impossible Railroad."

[old31]

Originally Posted by J Franklin

Here is a photo of my grandfather with my mother on the left and her sister headed from town in rural Montana, a while ago!

Cool picture. BUT BUT what do they do when the train comes?

[Pete]

Originally Posted by old31

Cool picture. BUT BUT what do they do when the train comes?

Train orders, track warrants and the rule book are supposed to protect you.
Otherwise it is best you are adept at your "bailout" proceedure.

[J Franklin]

Originally Posted by old31

Cool picture. BUT BUT what do they do when the train comes?

He was working as a forest ranger at Great Falls Montana, so I bet he knew the rules. There was a bit less oversight back then!

[Tom Endy]

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The story of a Victoria used as a railroad inspection car appeared in the Victoria Association newsletter, the Bustle in April 2015. The photo was on the cover, the story was on the third page.

Tom Endy

[ericr]

there is a fascinating book out there about Henry Ford's purchase and operation of the D T & I Railroad.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Tom Endy

The story of a Victoria used as a railroad inspection car appeared in the Victoria Association newsletter, the Bustle in April 2015. The photo was on the cover, the story was on the third page.

Tom Endy

Those fenders and body sides got that way from de-railing and going in the ditch.
Don't ask me how that works.....lol

[Synchro909]

We don't need no stinking driver's door on the Vicky!

[Jeff/Illinois]

They ran those putt-putt MOW cars down the CB&Q tracks by our house in the 50's and 60's. When the train would come along I would see the workers get out, pull these long wooden handles out, and lift the whole works off the tracks and wait for the train to pass. Sometimes they would be at a little wooden deal that was perpendicular to the tracks that they would wait on.

They had to be heavy that amazed me as a kid them doing that.