When i posed the question on poling i had forgot when i worked at a Landmark elevator. Back then the siding was too beat up for the NS loco to come onto.So to spot a car we would uncouple it then use a backhoe to shove it into position. Alot of the time we would bend the steps or the grab irons while doing this.A case of using the wrong tool for the wrong job i guess.
Many small elevators have a windlass and cable for moving the cars. Just winch 'em into place (or out of the way).
I saw a front-end loader being used at the University of Wisconsin to spot some coal cars at the central heating plant. Don’t know the safety aspects.
The only thing when we used the backhoe to spot a car one of us had to ride so we could set the brake. Otherwise the car would keep rolling.
The powerstroke diesel could handle it…
You can use most things to shove a car. I’ve seen photos of MOW jobs over here using a Unimog as motive power to haul a hopper (I think they even carry equipment to operate the hopper brakes). Pretty much any 4x4 with a proper transfer box and manual transmission can shift one - I’ve seen photos dating back to the '60s of Land Rovers with rail wheels fitted shoving freight stock around, even seen a photo of a Series 1 Discovery as a hirail hauling a couple of BR passenger cars. It won’t move particularly quickly due to the low gearing required to haul the load, but it’ll get the job done. Braking can be a problem though - you’re relying on the vehicle brakes, so taking it slow, only shifting one car at a time, and using engine braking would be the key to safe working.
The steel warehouse which employed me for one summer during my college days had the gondolas positioned by the EJ&E local (powered by an NW2 or SW1200) which serviced the plant. As the gons were emptied, loads would be moved into place by a Whiting Trackmobile. A rider would often have to be used to work the car brakes. There were also foundations for long-gone car-pulling winches near some of the buildings.
When I worked in a PVC plant, we used a Whiting Trackmobile to spot and move cars for loading. With 8- and 10-hatch covered hoppers and special loading chutes that included EPA-mandated dust control equipment, we had to respot the car for each hatch. We would have one person on top of the car, loading, and another in the trackmobile, both with radios for communication. The Trackmobile was equipped with airbrakes and an airbrake stand. If the Trackmobile operator had to get out of the machine while loading, the SOP was to “big hole” the airbrakes, screw down the handbrake, and set chocks under one car wheel. Ordinarily, the operator would stay in the Trackmobile until the job was done. Normally, we used the Trackmobile brake for spotting and about 20 lb. of airbrake to help hold the car on spot until time to move again.
At the ADM flour mill in New Braunfels, TX, they had an old John Deer tractor with a coupler welded onto it to drag cars around. I also saw something similar for sale at Brown Rail Equipment in Granite City, IL.
heck anything can move a railcar it is a matter of the laws of Physics. The trouble is stopping once it is moving 125 tons once it is moving hates to stop. LOL
i see them use tractors or a speeder to get them setup.
SDR : what a unique “thing” this is, pretty noteworthy in the field of locomotives, I’m sure this is the first time anyone has seen this, is there any more information about this or any more photos, as it was scrapped these photos are priceless.