I want to investigate the possibility of mounting axles under my troop sleeper in order to facilitate moving it like a trailer. On the opposite end I would like to mount a plate with a kingpin compatible with semi trucks. Add some semi trailer landing gear and voila, a trailer. I know the weight without trucks and empty inside is approx 44,000 pounds, so it could even go higher and not exceed the 80,000 legal weight. I would need a wide load permit whenever it moved but that isn't something I want to do often anyhow.

That is my idea. Now I need folks in the know who might be able to say "can be done" or "not feasible" to chime in. I thought 2 semi truck axles with a 20k pound capacity each would do the job, since underneath the other end would be a similar pair on the semi truck frame to spread the load quite well. Mounting them would be the big question. My car is currently on the ground and hard to see underneath to check for mounting points but the very end looks like it could handle it. Relatively flat across. Let the discussion begin...

If you are wondering why I wish to do this and are already thinking about responding with questions, the cost of moving this is so far averaging estimates of 10 k. I'd rather invest that in this idea once and have ease of moving from now on....

I our neck of the world heavy haul companies have something called a basket dolly. It is a two axle assemble with eight tires per axle. It looks a lot like the rear end of a low bed trailer. Basket dollies were used commonly to move scrappers. The rear axle of the scrapper was set into the valley between the axles. They are low profile and work well supporting the back end of anything long. A fifth wheel that is a stand alone device which can be chained down to a low bed trailer deck is a common device. What you propose is an easily executed move and very satisfying.

Thank you. I did not know the dollies had a name. Being in Northern Maine I doubt anyone has one but it sure would be nice to have it available.

Catskill Mountain has a set of semi dollys I believe, they are in upstate NY, you might ask them: http://photos.greatrails.net/showpic/?p ... ntain%20RR

Something else you should check out: I saw a photo of something on here a few months ago that had what you are discussing, two axles with tandems like the axles/wheels of a flatbed trailer plus what looked like a cast steel tongue that went into the rear coupler receiver on the end of the car. It would therefore be rigid on that end, you don't want both sets of axles to be able to pivot like the front dolly on a semi pulling doubles or it would be too squirly to keep on the road. The advantage of that tongue is that the semi wheels wouldn't need to be very small to clear the bottom of the car, you could keep the tongue low and get the overall height under 13ft which is the height limit in most of the country. The front wheel set would be tougher to design I think, since it would need to pivot like a trailer with a fifth wheel and kingpin arrangement yet not be as high as a normal semi dolly. I have driven a semi in the past but have never been involved in moving a railroad car.

Check around for house movers, they may have something that would work. They also use something similar when moving a prefabricated modular house, or whatever they call them these days.

I did that years ago to save two coaches which are now down at strasburg. I used the tandem axles cut out of a box trailer. Before using them I rebuilt the brakes and added air hoses long enough to go from the bogie to the tractor. Then built a plate with a fifth wheel pin to be welded onto the frame at the opposite end of the coach from the bogie. Added a light bar and a temporary registration tag to the back and away we went. This was done many years ago. i am not sure laws would still allow this. You will need to see if there are any laws in your area that would prevent this.

Did you get pictures? I'd like to see that

Ben Minnich, while still alive and active, had moved numerous streetcars to Kennebunkport doing what you want to do. Ben would bring a rear double axle, cut from an old trailer, to a car, jack the car up, chain the axle assembly to the rear of the car, set the front end on the fifth wheel, chain it down, and away he would go: from Colorado, or anywhere, to Maine.

So, it has been done many times in the past. But, the streetcars didn't weigh what you have.

How we did it a few years ago with one of our ex-troop sleepers. We have two. They were both moved the same way.
https://youtu.be/75w07Silt3I

Well, turns out I did find a contractor who shared my vision. No crane needed! Here it is on the road. She is safe on my land now!

http://youtu.be/vK4NzN6Q6qI