CN Right of Way Equipment.

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

So I was riding into work on Thurs morning (on the GO train of course), and saw a really unusual right of way piece that I am hoping someone has some detailed pics of (sort of hard to see when your flying past the siding at 65 k an hour. It appeared to be some sort of tractor that had the rail wheels as well as regular big tractor wheels, and it was shunting a single boxcar off onto a siding. I have never seen such a thing before, and was wondering if anyone had or knew of any up close pics of it.

Thanks in advance.

alexP

2

Probably a car mover and they sell models of them. One was reviewed in last months MR I think.

Dave H.

3

The company that makes the railtrax or whatever its called is based in Welland Ontario (about a 10 minute drive from me). This one looked like the Herzog Speedswing . http://www.herzogcompanies.com/equipment/lease/index.php

I know those arent usually used for switching cars about. Just seemed weird thats all!

alexP

4

Would this be it?

5

YES!

You sir are a god. What the hell is that? And why is it switching cars in Southern Ontario?

alexP

6

Not sure. I see them around Point or here a few times. But other wise, I don’t know what they do or why it’s up there.

Here’s a frontal veiw. This was shot was after I took this one: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=228988

Here’s the frontal pic.

7

Speedswings are really a “universal tractor” that has a set of rail wheels as well. Pretty much just a bucketloader with a front arm that can turn 180 degrees and have a bunch of different attachments.

And yes you can switch cars with them, albeit without too much efficiency. Things like that are a bit handier when the car is already on the correct track and just needs to be shoved up to be spotted in an exact position.

8

Thanks for all the info guys! I was looking at the Factory Direct Trains Car Puller. It seems to be a really cool piece of gear. Does anyone have one? I am curious as to whether or not I can crawl it as the prototype does 14mph or so, and is usually switching cars between 2 and 4 mph. The video I saw on the website has it zipping around really toy like.

alexP

alexP

9

4mph is still a pretty “hard hitch”…