Puffing Billy hy--rail

[Wayne Laepple]

Back in the old days, the puffing Billy Railway in Australia used motorcars, which they call trolleys, to patrol their railway. Then they used a couple of Ford Ranger pickups. Now they use John Deere Gators.

[Steve Smith]

Wayne, I'm guessing that there's also a pair of flanged wheels behind the John Deere that the fat tires block from this view. The tipoff is the short lengths of what appear to be hydraulic lines peeking out beyond the tire.

[Bill Baskerville]

Note the dog on the right side of the gator.

The rear wheels seem to be firmly on the rails.  Perhaps the rear of such a short coupled car just tracks behind the front wheels.

The hoses that are about half way up the car appear to be fire water hoses.

Don't we want ROMO manufacturing to make the gator adapter for us?

[Carl G. Soderstrom]

If the tires are soft they will stay on the rail just fine.

As long as they are gauged approximately correct

[Mike Fox]

The shadow on the rail says there is one set of rail wheels behind the gator as well. They just guide, as propulsion is provided by the rubber wheels.

[Graham Buxton]

One of the other views from here: https://plus.google.com/+PaulPavlinovich/posts/CyDYTndzUeJ
... shows the rear hy-rail gear.

[Bob Holmes]

Well, that was easy.  Lifting mechanisms on both ends.  Very clever, and probably pretty inexpensive.

[Bill Baskerville]

A new Gator itself is over $14k.  I am sure a used one can be had for a more attractive price.

[Wayne Laepple]

My friend who took the original photo described how this all works. The rear guide wheels are fixed in place, so that when the front guide wheels are lowered and the vehicle tilts toward the rear, the rear wheels are on the track to guide the rear of the machine. They do not carry any of the real weight, which is thus borne by the tires. As seen in the photo, the front tires are well above the rail when the front hy-rail wheels are lowered.