Railroad Speeders or Putt Putts

[b4autodark]

Anyone on here belong to any railroad speeder association? I am thinking of joining. The wife and I have been on steam train excursions and really enjoy the scenery from the ROW perspective and are considering the speeder group experience. Any input would be appreciated.

[NP317]

I have restored 4 speeders and owned 2, which provided much family entertainment.
I sold them all about 15 years ago, but maybe I provide some useful info for you.
~RN

[b4autodark]

Thanks for the response. What brand of speeders are you familiar with? Did you belong to NACOA and participate in their excursions? It seems that is about the only option I have been able to find.

I like the idea of restoring a speeder, looks like a fun project. I've done several tractors and trucks so I think I could take one on and be happy with the end result.

b4

[John Hasler]

You *could* do it the way we did in the 60s on the abandoned DSS&A line in the UP: let a bit of air out of the tires of your 50s sedan, get it on the rails, and off you go. Tracks fine. Just don't touch the wheel and watch out for fishermen on the trestles.

[Rich_Carlstedt]

It is really a blast . My buddy belonged to the North Central Railcars assn and we went on trip all over Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. This group may have faded as all the abandoned rail lines ( in Wisconsin ) have become walking trails, so you have meets where they run on regular tracks , under the supervision of the Railroad who owns the right-of-way. I suggest you contact a local club and find out if you can go on a run to check out what is needed. I suggest you bring ear muffs.. ...the memories I have of being on top of the Ore Docks at Ishpemming Michigan is just incredible.
Rich

[b4autodark]

Looks like the North Central Railcars assn is still a viable group and is associated with NACOA. It looks like their scheduled runs for this year are in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

There is a run scheduled out of Larimore ND towards the end of May that is only a couple hours from where I live, I plan on going out there and lurking around to see what I can learn.

[NP317]

b4:
All four of my speeders were Fairmont speeders, with various 2-cycle engines, wheel diameters, body styles, and transmissions on some.
In Washington State we started Northwest Railcar Association in the 1980s (I think), which might have pre-dated NARCOA (North American Railcar Association.)
I don't know if NWRA still exists.

All the railroads we ran on were branch line operations. We carried group insurance, and always offered to pay for a pilot the railroads liked to send with us.
We were well received, and got to ride some spectacular railroads in Washington and Oregon. We ONLY wan legally, and had a good reputation with the railroads.
Lots of Family fun.

Late last year I talked with a speeder group just leaving the Mt. Hood Railroad Station in Hood River, Oregon. They enjoyed a good run on that rail line to Parkdale and return.
I believe they said they were under the NARCOA umbrella. Nice to see this hobby still functioning.
~RN

[b4autodark]

RN,
Glad to hear you have so many good memories of your speeder experience. NARCOA still makes it's members buy insurance, nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

It does seem that the great majority of existing speeders are Fairmonts. I didn't know they had 2 cycle engines as what little research I've done, which admitedley isn't much, it seems 2 cylinder opposed Onans are the normal power plant. Their is one company that offers a conversion kit from the Onan to a Honda or Briggs Vanguard. All new to me and very interesting.
b4

[NP317]

b4:
The 2-cycle Fairmont speeder engines were horizontal "poppers" with large fly wheels, thus your reference to "Putt Putts".
The engines are reversible with a manual timing lever. Simple and robust.
Cooling was by water hoppers (for single cylinder) and radiators (for the twin cylinders), open to allow steam release. So carrying clean water to top off the hoppers is normal operation. Or from the nearest creek... BTDT.
Oil was added to the fuel as the engine sumps are dry. Typical 2-cycle.
I think the engines were designated RK (single cylinder) and RQ for the fore/aft twin cylinder engines. All were started with a crank from the side.

Once running, they could be reversed by opening the ignition switch, waiting for the rpm to drop to almost stopped, and then closing the ignition switch.
The engine would reverse direction, and by reversing the timing lever that direction could be sustained.
We got pretty good changing the rotation of the engines on the fly. Seldom needed to use the crank.

All the hardware, fuel system components, and spark plugs on the engines were available at any small town across the nation. And in most farmer's barns. The spark plugs were also for tractors!
And the spark-generating "buzz boxes' were interchangeable with Ford Model T cars, and others. They are still produced today to run a variety of old engines. I recently got a new buzz box for a 1910-ish marine single cylinder water-cooled engine I have.
My point: The old Fairmont Popper engines are still viable today.

Onan engines were a later improvement, and remain the better engine today. Because they are single direction only, transmissions are required for reversing.
Several of us preferred the old poppers, because they required more skill to operate.
Simply more fun for us. Like operating steam.
~RN

[b4autodark]

RN:
Thank you for such an informative response! I couldn't have learned that much from a book even if I could find a book on speeders. Nothing like "real life" experience. I like that you preferred the old poppers, and why. They must have been pretty reliable.

Thanks again for sharing , I've got a lot to learn about this interesting subject.

~b4

[NP317]

RN:
[snip]
Thanks again for sharing , I've got a lot to learn about this interesting subject.
~b4

You are welcome.
Information is useless unless passed on to others.
It was fun to dredge that up from the depths of my enjoyable experiences.
~RussN

[toddalin]

Ther are a couple families my my garden railroad group that have speeders. I think the group run from Fillmore to Santa Paula (CA) is fairly common.