Railroad Inspection Car
 

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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https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538858704

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

Amazing. Thanks for sharing....

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

I really enjoyed that Brent! Thank you.

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

I can’t believe the variations in the track.

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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!

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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".

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

...some other Model A's on the rails:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538882818

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538882818

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538883825

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538883825

....and some rail busses:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538882818

....somewhere in Brazil:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538883825

....a couple of years ago:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538883825

....as it looks today:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538883825

Brad in Maryland

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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.

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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.

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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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.https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538927818

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538927818


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1538928013


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Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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.

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

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


Tom Endy

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

https://i.imgur.com/JPRzp0T.jpg

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

Re: Railroad Inspection Car
 

"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.