Trackmobiles vs. Switchmobiles

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I didn’t realize that trackmobiles have been around for many decades. I was leafing thru my magazine The Military Engineer (I’m associate editor) and found some ads depicting them in the early 1950s. Only then, they were called switchmobiles. They had large rubber tires and train wheels and could be switched back and forth in minutes.

Also advertised were some non-flanged wheeled bulldozers that were shown shoving freight cars around. I’m sure these latter vehicles damaged some of the cars. Interestingly, a few weeks ago I observed a back hoe pushing a NS boxcar into place at the Robinson Terminal in Alexandria, Va where I work.

2

Trackmobiles were manufactured by the Whiting Corp. I’m not sure if they’re still in production. During my college days, the steel warehouse I worked at during one summer used a Trackmobile for plant switching after the EJ&E dropped off the loads and removed the empties.
Trackmobiles used a weight transfer mechanism to provide the necessary tractive effort to move the cars.

3

Iused to work at a sugar mill and we had a CAT loader with a coupler on it along with a 50 ton GE center cab switcher

4

The Trackmobile Co. is still alive and thriving, here is their website: http://www.trackmobile.com/