I heard back from a friend who’s working on the Sutro site. They’ve seen that pic, and dug up the rails (maybe back in November). In that process they even found the spreader-bars that held the rails together.
lorna dane said:
Not made any more at least that I can see. There are somevGetmsn and Swiss that made all manner of tracks so it is possible.
Thought this was neat device.
Lorna that device is a traverser https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=traverser&qpvt=traverser&FORM=IGRE
I saw a working one at the Railway Workshop Museum in Ipswich Queensland Australia it was used to move carriages between different “shops” eg bogie, carpenters, blacksmith’s in the railway workshop.
Also known as a transfer table.
I found the name of the manufacturer of the 3 and 5 way switches on some old Train-Li literature, but was unsuccessful in finding that company on the Internet, but will keep looking, a nice, unique solution, mine will be used like Sean’s and also my buddy R.J.
Really nice setup, Greg. Is it manually thrown, or motorized?
Speaking of transfer tables, Cal State RR Museum in Sacramento has a big’un…
I suppose the main diff with this sort of transfer table is that, like a turntable, it gets loaded with a loco and repositions it. Unlike a switch, where you’re just moving the rails.
Motorized and DCC controlled… That picture is RJ’s which is manual.
We got ours at the same time, and Axel had ours nickel plated, as opposed to standard brass. RJ’s you move a small plate and slide the rails and put the plate back in. Mine has a motor and indexing system, pulse it and it goes to the next track.
Transfer tables are more commonly used in diesel shops, where the forwards or backwards is not important in the shop, in roundhouses, there is normally some kind of smoke collection apparatus that can go over the smokestack and it’s usually only at one end of the track in the roundhouse.
Greg
John Caughey said:
Cliff see the mule behind the passenger car? Last pic
John, I just ran across this additional shot of that rail car, thought you’d enjoy it.
I’ll bet that mule driver had Popeye arms!
Yup ya got me there Pardner, helps explain the splayed right leg too!
Good catch.
Thanks John, I knew you’d like that. Can you imagine hand-cranking four people up a 1.5% grade for four miles (to Va City), then one or two miles more in the laterals, and then back? Well, gravity would help take it back, but still…
dupe post, due to double-tap I guess
Cliff Jennings said:
Thanks John, I knew you’d like that. Can you imagine hand-cranking four people up a 1.5% grade for four miles (to Va City), then one or two miles more in the laterals, and then back? Well, gravity would help take it back, but still…
There’s a page on hand cars that says the hand pedals soon lost favor to the two man lever method!
Blow me down Olive! I wish every hill was down!