by VWBusUser
I am writing this new topic hoping that some forum users can help me on my search for information and knowledge.
I know there are a few posts on here and I've combed through them all for details. As I have pictures and storytelling. But I was hoping to further button up my research. I created this account to post here specifically, I enjoy trains and VW's, this is the best of both worlds for me. But I somewhat young in my early 30's so I am trying to pull a thread and trace it back to the 1950's and 1960's.
It's my understanding that these buses were commissioned by the US Postal Service and were used to run crews down the track as conversion vehicles. There are German equivalents in museums today, they'd be called a 'Draisine'. They weren't a conversion vehicle though, as they weren't built for the rails and would've had a lever system to drive it on the rails.
Here is what I have gathered so far: there were 4 of them commissioned for the LIRR. They were imported into Baltimore and brought up to Oyster Bay. They would've been early VW buses from the 1950's era and had three sets of seats. A group of gentlemen that used to ride the LIRR for work each day would always admire them on their train ride as they sat in the rail yard. In the late 1960's, the 4 of them disappeared one day and went up to the junkyard to be destroyed. The group of guys asked the rail yard manager on a Saturday what happened to the buses and he informed them of the demolition. They went to the junkyard in question and at the time only 2 of them were there. Whether the first two were destroyed already OR they went to a different scrapyard is beyond me at this point. They were given the option of purchasing both of them, but only elected to purchase the first one.
They used to joyride on the rails and enjoy it as a hobby. One part where the details get fuzzy for me, does anyone know what happens to the bus after it was painted like a GG-1 or EMD E8? Was the Gandy Wagon attachment taken off of the original bus and put onto a new bus? A new nose decal would've been fabricated to go over the VW logo. But the nose itself changes; which leads me to believe the bus was swapped OR it was in an accident. Early VW buses had turn indicators shaped like bullets, referred to a 'bullet nose'. In the 2 pictures I can find after the paint job swap, they are lights that would've been markers appropriate for a 1962-1967 VW bus. Flat & round lights, referred to 'Egg Yolks'.
In the book 'Steel Rails to the Sunrise' by Ziel and Foster, there's mention of a second Gandy Wagon existing. Does anyone know if this one is still around today? It's possible that it was checker board in scheme.
I would appreciate any data that anyone might have or another lead that they could offer up. My hope is that one day I could restore and bring back a Gandy Wagon in terms of being period correct. But it would require a lot of reverse engineering. Any information would be helpful to me. No matter how small of a nugget.
I know there are a few posts on here and I've combed through them all for details. As I have pictures and storytelling. But I was hoping to further button up my research. I created this account to post here specifically, I enjoy trains and VW's, this is the best of both worlds for me. But I somewhat young in my early 30's so I am trying to pull a thread and trace it back to the 1950's and 1960's.
It's my understanding that these buses were commissioned by the US Postal Service and were used to run crews down the track as conversion vehicles. There are German equivalents in museums today, they'd be called a 'Draisine'. They weren't a conversion vehicle though, as they weren't built for the rails and would've had a lever system to drive it on the rails.
Here is what I have gathered so far: there were 4 of them commissioned for the LIRR. They were imported into Baltimore and brought up to Oyster Bay. They would've been early VW buses from the 1950's era and had three sets of seats. A group of gentlemen that used to ride the LIRR for work each day would always admire them on their train ride as they sat in the rail yard. In the late 1960's, the 4 of them disappeared one day and went up to the junkyard to be destroyed. The group of guys asked the rail yard manager on a Saturday what happened to the buses and he informed them of the demolition. They went to the junkyard in question and at the time only 2 of them were there. Whether the first two were destroyed already OR they went to a different scrapyard is beyond me at this point. They were given the option of purchasing both of them, but only elected to purchase the first one.
They used to joyride on the rails and enjoy it as a hobby. One part where the details get fuzzy for me, does anyone know what happens to the bus after it was painted like a GG-1 or EMD E8? Was the Gandy Wagon attachment taken off of the original bus and put onto a new bus? A new nose decal would've been fabricated to go over the VW logo. But the nose itself changes; which leads me to believe the bus was swapped OR it was in an accident. Early VW buses had turn indicators shaped like bullets, referred to a 'bullet nose'. In the 2 pictures I can find after the paint job swap, they are lights that would've been markers appropriate for a 1962-1967 VW bus. Flat & round lights, referred to 'Egg Yolks'.
In the book 'Steel Rails to the Sunrise' by Ziel and Foster, there's mention of a second Gandy Wagon existing. Does anyone know if this one is still around today? It's possible that it was checker board in scheme.
I would appreciate any data that anyone might have or another lead that they could offer up. My hope is that one day I could restore and bring back a Gandy Wagon in terms of being period correct. But it would require a lot of reverse engineering. Any information would be helpful to me. No matter how small of a nugget.