I dunno - the ad copy says it’s a Diesel-electric, and we should always believe what the ad people say, right?
[:S]
Well, the 4-6-2 “Ranger” that is pulled out of the shed by a Ranger truck is anything but a diesel!
CZ
I have seen a photo of 3 women in high-heels pulling a steam locomotive (and being cheered on by a couple of railroaders standing on the pilot of the engine).
So that means this new truck is as strong as 3 women… Right?
But where are its high-heels?
In truth a locomotive or railcar or cars with steel wheels and roller bearings on steel rail on the level with no brakes applied and in perfect working order should be able to be moved with very little tractive effort. In fact, the 1111 above, aka The Four Aces, was the traveling demonstration for Timkin Roller bearings and such publicity stunts were staged wherever it went.
Thank You.
I don’t recall the exact year, but some teenagers somehow managed to release the brakes on a steam engine that was on static display at a park in Tucson, Arizona, and it rolled off the end of the track through a chain link fence before coming to a stop, even though it had been there for several years.
And I don’t think it had roller bearings – it’s a 2-6-0 Mogul that was the last steam engine operated on the Southern Pacific to deliver locals to Tombstone, Fort Huachuca, and other areas south and east of Tucson.
A friend of mine with experience on steam locomotives once told us that a dime (or perhaps several), placed on the rail next to the wheel, will prevent a large steam engine from rolling. Those beasts are intended to go forward, not up, and apparently cannot overcome even the height of a dime from a standing start.
He and some cohorts actually tried it.
Obviously once they are rolling a dime would present no obstacle. It’s that standing start.
Not true at all. In 1965 1673 was fired up in the park and attempt was made to move her back and forth on the display track. They ran it off the end and hit the fence. A plain bearing locomotive or car that sits long enough for the oil to drain from the journals ha tremendous resistance to rolling until oil is circulated over the journal.
Sorry if my post was inaccurate about locomotive 1673, but I was going by the narrative of a video produced by Channel 4 in Tucson about its cosmietic restoration and statements made by Tucson’s official historian on that video tape.
A B&O EM-1 could roll on its own with the cylinder cocks open.They called them yard creepers.3 men could also move one on level track.
The important thing about this video is that Ford FINALLY redesigned the Ranger which has been languishing for twenty years as an also-ran pig.
Over on the Nissan Frontier message boards are similar stories of midsize pickups like this pulling railroad cars and tractor trailers in a pinch. These vehicles are certainly capable, but you don’t want to do it for any sustained length of time. The hard part is getting the vehicle rolling for the most part.
As for stopping, well, I won’t be using my pickup for this kind of duty. Something has to be running to operate the air brakes on the train!!