This is one image that brings one obvious pun to mind (you know the one). Puns aside, this setup does leave me thinking about the wonders it must do for this Chevy’s cornering abilities. I would also think it provides really smooth riding, gliding as if… well, on rails (nope, couldn’t help it).
I’m sure some commenters will know far more about these adaptations than I ever could (go on, add some anecdotes). But for this post’s sake, I better explain a bit about what this is. It’s a train track inspection and servicing unit, with a set of railroad wheels that can be easily dropped down when needed.
It actually sounds like fun stuff, though I doubt those adapters are easily available at Pep Boys.
’60 Chevrolet interior. Photo by Tom Klockau.
I hadn’t seen passenger cars adapted to such use, though I had seen trucks and vans. These latter ones, probably better for carrying tools and equipment for servicing duties. That said, old wagons served that role back in the day and had good hauling capabilities. And well, a Chevrolet wagon’s interior must feel pretty swanky over the tracks.
Further reading (on non-railroad ’60 Chevrolets):
Curbside Classic: 1960 Chevrolet Nomad – Out On Parole
Curbside Classic: 1960 Chevrolet Impala – Gullwing, Take Two
CC For Sale: 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air – Truly “Like New” With Only 12,400 Miles
Can it be made out which railroad this car belonged to?
The diamond logo on the door looks like Reading Lines to me:
Probably so, thanks.
I believe station wagons were relatively popular for railroad inspection vehicles in the mid 20th century. Recall seeing some photographs of some in Classic Trains and Lines South magazines.
Neat .
I wonder how long the tires lasted .
I nearly bought a Ford F150 with these wheels once but decided not to, what the hell would I have done with it ? .
-Nate
The front and rear track of the ’60 Chevy was 56″/56.3″, almost exactly the same as the gauge of the rails (56.5″). Nowadays the pickups they use have to have special offset wheels to make it ride the rails.
One of the Reading’s roadrailers (before they were called that). Patrick McGinnis, the former head of the New Haven and also Boston & Maine railroads had a custom Cadillac so he could hop on the rails. Many railroads had these types of vehicles.
That’s fantastic!
There was a 5 star resort nestled in the San Juan mountains of Colorado that I used to regularly visit for work and overnight several times a year. You couldn’t drive there. You had to either take the Durango Silverton narrow gauge train to it, (which pass through the resort going to, and the returning from Silverton), take a helicopter, or use one of the Resort’s work vehicles which was a motorized platform without doors that rode on the tracks.
The helicopter rides were amazing, but my favorite was the open platform that rode the tracks through the Animas River Canyon. It hung the cliffs just above the boiling mountain river that carved the narrows and there was nothing but air between you and a 200 foot drop.
It was awesome to see the sights along the tracks with the ability to stop and visit anything that caught your eye. It is one thing to take Hwy 550 to Silverton, the train, which was really just a glamorized school bus experience, flying over the mountains in a bubble-front helicopter, and having your own set of wheels on the track like this.
I would like to both have a vehicle like this, and a set of abandoned tracks to use. There are miles and miles of abandoned tracks throughout the US that could serve as a fine hobby for this king of travel.
Even rarer here at 1:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5YtCWrElA&ab_channel=IowaClassicCars
Very common conversion for Land Rover Defenders (classic type) in the UK:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Network_Rail_Land_Rover_entering_Bridge_of_Orchy_Station_-_geograph.org.uk_-_24990.jpg
More unusual, this Vauxhall Cresta PC:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Blm6sHACAAAHs_e?format=jpg&name=small
Done for Shell TV commercial, apparently, with rail wheels in place of the normal ones rather than out-riggers.
I remember seeing these conversions over the years in rural areas. In northern Ontario there are several railroad lines that do not have road access. One of the best known is Ontario Northland which runs the Polar Bear Express between Cochrane and Moosonee (on James Bay). I found this article about a vehicle that was used on this line for many purposes, including as an ambulance.
Looks like the featured vehicle is in Bel Air trim (called Parkwood on the wagon). Chevy would alternate with some years featuring the same trim lines as the sedans, other years with unique names for the wagons: Nomad, Kingswood, Parkwood, Brookwood.
That light blue color seems to have been very popular on the ’60 models.
This episode of Chevy Leader News from 1939 shows a Chevy-powered bus switching easily from road to rails. Wherever there’s a smooth grade crossing, the driver just merges onto the track and lowers the wheels.
https://archive.org/details/0195_Chevrolet_Leader_News_Vol_1_No_2_M7650_14_00_39_00
Bad link .
-Nate
Fixed the link above – should work now.
Nice ~ thank you .
-Nate
Come about “1968-9”, our neighbors “61 Chevy wagon” sounded, felt, much like a clattering train.
I believe it was Illinois Central who had at least one long wheelbase Chrysler circa 1950 with this set up.
BTW: My parents bought a 1960 2 door Chevy new. Very basic interior.
I’m going off the rails on a crazy train.
If you had a 1960s vw beetle, take off the tires, and put the rims on backwards, you could drive it on the rails. ( but scouts honor I never tried it).
The Bytown Railway Society here in Ottawa, possesses an ex-Canadian National Railways 1958 Pontiac station wagon.
1958 wagon looking like it’s sporting 1974 bumpers!