Posted: 4/18/07
Motorcars, alive and well in the 21st century
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A woman pushes a motorcar on the track in Rush City April 14. Riding motorcars is a hobby people across the country enjoy. |
By Steve Morris
The blue sky and brisk temperatures made for an ideal setting for the Brotherhood of Rail Car Operators to ride their once prolific cars down the St. Croix Valley Railroad tracks.
The group, which is made up of people from around the region whose hobby is riding motorcars, met Saturday and Sunday in Rush City to ride to Hinckley and back. After safety checks and permissions slips were signed, the group of about 15 headed north for Hinckley. Riding at about 20 mph the group putted along the tracks, enjoying the scenery along the way.
WHAT ARE MOTORCARS?
Motorcars, or Speeders as they are sometimes called, were vehicles railroad workers used to inspect the many miles of railroad tracks for defects. Typically, the motorcar would carry two people. Larger versions could carry around six people and pull trailers loaded with spikes and tools for track maintenance.
In the 1970s, motorcars were made obsolete because of the invention of Hy-Rail vehicles, which made it possible for pick-ups to easily travel on both rail and road.
To the outsider, motorcars may seem similar to riding on a trail with a snowmobile, minus the snow and speed. Today motorcars serve as a recreational hobby for people all over the country. They weren't always a hobby; more than 40 years ago they served a much more practical purpose.
Even though motorcars have been replaced with technology, they still live on today. For years, motorcar enthusiasts would sneak onto railroad tracks for thrill rides, often with an unhappy ending. In the 1990s, motorcar junkies started to conduct legal, insured rail excursions with the support of railroad companies. Today, people can take trips that last anywhere from a couple of hours to weeks.
Peter Wenk, on the Web site www.railspeeders.com, writes about the hobby of motorcars.
"You're going to get wet, and you're going to get cold. You're going to sweat in the summer heat, you'll have to lift and pull, and you might have to drive hundreds of miles to get to the set on point," he said. "But you're going to see things that other folks will never see."
It is illegal for anyone to jump on a railroad track with a motorcar because it would be considered trespassing. On top of that, people involved in the hobby need insurance to go on excursions. It took the Brotherhood of Rail Car Operators three months of planning before they could ride on the St. Croix Valley railroad tracks.
Tavis Anderson, a conductor/engineer at the St. Croix Valley Railroad in Rush City, led the excursion for the railroad company Saturday. Anderson, who is also an honorary member of the Brotherhood of Rail Car Operators, said this was the second time the Brotherhood of Rail Car Operators was permitted to ride on the rail. The railroad charged each member $20, however, each railroad may charge a different fee.
"They proved they could handle it and our company invited them back again," Anderson said.
Some people take great pride in their motorcars. Roger Sandhoff, of Lakeville, participated in the excursion Saturday. He owns a Fairmont Motorcar that was built in 1965. His Motorcar has a one- cylinder, two-cycle engine. Inside Sandhoff's motorcar a custom-mounted digital camera is on the dashboard.
Anderson said Motorcars can cost as much as $100,000 new.
"It's the only vehicle you don't have to steer," Sandhoff said.
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