Railroad question
-
I know many of you are railroad fanatics. I am hoping you can help identify what I am seeing. This is a screenshot from the preview of the 1997 movie Switchback with Dennis Quaid, Danny Glover and R. Lee Ermey.
Towards the climax there is a fight on the train and this "Wing" or "Counterbalance" has been extended from the rail car. I want to know what it is and what it is used for, other than a Hollywood scene maker.
-
My guess would be, the precursor to a Hiab.
Looks like a lifting rig to hoist things up from the track level and swing them to the carriage door. The image may be foreshortening the view making the door seem too close. -
The octagon shapes are inside a horizontal member extended 90 deg. from the rail car. It is being held up by the lifting rig or wench of sorts. Seconds later it slams into the mountainside as the train enters the tunnel. A few seconds earlier it slammed thru a small building on the side of the tracks.
-
I did a little more digging today and according to this blog:
http://historyhunts-blog.blogspot.com/2012/05/heaters-serial-killers-mountain-passes.html
they are snow drift busting "wings" however I can't find any official reference or images to the like.My question then if they are for clearing snow, why are they on the caboose? Would this be to clear any residual piling up from the plow at the front? Also would not a separate plow engine have gone before any other freight trains to clear the way? Surely they would not put cargo at risk?
Hollywood exaggeration I am sure but did they ever or do they still use these things?
Curiosity has me.Here are a couple more shots of it from the movie (from his blog).
-
I like the mysteries explored here. It may be a car that is usually pushed by the engine for plowing. That way a special engine is not needed. For the movie it's being pulled along. The front of car looks like it could be a plow. There are examples online minus the side arm. The arm could be a local adaptation, e.g. in the Sierra Nevada where there's really deep snow to knock more snow downhill.
And maybe this is realistic. If they are running snowplow cabooses back and forth all winter, maybe it is sometimes stuck on the back of freight trains for relocation, in reserve, or to serve as a regular caboose.Someone in the movie industry saw it and wondered what if that hits something? Oh I could use that! And the popularity of train stunts is older than the movies.
I looked at Google images and found this variation in a picture.
-
You are right, it looks like it could be rigged with a plow on the front and be pushed.
Your image looks like a Jordan Spreader.
http://www.alaskarails.org/fp/Jordan-spreader.htmlIn fact I think this is the same one.
-
When I looked at your original post I didn't even notice the the blade thing, i only thought you were asking about the arm.
-
Yeah, it is kind of a bad picture, sorry. Screenshot from a movie trailer.
Advertisement