Northern Ohio Rwy. Museum's tow truck company thinks that this method is legal in Ohio, that permits are not required for a towed load on the hook. By this, they mean that the non-dolly end of the rapid transit car has no king pin added, but is just suspended from the hook on the end of the tow truck's lifting cable.

I didn't see it mentioned but what is the pedigree of the caboose? With the yellow and general location I'd guess UP? Do you know how long it's been part of the marine camp?

From Brian's post over on Trainordrs " It's ATSF 999403, ex-1750, Class CE-2. Purchased by Camp Pendleton in the late 1980's and painted into camouflage colors by the base railroad crew."

Greg

The Army also does that on occasion. Was called in to re-rail a flatcar at a military base nearby since we were on site doing track repairs. They said "We'll supply a crane" so I figured I'd disconnect the brake rigging, lift up the end of the flat, block it up, pull the trucks out from under, etc, etc...

The crane showed up and I took one look and said "Wow... What's the capacity of that thing?" The replied "100 tons..."

Plan B was much simpler. :) Chain the trucks to the car, and then imitate putting an HO scale car back on the track. 1/2 hour later we were done and outta there.

All righty then... I'd suggest not tailgating them!

Well, that's something that you don't see on the typical tourist train, flatcars loaded with tanks!

I've pondered the HD tow truck option a few time myself. Like the dolly and goosneck method, it will keep the caboose as close to ground as possible minimizing conflict with overhead wires, with the benefit of being able to raise at least the one end to avoid dips and bumps in the road. But I'm not real comfortable doing it that way at any real speed. Could see doing it for short distances at city street speeds. Even at that, you need to come up with some connection to control fore and aft swing.

Greg

Here's OERM picking up an interurban motor for movement. Do my eyes deceive me or do I see 4 forklifts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3qjivNTrtg

Here are a few more photos, courtesy of Ron Jonason.











The reason we went with the step deck trailer is because it was the only trailer available to us which met the criteria for length and weight capacity with a still-relatively-low deck. Clearly illustrated above is how we managed to avoid low hanging traffic signals. The fact that the move was conducted entirely within the confines of Camp Pendleton was a major help!

I remember back in the early 90's when the caboose was parked by the wharehouses to the left in this pic. I had always wondered what had happened to it. What I remember is that it was at one point painted in desert camoflauge. Glad to see that it has survived to see another day.