Photos by John
C. La Rue, Jr., except where noted.
A collection of additional pictures of cars mentioned in the
article on work trains. |
 MGRS
21523. An official O. F. Jordan Company photograph, prepared
for use as a catalog illustration, showing how a Jordan could
be configured to spread ballast evenly along the track. The
front flanger blade, hinged and normally in a V configuration,
has been brought forward on the right side to form a shear plow.
The ballast retainer has been installed on the left spreader
wing to form a pocket to keep the ballast close to the track
and out of the drainage ditch, which has already been cut by
the bolted-on ditch digging extension. Picture was probably
taken at Jordan's factory in East Chicago, IN, but there is
no information on the date. It was probably no earlier then
the early 1950s, when the front-end cab was introduced. From
an official Jordan negative. |
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DM&IR W3000. Tool cars appeared in
work trains as early as the late 1860s. The first ones resembled
large cabooses, but later designs looked like baggage cars with
windows. This is a good example of the latter type, undoubtedly
built new as a tool car. It can be found as early as 1909 in
a roster of predecessor Duluth, Missabe & Northern. Judging
by the cables slung along the car side, it carries wrecking
tools and is probably sent to cope with minor yard derailments
in place of the "big hook". Taken at Proctor, MN,
on July 27, 1967, by O. Leander. |
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PRR 493707, definitely a non-standard
riding car on "The Standard Railroad of The World".
Most PRR riding cars had eight large square windows and were
usually seen as part of a camp outfit, apparently being used
for dining or recreation rather then to carry men about. This
one, converted from a class XL boxcar, looks like a combination
of the riding cars and the tool cars seen on early PRR wire
trains, but lacks the windowed cupola and the grounding pantograph.
It does have the large light seen on many wire train riding
cars, probably used for back up moves. Taken at an unknown location,
probably in the early 1950s, by P. B. Dunn. |
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IC X32. The earliest steam shovels,
built in England, were called "steam navvies", because
they replaced the men called "navvies" who hand-dug
canals and early railroads. Steam shovels appeared in this country
in the 1880s and quickly became common on railroads, which used
them extensively until the great era of railroad building ended
around 1920. This one appears to be an Atlantic and is seen
in a typical situation at an unknown location in 1924, apparently
excavating a new cut for a track realignment, a common project
at that time. Copied by C. W. Witbeck from an old photograph. |
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PRR 491435. A view of a typical PRR
crawler crane on its assigned carrier car, coupled to an unusual
"Living & idler car". The carrier car has a support
for the crane boom, which has been tied down for traveling.
The peculiar cab shape, narrowing towards the rear, allowed
operation in confined areas and was seen on many PRR crawler
cranes and locomotive cranes. Taken at Trinway, OH, in the early
1960s by P. B. Dunn. |
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UP 903900. Welded rail unloaders often
looked as if Rube Goldberg designed them. This one appears to
be capable of unloading two rails simultaneously. It may also
be used to weld short rails together to form the ribbonrails,
as it looks rather complicated for an unloader, and there is
a label for National Cylinder Gas on the car side. It is painted
UP's "ecology green". Taken at Ogallala, NE, on April
6, 1978, by J. R. Quinn. |
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SRS 131. Among the most frequently noticed
type of contractor train is the Sperry Detector Car. It induces
a magnetic field into the rail, which is then measured by sensitive
instruments. Any irregularity in the measurements indicates
a crack in the rail, which could eventually fail and wreck a
train. The irregularity triggers a spray of yellow paint, marking
the defective rail for immediate replacement by section crews.
The Sperry cars had cramped living quarters, but crews preferred,
whenever possible, to live in nearby motels. Taken at Chamblee,
GA, on January 3, 1970, by O. W. Kimsey, Jr. |
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Loram SBC11. Loram also operated self-propelled
ballast cleaners like this one. It is designed to clean and
replace ballast on the shoulder of the roadbed, where dirt often
accumulates to form a sort of dam that keeps water in contact
with the ties. Judging by the cloud of dust, plenty of dirt
is being removed. The operation can be heard over half a mile
away in quiet areas. Taken at Pewee Valley, KY, on October 8,
1988, by J. C. La Rue, Jr. |
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Nalco 121. The National Aluminate Company
was a prominent operator of weed spray cars for many years.
Most of its cars were apparently built new. Color was dark blue
with yellow lettering. There is no data for this picture, but
the car was last repacked in 1964. |
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RI 95270. Many railroads preferred to
operate their own weed spray cars. They were usually converted
from old freight or occasionally passenger cars, but the Rock
Island used an old gas-electric car, still self-propelled and
towing a tank car containing the spray solution. This one was
originally numbered 9070. Taken at Silvis, IL, on March 4, 1967,
by L. Christiansen. |
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IC X7. Most pile drivers were built by
specialist manufacturers, but the Illinois Central built its
own design. Despite being rostered by the railroad as a pile
driver, it was essentially a bridge derrick with detachable
pile driver leads. This one is blocking highway traffic while
driving a piling to stabilize the ground around a small culvert.
Taken at Easton, IL, on March 8, 1963, by R. D. Ross. |
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N&W 914721, an Industrial Brownhoist
Model 3. This is a "single ended" pile driver, in
which only the lead assembly can be rotated. The design was
more stable then a "full revolving" pile driver, in
which the control cab and boiler rotated along with the lead
assembly. The advantages of the single-ended design were that
it could drive longer pilings, and it had the strength and stability
to straighten a crooked piling. Taken at Roanoke, VA, on February
19, 1966, by J. C. La Rue, Jr. |
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MEC 30. An example of the earliest and
most elementary form of wedge snowplow. Before snowplows were
invented, railroads tried to cope with snow by pushing any heavy
car ahead of a locomotive. The wedge plow, designed to slip
under the snow layer and lift it up and out of the way, was
much more effective, provided only that the snow was not too
deep or heavily packed. When the plow got stuck, the usual procedure
was to back up and charge the drift at full speed, repeating
until the plow had either broken through or derailed, which
it often did on curves. Taken at Brunswick, ME, on December
28, 1965, by G. Melvin. |
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NYC X19556. The ultimate development
of the wedge snowplow. From about 1910 on the Russell Snowplow
Company offered this large "No. 2", a common sight
in the northeastern part of the US. This is an early version
built of wood heavily reinforced with iron. It was equipped
with ice cutters ahead of the front truck (which had an inside
frame), flanger blades ahead of the rear truck (not present
on this plow), and patented "elevator wings" to widen
the initial cut, all controlled from the cupola by compressed
air. Taken at Jackson, MI, around 1964 by P. B. Dunn. |
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BAR plow train. Wedge snowplow X456
in service, backed by spreader X222 and propelled by GP7 73.
The crew has stopped to adjust the spreader's blades, which
had to be done by hand, before continuing to clear the yard.
Scene is at Caribou, ME, in the early 1950s, taken by A. La
Presto. |
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GN X7301. The Great Northern developed
this type of large spreader, which it called a snow dozer, and
many examples were operated throughout the GN system. The spreader
blade height was adjustable, as seen here. Numerous chains are
visible. Taken, probably at Minneapolis, MN, in 1964 by D. Repetsky. |
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Genesee & Wyoming no number. Snowplows
were usually followed by a flanger, a car with small blades
notched to clear snow and ice from inside the rail tops. Since
the blade had to be raised at switches and highway crossings,
most flangers had a cupola or a bay window to give the operator
a good view. This apparently homemade flanger (note wooden ladders)
has its blades at the ends of the car, supplemented by small
spreader wings in the middle. Data unknown, but probably taken
at G&W headquarters in Retsof, NY. |
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NA 16604. A common type in Canada was
the drag flanger, usually coupled to the rear end of the plow
train, where it left a completely cleared track behind it. The
flanger blade is barely visible in the shadows just behind the
rear truck. Found in the Northern Alberta Railway yard at Edmonton,
Alberta, in August 1972, by S. Styles. |
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NP 705. An older type of fire car on
the Northern Pacific. The wooden tub type of water car was common
on this road, but the pump room atop this one is unusual. Taken
about 1938, copied from an old print by P. O'Boyle. |
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NP 795. A more modern type of fire car
converted from an old locomotive tender. A hose is housed in
the large structure on top (the wheels are for rewinding the
hose after use); the smaller structure probably contains a pump.
Taken around 1965, but other data is unknown. |
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SP MW5312. The Southern Pacific operated
many tank cars as water cars, but those used as fire cars were
distinguished by hose reels and pump housings on a platform
on top. This one was probably intended for yard protection at
San Luis Obispo, CA, where it was photographed on September
25, 1972, by F. H. Worsfold. |
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IC A-534. Also for yard use was this
Illinois Central fire car built on an old locomotive tender
frame. There were few roads in large yards, thus forcing the
railroads to provide their own fire protection. Taken at McComb,
MS, in 1965 by J. C. La Rue, Jr. |
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FCM 2. In addition to wire trains, most
electric railroads operated smaller self-propelled cars for
daily inspection and maintenance of the overhead wire. This
railbus answers the call on the Ferrocarril Mexicano [Mexican
Railroad]. Like most line cars, ladders, tools and supplies
are hung on wherever convenient, producing this decidedly cluttered
look. Taken at Orizaba, Vera Cruz, on February 13, 1961, by
F. H. Worsfold. |
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Ma&Pa X1. In 1899, Industrial Works
built this 50-ton wrecker for the Akron, Canton & Youngstown
as their X990. Eventually it was traded in for a bigger crane
and rebuilt by the factory, now Industrial Brownhoist, in 1928
before being sold to the Maryland & Pennsylvania, where
it had a long career and was frequently photographed. In 1998
a crack was found in the frame and the crane was unceremoniously
scrapped, one year shy of its 100th anniversary. By then it
was one of the last, and certainly the smallest, steam wreckers
still in service. Here it is seen in happier times, sporting
the black-on-yellow logo adopted in the 1970s, at York, PA,
on October 23, 1976, taken by J. C. La Rue, Jr. |
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Soo X105 with X5, a 120-tonner. Virtually
all railroad wreckers were assigned an idler car (called a "jib
car" on the Soo) to accommodate the boom overhang. This
one has a wheeled support for the wrecker boom to enable faster
transit to a wreck site. A wrecker's boom was heavy and dangerously
unstable, and there were numerous examples of wreckers ending
up on their sides after the boom began to oscillate while the
crane was being moved too fast over rough track. The large bin
at the near end of the car holds oak blocks to support the crane
outriggers when the wrecker is making a heavy or angled lift.
Taken at Harvey, ND, in July, 1978, by W. Raia. |
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S&A 5, W145, and W103. Part of a
wreck outfit on the Savannah & Atlanta. The crew car, W1,
is "off camera". The wrecker appears to be a 100-tonner
and was built by Industrial Works in 1913. The idler car, W145,
has a large water tank and probably does double duty as the
fire car, as well as carrying spare trucks. The tool car, W103,
has room for one additional truck and probably serves as the
second idler car. The hose hung on the rear of the wrecker is
probably used to take water from the tank on W145. Taken at
Savannah, GA, on July 26, 1964, by J. E. Parker. |
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L&N 40015. This 250-ton Bucyrus-Erie
machine represents the ultimate size and capacity of the railroad
wrecking derrick. Though normally stationed at the L&N's
South Louisville Shop, it is seen here along the Louisville
waterfront, apparently en route to a derailment on the "river
line", a branch serving industries along the Ohio River.
The wrecker eventually met its end in a scrap yard behind the
photographer. Taken at Louisville, KY, on February 1, 1956,
by H. N. Proctor. |
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CNJ 999. Among the last extant inspection
engines was this one, evidently stored prior to scrapping. A
4-4-0, it is larger then most of its kind, which made do with
a single driver. Taken at Elizabethport, NJ, on September 5,
1936, by an unknown photographer. |
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PRR 498014. One of six track inspection
cars operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad, this one is shown,
with its front windows removed, on display during a R&LHS
excursion. Evidently some of the fans are taking a look inside.
The stairstep arrangement of seats inside the car is visible
through the windows. Conspicuous on the front platform is a
searchlight for use at night and inside tunnels. Taken at Altoona,
PA, on May 16, 1937, by "Jennings". |
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Rdg. 90751. Tunnels and tunnel inspection
cars were unusually common on the Reading. Like most such cars,
the platform is on two slightly different levels. Here the car
is standing alone, but in use it would be coupled to the end
of a long string of empty cars to prevent the inspectors from
being gassed by the locomotive exhaust. Taken at Tamaqua, PA,
on April 19, 1981, by J. C. La Rue, Jr. |
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GN X1507. After its invention in 1886,
the rotary snowplow became the snow remover par excellence.
It cut up the snow and threw it far from the track, rather then
merely pushing it aside; thus it could cope with deeper snow
then the wedge plow. This one shows the ice cutters (just ahead
of the front wheels) and the flangers (just behind the front
truck). The serrated extensions mounted on the cutting wheel
are presumably a modification to cope with local conditions.
Taken at Hill Yard, WA, on May 4, 1961, by J. R. Cummings. |
| All of these pictures, and over
26,000 others, are available as B&W prints from John
C. La Rue, Jr.. |
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