Founded in June 1859, the Chicago and NorthWestern (sometimes seen as Chicago and North Western) railway lasted until 1995, when it was bought out or merged with the Union Pacific. This undated Chicago and NorthWestern System Railway Handcar is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and they’re asking $15,000 or best offer. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Lothar… of the Hill People for the great tip!
Having purchased the assets of bankrupt Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac Railroad, Chicago and NorthWestern operated in the Midwest as its name suggests. Early handcars used a crank system that proved to be dangerous and even deadly, and by the late 1880s, they were all but retired in favor of pump-style handcars such as this example. As with Kleenex, Q-Tips, or any number of products known by a single manufacturer, a lot of handcars were referred to as Kalamazoo, Buda, or Sheffield; companies that made a lot of them in the era. George Sheffield is credited with inventing an early example known as a Velocipede, a three-wheel version for one or two people with two wheels on one side and a single wheel on the other.
Railroad handcars, sometimes known as a trolley or push-car, have been around since the 1860s as an easy way for two to four, or sometimes up to a dozen workers, to get down the line with tools for maintaining the track. I can’t imagine a dozen workers on one of these, but, good or bad, people were generally smaller and lighter a century ago, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. The “arm”, known as the walking beam, is the top piece that “seesaws” up and down with one person lifting up as the other person pushes down to make the car move by the use of gears.
There is usually a brake, seen here on the left between the left side wheels, operated by stepping on it. The brake pad or pads are usually made of wood and covered with leather for friction. I’m not sure how the seller came up with the $15,000 asking price for this example. A later engine-powered speeder can be had for a fraction of this price. We’ve seen a couple of them here on Barn Finds, such as these two. Then again, this handcar is a true antique and probably weighs between 600 and 800 pounds, so it’s much easier to transport to shows after it’s restored or at least in working order; the seller says this one needs minor repair. Are any of you fans of things like this Chicago and NorthWestern handcar?
Nice write-up up Scotty, very interesting topic! While I’m an old railroader from way back, hand cars do predate my years on the rails. BTW, that rail gang image you included looks like some of the esteemed cats that I used to work with at CSX!
Cheers!
JO
Thanks for the great comments, Jim and everyone! I didn’t know you were a railroad guy, Jim, that’s very cool! Ha, I hope handcars predate your RR days, you’d have to be older than I am, and that isn’t possible…
I second what Jim said Scotty. This is great!!! Did you see the foot brake on the side? That might be wooden blocks for brake shoes that press up to the steel wheels. And people have reservations on mechanical brakes on early Fords. . Thanks Scotty.
0-60? Does the a/c work, or does it “just need a charge”?
Personally, I’d put an Ellis on it.
Never raced
Interesting “vehicle”, and fun write-up Scotty. I guess, just about everything can be collectible. I’m sure there is a body of hobbyists who know the models and their details and their value. And where would one display it, at old equipment shows?
Personally Bob, i think you have a great idea about displaying it. Maybe a railroad museum if not at an old equipment show. Why do I now have the sound and image of a Hit and Miss engine???
This was a great write up Scotty, thank you, this is one of the many reasons I enjoy Barn Finds, you never know whats going to pop up.
I bet it would be quite a workout to move this down the track. I know several places in Colorado you could use this safely, but I think a rail bike would be more fun.
Love it.
A round of applause, folks,,,,,,,,I want to make clear what an asset the author is to the site, a hand driven rail car, unbelievable. When moving to Colorado, I became fascinated with the rail system they had in the mountains. Many pictures of the time( 1890s-1930) show hand carts like this as their only way back to any sort of town. Injuries were common, and deaths often covered up, as a river of immigrants were eager to replace them. Brakemen had the worst record for deaths. Early Hollywood had a field day with these, Laurel and Hardy ( who grandpa?) trying to outrun a locomotive. Seems a bit steep for a mere museum prop, but people are still fascinated with trains and should for quite a while. Great find.
I’d give you a thumbs up Howard, but unfortunately mine doesn’t seem to he working today. Please use one of Stan’s from above.
Here we go. Stan covered it for everyone today on the Cherokee pickup post.
That’s telling the staff, my “thumbs up” hasn’t worked in years.
Howard, if you bought this, you (and maybe some buddies) could head north from Salida over Tennessee Pass. Not sure how far you could get, I think there’s some boulders on the tracks around Red Cliff?
Hi Todd, are you a neighbor? Yeah, couple years back, they wanted to possibly reinstate that stretch from CanonCity to Minturn on the old Rio Grande line and over Tennessee Pass as most of the rails are still intact. It was shot down because fears of hazardous shipments killed that. Some say it may be opened as a sorely needed bike path, but Colorado, you know, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
FWIW, Howard, there’s a group (mostly likely several now) that have annual gatherings around the U.S. that they bring their own handcarts. Some are hand crank, but the bigger collections are powered by various vintage engines! Saw a gettogether in Dayton, NV one weekend last year at an old train depot in town with a sort stretch of track. A lot of fun and I’ll bet with all the abundance of outstanding steam train displays up there you’ll come across a group some time.
In the seventies, during my tenure with the Delaware and Hudson Railroad in Northern NY doing track work, we used a motorized handcar and sometimes towed a trailer behind it loaded with ties. Not neckties. Probably why my back is now mush.
You are way too kind, Howard – thanks much! Most of us here are railroad fans or fanatics, including Jim and Michelle, so I’m not alone. Our pal Lothar found this tip, so it wasn’t me, but it was fun to do some research on this.
Scotty……
Please see the above.
Tons of thumbs ups to you provided by Stan.
Hi Scotty
S0 nice to see this on Barn Finds. I enjoy seeing and reading about all the older things I never seen much off. I seen one of these the odd time when i was a kid. Looked like fun to me.
Thanks Scotty. Don’t ever quit the site
John
“Whew! That was a close one-almost lost us a five dollar hand cart!” Slim Pickens in Blazing Saddles. Nice artifact but too pricey.
Thought the same thing
That’s the first thing I thought when I saw this. Blazing Saddles, what a hoot!!!
That is seriously cool. Nice write-up, Scotty.
Count me in on that Railroad Fan list.
Oh, and just because….
Put an LS in it, or on it, actually.
I think that you mean Ellis…
Dumb.
Very interesting. We have an abandoned RR tract going thru our farm for about 3 miles. Always thought about building one to run up and down the tracks for fun. This one may work , but heavy and maybe to. hard to operate. Would be fun to take the grandkids up and down the tracks for fun. Nice to see this on BF.
Very cool. $8,500 now.
Bit pricey… and where does the piano go?
This would be fun in the Lower Hudson Valley. Abandon railroad lines put this on the tracks and go. See the sites the way it was back then. I saw a video some guys put a gas engine on it . Chain driven with air horns chairs American flag etc. That was cool looking. They had a small tree across the tracks. No problem took out the chain saw! They scared some folks going over the old train crossing. They blew the horn people driving came to a panic stop. They waved at the people stopped going by! 😂 what a fun project. 🐻🇺🇸
The price is way out of my range. I’ve always loved the old Cheap and Nothing Wasted line. I would likely loan this to a rail museum so they could play with it, since I don’t own a railroad.
Anyone else having a Blazing Saddles flashback ?
I think it’s cool the problem for me is the abandoned rail way near me still has 200+ rail cars sitting on it and they have been there so long trees are growing between the cars and even on some of the wood decking
I would expect to see the name “ACME” on it, propelled by a Coyote in pursuit of a road runner . . . .
The train from Chicago to Milwaukee was my standby when staying in town but needing to get to Kenosha or the stamping plant. My faulty memory is that at a stop in the Ravenswood neighborhood was only if passengers were there waiting, but trains aren’t exactly known for short stopping. When looking at the old area, all the buildings in my memory banks are gone. Chicago Northwestern was a great resource for trips to any of the cities along the shore of Lake Michigan from Chicago north.
Scotty, let me climb aboard the Love Train and thank you so very much for a very well written piece.
As usual, I learned a lot from your in-depth research.
You are way too kind, sir. Thanks much! Sometimes things click, and anything to do with railroads clicks for me. Duluth (MN, the hometown) had an interesting railroad history, and my best friend’s dad wrote three “bibles” on railroads, so I grew up with that stuff rattling around in my otherwise-empty skull.
Imagine, this is the most comments I have ever seen/read, and all to do with, not an automobile, but an old RR artifact.
Thats a very good point. But I have to admit, I enjoy all the different “vehicles” that have been geting posted on here. Whether its an old Schwinn, a boat an old Mercury outboard, model T, Bulldog Mack, GMC pickup, dirt bikes. British sports cars, a Cadillac collection. A custom painted Ford pickup heck, thats just one page.
Keep it coming!!! I enjoy the variety!!!
Listing update: this one says “out of stock”, which I’m assuming means that someone grabbed it. We don’t know the selling price, though.
LOL!
When something is listed as “out of stock”, all I can think of is “when will it be back in stock”.
Weird way to describe a unique listing like this.