Speeder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A speeder (also known as railway motor car, putt-putt, track-maintenance car, crew car, jigger, trike, quad, trolley or inspection car) is a maintenance of way motorized vehicle formerly used on railroads around the world by track inspectors and work crews to move quickly to and from work sites.[1] Speeders were replaced with trucks (usually pickup trucks or sport utility vehicles) using flanged wheels that could be raised for on-rail, called road-rail vehicles, in the 1990s. Now speeders are collected by hobbyists, who refurbish them and take them on outings organized by the North American Railcar Operators Association in the USA and Australian Society of Section Car Operators Inc in Australia
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[edit] Speeders in the Movies
The most famous speeder in a movie is, arguably, the Fairmont M19/M19AA that Buster Keaton rode across Canada in his 1965 film, The Railrodder. Keaton made tea, did the washing, hunted duck and passed trains as he travelled across Canada. The Railrodder and its making-of documentary Buster Keaton Rides Again are still available from the National Film Board of Canada.
[edit] Motorcar Manufacturers and Models
Beavercar BMC-2 BMC-4 BMC-B
Buda Manufacturing
Casey Jones 531
Commonwealth Engineering Heavy Gang Car built for 5'3" and Standard Gauge operation in South Australia
Fairbanks-Morse 40-B 101 757
Fairmont Railway Motors Inc 52 52-A 59 59-A 59-B 59-C 59-D 1100 2100 3100 4100 5100 6100 A2 Series A3 Series A4 Series A5 Series A6 Series A7 Series A8 Series M2 M9 M14 MT14 M15 M17 M19 MT19 S2 ST2 C7 CD7 CK7 CR7
Gemco[2]
Kalamazoo 23 Series B 23 Series T 27 560N
Pacific ACE (AKA Tutt Bryant)[3] C500 STT/E
Sheffield 40-B
Sylvester Manufacturing Co[4] H21B - Medium Gang Car E21B - Light Inspection Car
Tamper TMC-2 TMC-6 TMC-12
D Wickham & Co Ltd[5] (59 models over their manufacturing history)
Woodings CBI CBL
Railway Workshops Various railways and their workshops also manufactured speeders. Often these were a copy of commercially available cars, such as Wickham and Fairmont.
[edit] Dimensions
Approximate Dimensions of a common speeder car. Due to the variety of base models and customization these are not fixed numbers. These values are from a Fairmont A4-D
Rail Gauge: Standard 4 feet 8.5 inches (56.5 inches 1435mm)
Weight: ~3500 lbs. (~1587 kg)
Width: ~64 inches (~1626mm)
Height: ~60 inches (~1524mm)
Length: ~9 feet 2inches (~110 inches ~2794mm)
Wheel Height: ~14 inches (~356mm)
Floor Height: ~80% to 120% of the wheel height ~11 to 17 inches (~284mm to ~427mm)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ FAQ's & Answers. NARCOA. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
- ^ For more information on Gemco see Ken McHughs Section Car Shed
- ^ Assembled cars from components supplied by Fairmont Railway Motors, but also developed two of their own designs
- ^ For more information on Sylvester see Ken McHughs Section Car Shed
- ^ Gunner, K., Kennard, M. 2004 The Wickham Works List Dennis Duck Publishing
