Author Topic: 2 Foot Putt Putt  (Read 15024 times)

Hank Walther

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2 Foot Putt Putt
« on: December 05, 2011, 11:07:27 PM »
I got to run this in Florida last Winter.  Do any WW&F members or friends own or use a similar piece of equipment in Maine?

Fairmont 2 foot putt putt


It's powered by a 5HP 2 cycle gas/oil mix engine.


Very few of these were made, this one has actually been re-gauged from standard!


It was finally my turn to operate!


Steamer
« Last Edit: December 06, 2011, 02:05:17 AM by Hank Walther »

Pete "Cosmo" Barrington

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Re: 2 Foot Putt Putt
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2011, 01:08:09 AM »
I got to see one in use at MNGRR many years ago. In fact, our friend Roy Friendberg (no pun intended) was helping them tune it up some.
This would have to have been during the summer of 2001.

James Patten

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Re: 2 Foot Putt Putt
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2011, 07:09:43 AM »
What are the vertical pipes in the front of the Fairmont for?  Manual sanding?

Dave Crow

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Re: 2 Foot Putt Putt
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2011, 07:13:03 AM »
Poor man's pilot?  Something to knock rocks off the rails to prevent derailment, maybe?

Hank Walther

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Re: 2 Foot Putt Putt
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2011, 09:30:32 AM »
Good guess Dave.
  They are actually called "rail sweeps" and that is exactly what they are for for. Fairmont made mostly 2 types, the older round tube type like pictured above, and a newer flat rubber style as seen here on one of my own motorcars pictured below, operating at the Valley Railroad in Essex, CT.  I am a volunteer there with the Friends of the Valley Railroad.

Passing #97
« Last Edit: December 06, 2011, 09:33:01 AM by Hank Walther »

Wayne Laepple

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Re: 2 Foot Putt Putt
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2011, 09:37:55 AM »
Typically, the round rail sweeps were old air brake hoses with the fittings cut off. The newer ones, at least on the railroads where I worked, were usually made from strips cut from an old truck mudflap picked up along the highway somewhere! The sweeps could remove ballast stones and small sticks from the rail easily and could even brush aside an inch or so of fluffy snow.

Mike the Choochoo Nix

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Re: 2 Foot Putt Putt
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2011, 08:52:55 PM »
Hank, would you send me your email? I want to get in touch with the guys who built that one. I plan to build my own, but want to avoid any mistakes. I have two junk Fairmont M-9s for parts donors
Mike N.
Mike Nix

Hank Walther

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Re: 2 Foot Putt Putt
« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2011, 11:52:07 PM »
On our way home from the WW&F Victorian Christmas Saturday, we got to stop by the MNGRR and we were shown their 2 foot putt putt.  As you can see in these shots, that the factory design for 2 foot is different than what my friend Jay Boggs did down in Florida.  Fairmont decided that there was not enough room to fit the mechanics in-between the 2 foot gauge wheels so they raised the whole body frame up and over the wheels.  On the other hand Jay somehow was able to fit every thing in as seen in the photos above.  Fairmont's factory design gave you more leg room and carry space, but Jay's design actually looks more ergonomically correct for 2 foot track.  What do you guys think?





Hank