I can hear it now. Mrs. Lohnes, a thousand miles away from me, to Brian…”You want to buy a WHAT? You tell that idiot in Chicago to quit putting ideas in your head!”
Railway motorcars, or speeders as they are commonly called, were used to inspect railroad tracks, and to get repair crews to areas not easily accessible by road. Most were manufactured by Fairmont Railway Motors of Minnesota. They weighed about 3500 pounds, but were balanced well enough that with extendible handles they could be turned around on the rails, or removed from the track. Power was by gasoline engine, the ones I’ve seen were Kohler and Onan two cylinder models around 25 horsepower.
They fell out of favor in the 80’s when Hi-Rail pickup trucks became more common, they could operate on the highway or railroads. Perhaps that’s where they got the name.
We’ll let the cat narrating the video fill you in on the details, and take us all along on a nice trip. Let’s watch.
(Editor’s note: Greg, if I wake up with a butcher cleaver buried between by eyeballs, it is on YOU!)
That looks like a lot of fun. A nice easy ride in areas not seen by most people.
I can see it now, 2.5 Poncho iron Duke, 200r4, Vintage Air and some tunes. It’s all you Lohnes.
Back in the day I was a slide patrol / track inspector for the railroad on the west coast. That’s how we got around, there was a trick to starting them and setting them off to allow for other rail traffic to pass, that would be trains, much larger and can smash your motorcar! Sadly like everything else they were replaced by high-rails, trucks that can sit on the tracks or drive on pavement. There was nothing like speeding along a canyon at dawn in the early morning mist in your put-put clanging along the tracks.
Neat! A friend owns a speeder, and I’ve been on a few trips with him. Since the speeders have no suspension, track joints can be quite a jolt, hard on the lower back!