OT: I want one!

HudsonL · **Joined:** Mon May 24, 2010 10:22 am **Posts:** 548

This is a 3rd or 4th hand email, so I know nothing other than what is shown.
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Last Sunday with a cleaned and detailed 87 Crown I went with Dick down to the Geelong Vintage Rally at the Geelong Showgrounds about 120km away. Lots of nice stuff but little steam - Thomas Lord has built a Sentinel waggon look alike over the past 10 years and is nearly at the end. Accomplishing a lot of testing and tuning - it will do about 35kmh! Not bad for home built. He designed and built the boiler and accumulated the running gear and all the rest of the accessories. I went for a run into Geelong with him - it's a bit of a handful at the moment, two knowledgeable persons needed for running. And with solid rubber wheels is a rough ride unless the road surface is really good. Other than tuning the mechanicals he has the tray sides and back to build, and get some signwriting done before it is complete. Here are some shots.

The boiler is fired by sump oil and the extra valves are for controlling oil pre-heat, centrifuge for cleaning, reverse flow to clean filters if necessary, oil flow to the boiler etc. A bit complicated till you get used to it. Will end up with a lot more automatics in time. Quite roomy - will seat 3 with ease. The running gear and chain drive is off various steam trucks, and the engine is made up from the bones of an R Class loco coal feed engine.

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Bob Davis · **Joined:** Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:25 am **Posts:** 1025

For the past several years, Orange Empire (oerm.org) in Perris CA has hosted an antique truck show on the first weekend in May. All sorts of "lorries" ranging from about 1970 back to 1919. If anyone here in the States had a rig like this, it would be the "star of the show". We have had a Mack gasoline-engine truck with a similar chain-drive rear axle visit our museum.

prosser · **Joined:** Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:32 pm **Posts:** 46

Bob Davis · **Joined:** Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:25 am **Posts:** 1025

Over the years, logging railroad made all sorts of rail vehicles that proved "There's a prototype for everything."

Here's another photo from the Antique Truck gathering. Technically, it's a touring car, but I'm not going to argue with anyone packing a machine gun (we've been assured that it's disabled, but......)

Dave · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:10 pm

Geelong is in Australia and the R Class is a fast 4-6-4 passenger engine. One was running a few years ago from Melbourne to Echuca ( I think) until it suffered a critical rod failure. I had the great fortune to visit Puffing Billy during a steam festival and saw a steam lorry in service (and got a ride) and got to drive a steam roiller a bit. The steering on those is geared very low......you almost can't turn the wheel fast enough to avoid anything even at walking pace.

Puffing Billy has an interesting collection of other than Na Class Baldwin clones that operate infrequently during such things, including a wood burning climax that blows smoke rings and a Decauville induatrial in two forms: original, and replicating a Maine 2-footer in style.

There's a LOT to see down under. Good beer, too.........

dave

Bob Davis · **Joined:** Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:25 am **Posts:** 1025

I visited Puffing Billy in Feb 2001 as part of a tour for electric railway enthusiasts. Puffing Billy is at the end of a Melbourne electric suburban line that runs on 5 ft 2.5 or 3 inch gauge track. One gets off the modern MU train, and walks a few hundred feet to ride a railway with half the gauge and turn the calendar back about a hundred years. At the time the shop crew was rebuilding a Garratt articulated steam engine; I understand it's running now.

dinwitty · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm **Posts:** 2226

if you own a steam operated popcorn wagon to haul on that truck your in good shape.

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2013 1:12 am

"Wasn't there a logging railroad that used a rail bus made with a FWD truck?"--prosser

Actually, such a vehicle exists, and was delivered as such--Buffalo Creek & Gauley's railbus "B." It's reported to be in private hands and under restoration.

The road also a a railbus "A," which was a Mack; that one is now at Strasburg.

The A:

http://www.buffalocreekandgauley.com/LO ... lbusA.html

The B:

http://www.buffalocreekandgauley.com/LO ... lbusB.html

Had this up before, but gotta put it up again--homepage for the above. Turn on your speakers:

http://www.buffalocreekandgauley.com/index.html

Al Stangenberger · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:59 pm **Posts:** 650

Here's another railbus of unknown ancestry

(On Quincy Railroad in California)

Bob Davis · **Joined:** Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:25 am **Posts:** 1025

The Quincy railbus had a Meister body and a Buda engine, according to The Short Line Doodlebug by Edmund Keilty. It was QRR 49, built in 1918 and no disposition is listed. Meister also built bodies for most of the Hetch Hetchy RR railbuses and a few San Francisco Muni streetcars.

prosser · **Joined:** Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:32 pm **Posts:** 46

Jeff Livingston · **Joined:** Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:03 pm **Posts:** 45

Is there any information available regarding the machine gun toting "touring car"? Specifically, where is it and who owns it. Even better would be contact information. The HAwaiian Railway Society has embarked upon a project to build a replica of the Oahu Railway and Land Company's rail bus used on the Pearl City Peninsula and I am very interested in learning more about the construction of the wheels used on this vehicle.

Jeff Livingston
Historian
Hawaiian Railway Society
www.hawaiianrailway.com

Terry Harper · **Joined:** Tue May 08, 2007 4:59 pm **Posts:** 148

I am really enjoying this thread.

Here is the Eagle Lake & West branch railroad critter. This started life as a 10 ton Lombard tractor. Note the crawler tracks stacked on the rear platform. Its powered by a monster 1091 cid (17.9 liter) Wisconsin six cylinder T-head engine.

Back in November we found the lead truck wheels near Ellis bog - they had been used under a crude push car - in 1995 we found the unique rear wheels at Tramway but we didn't know what they belonged too until we found the photo below!