You know that whenever there’s a “II,” there had to have been a “I,” which there was. It was bigger and could be taken apart for transport, unlike this Rail Rod II. This 1970s Rail Rod II track maintenance cart can be found in our garage… I mean, here on Facebook Marketplace in Exeter, Pennsylvania, and the seller is asking $1,600. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Gary for the tip!
If this were a bit cheaper and not several states away, I’d grab it in a heartbeat. I don’t have a clue what I’d use it for, but it would be a fun restoration project. Being a huge railroad buff/fan, I can’t believe I haven’t heard of these before, or even seen one in all the Speeder car articles we’ve seen here on Barn Finds. It looks like a toy, but is made out of aluminum tubing, so it’s fairly light. Here’s a really nice Rail Rod I that sold on Facebook Marketplace a while ago in Vermont. You can see the difference between the two. The Rail Rod II is like a little sports car compared to the almost homemade look of the Rail Rod I. Here’s a single-seater Rail Rod I. There’s about a much information on the internet about the Rail Rod II as there is about a Steiner three-wheeled tractor!
I believe these were made for just transporting one or two people down the rails to a job site, rather than carrying equipment and a few people, like Speeder cars can do. One person can lift it up and turn it around to head back the other way, and you can see that it has rubber wheels for good traction. There is hardly any information on them at all, or the company that made this one: Rails Company out of Maplewood, New Jersey. Here’s the data tag. One comment on a railroad forum said the Rail Rod II doesn’t have any suspension at all, so the ride can be a bit scary, as in, you think you’ll bounce right off the tracks. We saw an unusual single-seater car a year ago here on Barn Finds, and it had the incorrect steel wheels, but with little rubber wheels like this, it would have been much better.
It almost looks like a hand-pump car that workers would manually move up and down to power the car, before engines were available. If any of you have any information, manuals, literature, etc., so we can know what the controls are or how they work, that’d be great. The operator would sit on the left side, and there is a twist-grip throttle on that side. There are a couple of videos on YouTube that show the Rail Rod I, and they’re much bigger. You may have heard of a somewhat obscure half-hour 1965 movie with Buster Keaton: The Railrodder. It can be seen here on YouTube. It’s a fun little movie, and a lot of us dream about riding the rails like that. Here’s a Rail Rod II that sold on WorthPoint, and this may be about the most information I could find about them. The seller of this one does include a little video of it running, so please check it out.
The engine is a Briggs & Stratton 3-hp single, which apparently was what the original engine would have been. This appears to be a replacement, and the seller says it starts but needs carb work. I’ve rebuilt a ton of those carbs, as have most of you; that shouldn’t be a problem. They say this thing was used in a manufacturing plant yard. This contraption is around five feet wide and five feet long, and I would love to have this. For what reason, I don’t have a clue, but I still want it. Have any of you heard of a Rail Rod II? If so, do you have any info on these things?
This is really neat. And I like how its designed to be light enough to pick it up and spin it around. ( I guess we could call it trip I and then trip II lol). I would not go very fast on this thing. Maplewood NJ is not far from Newark, and Union. I’m kind of surprised there was a manufacturer there for these things. But, there you go. A tip of the hat to Gary for the great find and to SG for writing this up. I never knew these little Railroad carts existed.
I also was unaware of these. That single-seater Rail Rod I, looks like the love child of an aquarium and a mini-bike.
Tracking straight and true, SG. Cool feature as always.
“A lot of curves, you bet, even more when you get, to the junction,,,( in a suggestive female voice) “Petticoat Junction”, that show always raised some eyebrows, and who was “Uncle Joe” (Edgar Buchanan) anyways?
Ahem, anyways, sorry, I don’t think it’s a 3hp.,( number hidden by wires) I think it’s a more modern 8hp, and the seller doesn’t know either. I don’t think Briggs made a black 3 hp and would be a bit underpowered here. I just happen to have an abandoned rail track almost in my backyard. The abandoned Denver&Rio Grande, Tennessee Pass Line that ran from Pueblo to Glenwood Springs, or 222 miles, was abandoned in the late 90s. There was talk of reopening the line as a tourist trap( a continuation of the “Royal Gorge Line” but “NIMBYs” and possibility of hazardous shipments, put the kabosh on that. I could really use this, as most of the rails are intact, but some over growth would stop this thing cold. Been a while. I wonder how this would work with rubber tires? Steering I suppose,,,cool find, Hooterville here we come!
Is a LS swap possible?