Anyone familiar with a temporary turn-out or called an Off-railer?
https://patents.google.com/patent/US9074325B2/en
Maybe for retrieving an isolated car?

These exist and are in use. A company called PVS seems to sell this exact design. UP patented it, so presumably they use it too. Typically they're used for MOW equipment. I don't know what the load rating is and whether or not they're suited for locomotives. Looking at the steep angle of the transition ramp to the "points" and "frog" and relatively lightweight construction, I suspect it's only for MOW usage not full size loading.

Scroll down a bit here and you'll find a photo of one.
https://pvsstructures.com/structures-markets/

This bit is odd, the patent is clearly filed by the UP (and says "track equipment, so that clears up any doubt), but the PVS website states "PVS owns the perpetual, exclusive, worldwide rights and licenses under its Patents and Patents Pending to manufacture and distribute the Temporary Track Turnouts."

How do they own the rights if Union Pacific patented it? Also "perpetual rights" aren't a thing as far as I know. All patents expire eventually.

If you check the history of the patent it was initially issued to UP. Then the patent went "dormant" because of "unpaid fees". Once you get a patent you have to pay "renewal fees" to the US Gubermint to keep your patent rights intact.

Seems UP did not see much money to be made off this patent so UP let the patent "expire".

Then apparently this "PVS" company paid up the old fees and got the rest of the life of the patent to themselves. US patents used to be good for 17 years, then they changed it to ~ 20 years to match up with Europe, etc.

So by paying the "Patent Renewal Fees" that UP decided where not worth it "PVS" gets a patent that's good until 2033. Not "perpetual" in any way shape or form.

Also. unless "PVS" filed international patents before they offered this for sale then PVS has no "worldwide rights". Used to be a Patent Issued by the US Gubermint meant NOTHING in other countries. That may have changed some.

And depending on what exactly is "claimed" in the patent one could possibly easily work around the original design and sell something similar that does not infringe the UP/PVS patent.

Seems like a very small market to me, maybe you could sell a hundred of these units a year if that.

(Disclaimer, not a patent attorney, but have several of my patents assigned to a previous employer so I have been through the Patent Process).

I've seen drawings for a similar device designed by the PRR for when a GG1 would derail that the plan was to actually fully sever the track you were going to rerail the GG1 onto and then bolt this "rerailer" into place. Make the GG1 trucks bolster pin rigid so it wouldn't swing during the process and then drag it back onto the rails.

I build railroads for a living. Not only have I never seen one of these in person, I've never even seen any photos of them. If there are 100 of them, total, in existence, I'd be mildly surprised.

I have seen the portable ramp tracks for loading MOW stuff on flatcars but not these.

Thank you for posting this link with photo

Interesting. We have something very similar that was DIY. It's short pieces of "panel track" that pins together, made entirely of flat bar with a curved, tapered portion that is clamped to the main track and acts as the points like in those photos. The next two sections cross over, pinned to crossing timbers and meet up with track constructed into the door opening of a double door, hi cube boxcar that's on the ground. That's the "winter garage" for our 8-ton Plymouth. Two guys and the backhoe can set it up or take it down in about 15 or 20 minutes. If I remember (fat chance at that), the next time we set it up I'll snap a photo.