I remember every railroad around where I lived used Speeders in the early 70's. Some had little trailers that carried tools, railroad ties, other stuff. Glad I got to see that era before the sun set!
Great story Bill and a real memory blast for me as I used to be a Railway Signalling Electrician in the South Australian Railways back in the 70's. In South Australia we used to call them Quads and these were the exact same vehicles, imported from America we used to drive along the country tracks to do our maintenance checks. The sound of the wheels on the rails and the sound of the engine are permanently embedded into my subconscious as a happy memory that you revived. Thanks Mate. Cheers and beers, Pete
May God keep you all Healthy and Happy. You guys are fantastic the REAL Americans and it is because of you people and your humanity the whole world loves America.
Such a great job of restoring this unit. I spent a lot of time on the weekends riding track from Galesburg IL. to Peoria IL, (About 46 miles). The road master asked if I'd work the weekends riding track and I jumped at the chance. I didn't have enough seniority to keep doing it in the winter, but I enjoyed riding the track in the speeder. It wasn't nearly as nice as this one, but it served the purpose very well. We had an Onan engine in it, but changed it to a Wisconsin because the Wisconsin had 32 HP and was a 4 cyl. It could pull a cart with tools and supplies better, and our Onan service every 200 hours was kind of a pain. Again, great job restoring it, and thanks for posting.
Looks like great fun! I am totally amazed that the railroad allows cooperates and helps you to make use of their main line tracks that are sil in operation A big thumbs up to the railroads too
@@kelliethorne1200 I don't think money got exchanged, but the RR fans can be quite vocal, like any fans, and can and does help the RR compagny by being their citizens voice for legislations and issues. It is a PR thing that cost them little to nothing. Chance is that the people they posted were RR fans and were volunteering. RR compagny don't have a so good reputation, so this is a cheap way to raise the population view on them.
I work for the railroad and I would be terrified riding in one of those rail cars lol. You guys really love riding the rails...I wish I had the same passion as you do....Very cool and interesting video..2 thumbs up.
Man....and to think this one guy I met in St.John Indiana in about 1982 had two of these he wanted out of his back yard.They were complete ,well only one ran and was clean and .....I thought.....gosh ....what would I do with something like this and where could I store it.He said....take them both.....free.At the time I was renting and had no ideas....let alone....knew where I could use them.Now I would almost kill for one.The one most complete Freemont was a single cylander 2 stroker.I mean the guy was almost begging me to get them out of his sight.Acually his wife wanted them out...but if I would have just known......I would have been set......lol
There are two Fairmont speeders in use on the Kentucky and Tennessee Railway, in my hometown. Our little coal hauling railroad turned tourist attraction can't justify the expense and upkeep of a Ford F-250 hi-rail or a Chevy Silverado hi-rail. It keeps us old timers full of nostalgia and remembering yesteryear. Great video, Bill. I smiled the whole time.
I had no Idea how much interest these little vehicles attract. Great that the railroad companies give their support to your hobby. Sadly, this probably wouldn't work here in the UK for various reasons, so looks like I'll have to emigrate!!
It is cool that you have a picture of it in service, not many people do of their cars. As far as the two stroke, the guy was starting it incorrectly. I have ran two strokes in the winter months plenty of times and never had this problem. It's all in how you do it. Only other scenario would be if his crank seals are bad or worn out. He needs to invest in a manual and learn the correct way. Nice video though, would like to make it out there sometime in the next year or two. Thank you for posting.
I recently took my family to the roundhouse up in Sugarcreek, Ohio. I noticed that they had some speeders there, but no one seemed to think they were for sale when I inquired about them. I had seen speeders through the years and noticed that they disappeared at some point. I’ve been interested in owning one and have made some more inquiries. I live in central Ohio and there are a lot of train enthusiasts around, so I hope to be able to get one someday. Thanks! It looks like a lot of fun. Porter Dude.
lots of fun to watch. i operated the single cylinder two stroke fairmont speeders for over 20 years. property tuned they started easily even at minus 40 degrees. we went to the twin flathead Ohin two speed chain drive speeders about 1988 or so, and to the Dodge Dakota trucks with railaid wheels in 1995 if I remember right. The speeders handled the track a lot better than the hyrail trucks but it was very nice to have HEATERS that actually worked.
Brings back lots of memories of the 1970's when I was a motor car man . The riding was great but the stopping todo the repairs was rough for just two men. I am very grateful for those that are keeping the motorcars alive and well.
Back during the late summer of 1998, a few of your members came to Stearns, Kentucky, and did a weekend trip down the Kentucky and Tennessee Railway. I had spare time to kill that weekend and hung out with a few of those guys. I was very impressed and got hooked immediately. Unfortunately, I haven't obtained my own speeder yet, but some day I will. I'm a lifelong railfan and this hobby compliments my railfan hobby. Loved your video.
oh yea I remember seeing them in my youth. my dad worked for the uprr in the 1960s we called them put put cars because of the sound they made going down the track. thank you for sharing great video.
Bill Have only just seen your video it’s so awesome,really enjoyed your journey, you are so lucky we do not have anything like this in the UK 🇬🇧 . The feeling of freedom must be immense on these journeys, love your speeder it looks great 👍 and a lot quitter than some of the other ones the engine sounded very smooth.👍👍👍👍👍
and they were great inspection vehicles, much better than what they have today, from a visual standpoint, you could see every spike. jared stanfield norfolk southern retired
That looks so fun!. Sunny day's a bonus, but even if it's raining I reckon I'd love it, unroll the door flap and turn on the wipers. Thanks for sharing, being in New Zealand I've never seen these cool wee rail cars before. 👍
God damn it, that macaroni salad made my mouth start watering! It's 5 am here and all I have to eat in my bedroom is my cat. Love picnics and cookouts, fond memories.
This is genuine fun and I wish I would be able to make a trip on such a contraption. Simply adorable and so much better than motor car travel. Good on you, and lucky you! Well done.
I was ordered to do 200 hours community work on the Puffing Billy Railway, A historical tourist line here in Victoria (Australia) steam, I would arrive each morning and jump in a crazy little diesel platform rail car thing and zoom off into the rainforest to spray the foliage and clear small landslides or just ride along checking everything, At the time it was horrible slave labour, Now years later I reminisce about the experience
When I was a little boy we would see these come through our town, when I saw them and heard them, we would call them putt putt cars,because of the sound they made while running on the railroad.
What a joy it must be to own a rail speeder! It would be cool to have one of my own, either custom built or restored. I would prefer the latter, because it would be a piece of railroad history. This was a great video!
What a beauty the 8003....thank you for this while older video still timely.....it brings memories to me of riding the Providence & Worcester Budd car from Lonsdale RI to Worcester Mass....circa 1954....oh to see the wonders of nature up close in the truly wild environment....
I miss the railroads that used to be running especially the Milwaukee Road that ran by my place in northeastern wisconsin. They used to park one of those and the cars that they pulled in Forest Junction, WI. It was neat till Wisconsin Central tore the tracks out
Beautiful piece of machinery. I remember seeing those when I was young. Huell Howser who had a documentary show here in California, "California's Gold" produced a half hour show featuring a club putting around in those. Awesome job on the restoration, thanks for sharing. kind regards! Eric Dee.
This is a great video. Bill I live in Brooklyn New York and these would be really awesome to tool around here. All of our freight lines are intertwined throughout the entire city. I think it would be a great weekend. Again thanks for the video
I'm from that tiny island where railways started. There are hundreds, mabe thousands of steam trains still running as heritage locomotives. There is even a new one - Tornado. These little Rail Speeder cars are a wonderful way to get a days fun. We don't have anything like them. So who is going to be the first to fit some monster Ford V8 - I jest (I hope). Take care. Gawd - those burgers looked good.
Absolute awesomeness. Brings back memories as a kid staying at my grandparents during school break. We referred to them as "put-put" cars as for the noise they made. Would like to find a prodject speeder at a reasonable cost to buy. I have a G scale railroad set & just purchased a Canadian Pacific speeder. It's pretty cool, I must say. Thanks for sharing the video. It is greatly appreciated.
I remember seeing them as a kid and wishing I could go for a ride in one. As an adult I would love to help restore one. I'm always curious as to if I could learn to build or repair something they look awesome
Would love to see a speeder video on CSX's Southern Indiana Sub between New Albany and Bedford, IN. The track is officially still open although I haven't seen but 1 locomotive on it in over 2 years now and I live close enough to hear if one goes by.
Back in the day, I actually rode these up in Canada at work...our work gang had a bunch of these with some motorcars pulling a train up to 3 more motorless carriages to carry up to 12 employees in a consist! LOL what a great memory to see these running!
I'm 78 years old I remember them as a kid and old steam engines we lived a 1/2 block from the tracks .the rail guys would give us kids short rides .fun times .☺️
That is genius ! so many miles of beautiful track and country. just hope the local signal-men are up-to-scratch....a head-on could be an issue, lol...brave. thanks for post
Thanks for sharing your experience and video. Your narration has been educational as I learned about NARCOA recently. I believe that I am definitely developing a new Bucket List Item 😏🤩
This is so awesome. :) Things I wish I could do. (I live in lower NYS, so almost all the abandoned rails around here have been converted by the Rails to Trails project. As a cyclist, it's great, but as a growing rail enthusiast, not so great.)
+katie_incredible converted into trails? wow, i'm in NY and most of the rails here get ripped up by some very dedicated people but don't even get converted into trails, nature just takes over
katie_incredible it does suck for railroad enthusiasts, but the majority always takes over the minority unfortunately, perhaps you could start a change.org petition to save a couple of lines for enthusiasts
katie_incredible you'd be surprised, and you'd be surprised what you can do off donations, like the USS constitution is being maintained just with money from donations
I use to work for a company that made and scrapped rail speeders, Sylvester Steel Products in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dealt with many old Fairmonts as well, way back in 1973-1974.
I got to ride one in Orrville, Ohio along with my son and a group of Boy Scouts. We rode on a spur line from downtown out to the mainline where we stopped and turned around and came back.
They have these in Australia too but are called service cars. Australia also has dedicated owners as we see in this video. There are not so many abandoned railway lines over here. Often as soon as a line is closed parts of the line are ripped up to be used for other purposes such as rail trails or redevelopment.
i think back as a boy in the 1960s my dad worked for the union pacific railroad, we called these (put put cars )because they made a put put sound going down the tracks.
Awesome Video! I found this video after just watching some speedster go by my work on a short line in Pennsylvania called The Lycoming Valley line. (Williamsport Pa) i find this hobby one I'd like to do in the future
Yes there are similar small trucks like this in the UK. ICI wilton had one for the track gang. Don't know of any tracks you can run on in the UK though.
Enjoy this a lot. Good to see Mike Ford also, as we spent 1100 rail miles up in SK Canada with him this summer. We are hoping to take our speeder from Oregon to the east coast next summer for runs and see what it is like. You did a great job putting this on You Tube for our hobby. Any suggestions of area we might put in for?
That looks like a blast! Thanks for sharing. (Impressed it was shot with an iPhone 5! Considering getting an iPhone, and this gret video is one more reason to get one.) :-)