Vintage track vehicles

I always enjoy the subject mater in these photos. Not just the vehicles, but the signs and advertisements, the architecture and the general ascetics of the time.

 

I particularly take pleasure at viewing Symmetrical Correctness designed into earlier buildings and vehicles

 

1953

 

Hollywood Boulevard

 

Ah, the Red Cars.

 

Hmmm. Usually, a railroad or a government/military agency will mark who they are on a railroad vehicle's doors. But this one is definitely civilian, but no railroad markings.

 

That's definitely cool! I like it.

 

Yeah, definitely a Hy-Rail vehicle, as you can see the wheelset hydraulic controls on the front bumper.

 

Not something you are likely to see again.


Courtesy of The Old Motor

 

The Ford Motor Company at one point owned a railroad used for shipping parts and supplies to the River Rouge and a locomotive repair and construction building at the plant. This Ford switching locomotive (above) was used on a large network of miles of track in and next to the Factory Complex for moving freight and supplies around and in and out of the property.
Courtesy of The Old Motor

 

Ford did that particular switcher as a demonstrator, at a time when railroads wee still firmly entrenched and saddled up with steam locos. It wasn't until WW II that the railroads not only saw the liability of steam engines, but the reliability, the cost savings, and the greatly expanded availability time of diesel-electric locomotives. Ford's switcher was ahead of it's time, but by the time railroads began replacing steam with diesel-electric, Ford had already shut down the locomotive production.

 

Speaking of Ford: