Railroad Putt Putt Car ??????????????

[gmccool]

I and my wife were talking about Railroad Putt Putt cars & I was telling her that the Foreman always sat in a certain seat and that the laborers sat in the other seats but never in the foremans seat but I can not remember which seat the foreman always claimed as his. I tried googling it but I must have been asking google the wrong question and didn't get the answer I was looking for. Are there any Railroad buffs out there that could answer my question? Thanks Gerald

 

[Janicholson]

I don't know any lore about position, but I do know that the driver was likely the boss. If you look at the search I did, for Fairmont rail repair cars, the driving position was not at all uniform from model to model. Jim
speeders

 

[db4600]

Which position carried the pint?

 

[Robin Hood]

Google narcoa. They might be able to help you.

 

[phil25]

When we were able to sneak a ride with dad on the putt putt's,
he sat left side {all of it}normally, crew right side with one of us on the front left,
and one on top side of the engine housing, the BEST position......

 

[blueridge]

My Dad worked on Railroad and rode many a miles on one as a track inspector and he always called them a Motor Car. When he worked on Section Gang, the crew and Boss were on one and got there signals crossed and had to bail off and train smashed the Motor car, they all lost their Dinner Buckets that day, He said his was smashed flat. Gene

 

[Old weldor]

My first summer out of high school, I worked on the tie gang for the Milwaukee Road. As I recall the foreman always drove the motorcar. And he sat on the right rear! I could be wrong it was 56 years ago!

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 08:13:34 06/07/23) My Dad worked on Railroad and rode many a miles on one as a track inspector and he always called them a Motor Car. When he worked on Section Gang, the crew and Boss were on one and got there signals crossed and had to bail off and train smashed the Motor car, they all lost their Dinner Buckets that day, He said his was smashed flat. Gene

ur house was about 150 feet from tracks & us kids all ways called them by the sound they made...tootin cars.

 

[tomturkey]

I grew up near the tracks also. We also called them putt putt cars. Never was close enough to see the seating arrangement. I remember them coming on one in the late fall/ winter to put those wick burners under the rails at the switches. gobble

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

I've not read where there was any position given to the foreman in terms of seating arrangements on track speeders, though I'd wager the peons are going to sit where they don't get a wrench to the head.

Mike

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

What division did you work?

Mike

 

[WilBury]

Usually, wherever he could operate the brake lever best! Throttle, spark advance (forward & reverse on the old one-bangers!), and the brake lever. Even the old ones with only one seat could be set up for either side.

 

[Tramway Guy]

Here is a Buster Keaton movie starring him and a putt-putt car..
The Railrodder

 

[tom upton]

Cant answer your question but we used to have rail line run thru the center of the home place. I think what you call putt putt cars we called jiggers? Anyone else call them jiggers or was that just my Dads name for them?

 

[Alvin 41]

Hilarious!!

 

[IaLeo]

I thought they had to lift those putt putts off the track when they got to where they worked. Some of those enclosed cars look to heavy for that. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul RR here in north east Iowa were using open, no cab or windshield (not sure) and carried at the most, three persons. I loved to time my tractor rounds so I could be by the RR fence when they were coming.

 

[showcrop]

I asked my friend who is out riding his every weekend. He said that there is no standard. It is up to the foreman who drives, and usually anyone could sit where they please.

 

[PJH]

I can't answer your question, but it reminded me of a story that my railroader friend told me. He and a couple of other section hands were sent from Murphysboro, Illinois north to Ava, Illinois with a little putt car and attached trailer. They were instructed to clean a bunch of sickle mower knives out of an old storage building at Ava. There were also a couple of barrels nearly full of assorted mower parts. The trailer was loaded and the mower knives were piled high and they set out for Murphysboro on the GM&O. A couple of miles south of Ava there was a right curve with visibility blocked by the Bum's Hotel bluff. The curve is sharp enough that there was a track oiler to oil the wheel flanges, and the whole area was a nasty oily mess. Jim was clipping right along as he entered the curve, with his two helpers dozing against one of the barrels. Unbeknownst to Jim and his crew, the station at Murphysboro had taken delivery of a brand new putt car, speedy with modern features. The bosses wanted to try out the new car and were northbound at high speed entering the other end of the Bum's Hotel curve. When they got sight of each other, both cars slammed the brakes, but Jim said that it seemed to make them go faster. Everyone jumped from both cars and had only minor injuries, but Jim said that some of those mower knives went through the windshields of both cars. Lots of damage - lots of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Long story, but it brings back good memories of an old friend, now deceased.