Railroad Forums 

  • Crane and spare trucks

  • Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
 #1130124  by chnhrr
 
Shown is a wrecking crane adjacent to a maintenance flat car with what appears to be spare trucks (bogies) painted orange. Did these trucks serve any special purpose? Were they possibly temporary replacements for trucks of cars damaged in derailments, like a spare tire of sorts?
 #1130188  by Backshophoss
 
Some times refered to as "shop trucks",used to get cars not "Totaled Out"(destroied) to the nearest "RIP" track or to a siding where
repairs could be done.(The cars's trucks have turned into a "parts kit" :( ). Using a shop truck saves on the labor needed to move
the "load" from the damaged car to another car.
This allowed the wreck site to be cleared up a little bit quicker, with only 1 train moving to a yard to clear up with the
damaged cars in tow.