I guess I was collecting these assorted photos for something else that never materialized. I know a certain photo of a Trackmobile never came out of hiding, so I've arranged them for something else.I was inspired to write something every time I saw one of these rigs. Each time it had a different slant because of the differences in each machine. I certainly wanted to see each of these things put through the paces of actually moving a car around. In the one Juniata shot, I guess I was satisfied in this pursuit, but that's the easiest one to find in operation.
I start with exhibit A from the Electric City Trolley Museum, next to Steamtown in Scranton, PA. I could dig up the real orgins of the rig (maybe another day) but I'd just love to see something this small doing it's thing in mill or along a small interurban yard. It appears to have unusual couplers which means it probably worked in a factory setting. Still, it might be fun to watch. I wonder how much it can pull! Electric motors can fool you.
Exhibit B is a simple winch style car puller alongside a grain mill in Sinking Springs, PA. For all of these I've see in Kansas, I never took a photo. This particular one has safety gear all over it. Most I've seen are a motor and a pulley hanging out in the open where you could trip over it. You can't even see the pulley behind all the safety gear on this one. I guess someone is concerned about the cable taking your head off if it snaps. I learned to respect cables driving a logging skidder. A cage or guard isn't a terrible idea.
Anyway, I've been by mills before and after these things have been used. I quite often knew that no locomotive was around to move the cars but the cars moved non-the-less. It was a couple of years before a friend working at a mill told me the secret. But, I have yet to see one in operation. Might be interesting. I guess some places use farm tractors equipped with winches of any size and shape too for the same idea.
Exhibit C was next to a plant in North Kansas City, MO. I think it is a rail car servicing plant, near National Starch. They had a small switcher but they also had this rig set up for moving cars around. Obviously it's a hi-rail MOW tractor of some kind that has been recycled to just moving cars. The couplers may or may not have been original equipment.
The newer CSX truck
below appears to be equipped like the previous rig. This particular one was parked next to Hancock tower (Hancock, WV - before it was taken down) and had a trailer behind it. Obviously this would be handy to have if you are moving a gondola of ties or something needed by the track gang. I'm especially curious about the hi-rail gear on this one. It looks heavier and more substantial for the express purpose of moving larger loads. Again, the male genes kick in and want to know how much it can pull. This might be fun to watch in operation. I've watched Burro cranes do what I suspect this does in an MOW gang. Cars on either side pushed and pulled into place by the truck. 
The last rig, as I mentioned before, is a full blown Trackmobile. This one is at the Juniata shop and is often visible to anyone who visits the turntable. According to a posting or two from people at the shop, it is used for moving stuff in the shop but especially the larger SD's that need to go on the turntable. Apparently there isn't room enough for a full switcher and an SD70MAC on the turntable. Go figure.
I became interested in these rigs decades ago when I was reading about "street trackage" in big cities and ports like Baltimore, Chicago and Philadelphia. Those railroads used less sophisticated predecessors of this machine in the early 20th Century. The tires allowed them to wander the streets like a truck while still being able to take cars into tight places. They were also cheaper than a full locomotive and didn't tear up the oftentimes ancient track structure too much. They could go where no modern locomotive could anymore.
Well, it's not much, but I wanted to play with those photos.
BC
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