Re: Hand-worked track trolleys

["B." <gunzel412@dingoblue.gunzel.net.au>]

Roderick Smith <rodsmith@werple.net.au> wrote in message
39D97FED.11AD3B0E@werple.net.au">news:39D97FED.11AD3B0E@werple.net.au...

> Extracted from posts to a South African newsgroup,
> responding to requests for nomenclature (for a local
> dictionary).  What names applied in Australia and New
> Zealand?
>
> What's a handcar in SAThis will go into the dictionary);
> English and Afrikaans please.
> Handcar is a light railway vehicle propelled by cranks or
> levers, used by workers inspecting the track It is marked
> as being the North American term for this vehicle.  It
> sounded foreign to me (handcar).  What would we would call
> it here?
>
> The agreement was: Gandy Dancer (USA) referred to the track
> workers, not to the trolley.
> Gandy Manufacturing company made tools for use on
> railroads, especially track tools.  The track gang men who
> used them were referred to as "Gandy Dancers" for obvious
> reasons.

> Pump Trolley / Pomptrollie were the correct terms as
> applied to railways in South Africa.

> "Ganger's Trolley" was a flat trolley without the pump
> handles but with a screw-brake device which gangers used in
> addition to the pump trolley.
> Tese flat trolleys were far more common than the pump
> trolley.  They were propelled by pushing them!

> I have ridden on a four-seat hand-propelled trolley of VR
> design: people sat on seats, in opposed pairs, and pushed
> the hand back & forth in front of them.

> Did we ever have designs in which people stood?

There was a design of a 4 wheel flat top trolley where a rod is
connected to the wheel similar to a steam loco, but this rod goes
up vertically, and is operated while standing on the flat top.
Refer pages 9 & 15 of "Railway to Walhalla - Pictorial History"
published by Walhalla Railway Museum, Erica.

There was also a design of 3 wheeled 'tricycle' trolley where you
sat on a seat and operated a hand pump as you described above, but
it appears only one person operated the pump.  I have seen this on
both 5'3" and 2'6".

--
B.

Email - gunzel412 at dingoblue dot net dot au
ICQ#  - 82329734
Phone - long, long, short, long.