PECOS, TX; JUNE, 1998
A standard Ford F150 pickup equipped with guide wheels oper- ates on the tracks of the Pecos Valley Southern (above). Union Pacific Rail Inspection Vehicle No. DC-28 (right) is used by the railroad to check for track defects. Like many railroads today, UP has a fleet of high-rail equipped extended cab pickups used by its maintenance department (below). With the truck on the road the guide wheels are raised up and out of the way.
LARAMIE,WY; SEPT., 2001
uled trains for the same reasons. There are a number of companies that specialize in putting steel wheels and the accompanying equipment onto vehicles, and there are a number of railroads that buy kits and do the in- stallations themselves.
Other work equipment that can be adapted to steel wheel travel includes large dump trucks, perfect for remov- ing debris quickly when there are no roads; large forklifts capable of moving palletized equipment in and out of a re- mote site; truck-mounted cranes that can remove debris, fallen trees, and anything else fouling the line, and mechanized ditch-diggers to unclog mud-caked culverts and trestles. Bunk cars, once a staple of work
ALBIN, NE; SEPT. 2001
the addition of a heavy duty roll bar. Plus, a pickup can stop at the nearest crossing, retract the steel wheels and turn itself into a regular road-hugging pickup truck again to get more sup- plies and workers than a regular car ever could.
Most railroads use high-railers, both regular cab and extended cab versions, for track inspection,
especially in
mountainous areas where boulders can slide down and foul the line. Workers can slow or stop quickly when coming across a once piddly stream that has now become a roaring rampage of wa- ter taking out trestles, track, and sig- nals. More than one train was saved by a patrolling high-railer crew that came across washed out roadbed with the rails still intact. The best train crew
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
could probably never stop in time. Other uses for a high-railer include
checking the quality of the track before the train comes when everything in the world seems normal. Many a struggling shortline with outdated light rail that should have been replaced years ago if there was money in the bank, use a crew to look for broken rail, ties that finally just quit, and angle bars that broke. Being in constant contact with the train following behind it, the high-rail- er crew can not only stop in a far shorter distance than a locomotive and a cut of cars, it can hold all the materi- al and tools needed to fix the problem on the spot. It is not just freight opera- tors who use this equipment. Many large commuter operators employ high-railers between regularly sched-
trains, are also disappearing. Many rail- roads have done away with the expense of maintaining them by replacing the always less-than-delightful accommo- dations with buses taking off-duty crews to nearby motels. No bunk cars usually mean no need for commissary cars, either. Work crews not only get a nice clean room every night, but also get treated to real food from a nearby restaurant. Yes, once in a while there is a good cook on a railroad work train, but most often, the greasiest spoon was usually more appealing. Electronic rail inspection was once the domain of companies such as Sper- ry Rail Services and their converted doodlebugs. Now, the equipment has now been miniaturized enough to be installed in small railroad-owned trucks equipped with steel wheels. Traveling only a few miles per hour, equipment operators can find hidden
79
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100