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April 1st joke that was real
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41837		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  RCD [ Sun Apr 01, 2018 12:10 pm ]
Post subject:  April 1st joke that was real
So a few years ago I was thinking of an April 1st post involving a "redneck railroad" the "railroad" was going to consist of speeders pulling jerry-rigged coaches. Due to the fact that April 1st post fell out of favor I never got around to posting this joke. You can imagine my shock when I just happened to stumble upon exactly this type of operation in New Hampshire. The Silver Lakes Railroad uses a Speeders weighed down with granite (New Hampshire is the granite state after all) to pull their coaches made from Hardware straight from Home Depot ( except for the flange wheels of course). As far as I no the system is insular so it doesn't fall under the FRA. Get 'er done.
Author:  70000 [ Sun Apr 01, 2018 12:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: April 1st joke that was real
RCD wrote:
So a few years ago I was thinking of an April 1st post involving a "redneck railroad" the "railroad" was going to consist of speeders pulling jerry-rigged coaches. Due to the fact that April 1st post fell out of favor I never got around to posting this joke. You can imagine my shock when I just happened to stumble upon exactly this type of operation in New Hampshire. The Silver Lakes Railroad uses a Speeders weighed down with granite (New Hampshire is the granite state after all) to pull their coaches made from Hardware straight from Home Depot ( except for the flange wheels of course). As far as I no the system is insular so it doesn't fall under the FRA. Get 'er done.


I came across that operation purely by chance whilst driving from Manchester, NH, up to the Conway Scenic for their September Railfan weekend back in 2013.
Saw some signs at the side of the highway and thought it was worth a diversion as I had never heard of it. Unfortunately there was nobody from the railway about and the Post Office (?) in the old station couldn't give us much info about the operation.
Did get some photos of the rolling stock though.........

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They certainly have some intereresting "stuff" there!
Author:  Rick Rowlands [ Sun Apr 01, 2018 1:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: April 1st joke that was real
Many years ago I sold a Fairmont A6F3 to someone from up in New England. It didn't have a cab but has the 2' extension on the front and the 4' extension to the rear. I wonder where it ended up at. I see this makeshift locomotive also has frame extensions.
Author:  John T [ Sun Apr 01, 2018 2:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: April 1st joke that was real
Here is a short history of the line and a list of equipment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Lake_Railroad
Author:  robertjohndavis [ Sun Apr 01, 2018 3:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: April 1st joke that was real
Nice group of folks and a very interesting stretch of railroad. Highly recommended. Rob
Author:  Jim Herron [ Sun Apr 01, 2018 7:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: April 1st joke that was real
The coach is reminiscent of early horse/mule cars on street railways.
-JH
Author:  weekendrailroader [ Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: April 1st joke that was real
Well, I mean hey, why not? When my wife and I get our own ranch/hobby farm, I've already planned to build a standard gauge railroad that uses speeders and speeder trailers as the "trains".

When you think about it, early horse drawn streetcars, early Waggonway locomotives, as well as larger mining rail equipment, are really all about the same size as a standard gauge speeder. Look at the Pockerly Waggonway at the Beamish museum. Is the equipment really that different in size from the large Gibson or Skagit type logging speeders?

In case you're interested, this has been done before. This post is from the Amusment Park & Zoo Trains Facebook group (apparently they are "real" trains, by the way.) ;)

The Western-themed Timbertown Amusement Park had a train built from speeder parts, including a C.P. Huntington replica. They sure got the look of authentic logging railroad track just perfect:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/1547083611972502?view=permalink&id=2066053086742216
Author:  weekendrailroader [ Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: April 1st joke that was real
Another example where this has been done is at the Mount Baker Farm/Campground on Orcas Island, WA.
Formerly a private estate, the previous owner had a standard gauge railroad built around the large property. Two depots were built (one is an replica of an actual depot in California), and the rolling stock consists of a speeder with a large tram-style trailer car. The property was sold, and is now open to the public for camping. The train has been kept operational as an on-site activity/attraction.

The Farm/campground website:https://mountbakerfarm.com

The train:
Image
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