Hi Rail Gear

SO I gotta ask, If I wanted to make my truck a high rail truck, how much would it cost?

Going to depend on what your vehicle is.. best if you contact a company that sells Hi Rail gear like this: http://www.mitchell-railgear.com/ and get a quote done.

It's going to be expensive though.. and if you get caught on rails that aren't yours to be on.. prepare for jail time

also dragging a ton of Hi-rail gear around on road, is not good for suspention, and fuel use

don't do it,having hi-rail gear is a PITA, weird offset needed as well as making it take two city blocks to do a u-turn

Really? I didn't think it would cost more than a thousand
Just one of those fantasies foamers have

40 years ago a Fairmont Railway Motors HiRail kit for a pickup cost about $1,500.

While your question may be innocent enough, It raises red flags among railroaders as to WHY someone would WANT to do such a thing. First is the expense. Next it smacks of the extreme "foamerism" that we sometimes discuss here. This is according to the way you put the question. Then there is the temptation to "test" this ability by operating the truck without lineup or track time authority, perhaps on tracks you think are not live. Spending this kind of money on a 'hobby" (?) is not worth it. This could get you KILLED. IF you are lucky, you'd end up in JAIL. This is NOT funny or "cool". It puts shivers up the spines of T & E employees who have had to deal with striking non-authorized persons on the rails. Even tho it is not their fault, nothing truly "fixes" hitting someone. I know! I"ve been aboard engines when it happened. It's terrible!!!! Are you doing it to "look" like you are a railroader? If so, you really need to step back and consider WHY you would spend so much if you weren't going to trespass.

In the days when we were converting from the M-19 Motor Cars to Hi-Rail trucks, we sold hundreds of Fairmont motor cars to the the public. I did hear of some people getting into some deep doo doo for operating these cars on live tracks.

If you are a contractor, I could understand this conversion. If not, simply don't do it. There's no reason to do this. Save your money and donate it to some railroad cause------like ME example!!!

GF

I saw the aftermath of some foamer testing out his homebuilt motorcar. Luckily it was the bulls that caught him and not a train. He had 4 wheel chair wheels with some sort of small gas motor powering this thing. I saw more railroad bulls there then I have seen in one place ever again, plus state and local police, and the FBI.

Gunsnclapton wrote:Really? I didn't think it would cost more than a thousand
Just one of those fantasies foamers have

Yep. Now you know and you can put away the fantasy and concentrate on something of actual use ... such as a live compressed air horn for your truck.

The only way I'd consider putting hi-rail on a non-railroad owned vehicle would be as a show vehicle that would exhibited at competitions and other get togethers, not actively driven for any other purpose. Can you imagine seeing a Corvette with hi-rail equipment at a show?

Otherwise the temptation to try it out "just once" may be overwhelming.

This is the equivilent of a post this year about someone who wanted to put railroad insignia on their car doors. I can see where THAT was going really quick!!!!!! Make people think he's a railroad man? Gain access to unauthorized places(?) Cruise thru yards and terminals unmolested(?) This is no different!!!!!

it never ceases to amaze me the extent to which "foamers" will go to 'impersonate" a railroader, the equipment they will buy, the money they will spend JUST to soothe this overwhelming desire to BE the creature! Then those very souls wonder why railroad people, including the companies themselves, regard them as "strange," wierd, or even dangerous. All railfans are NOT like that, but there's enough of them (the wierd ones) to cause the employees to laugh at them, treat them with rudeness, run them off the RoW, report their presence in odd places, and generally regard them with suspicion! Believe me, there were times when I would not even TELL someone I was a railroader in a group for fear of being "latched onto" by one of the extremists. I'm sorry, but if someone tells me he's wanting to make a HiRail out of his personal vehicle, I automatically smell danger; danger to ME, danger to the company(s), and danger to the person wanting to DO this because he has NO clue what he's doing no matter WHAT he has read in one of those "fan" magazines.

Instead of spending that money on "impersonating"(?) a railroad vehicle/person, I still think I'm a better cause to spend the money on! LOL!!!

GF

Gadfly wrote:While your question may be innocent enough, It raises red flags among railroaders as to WHY someone would WANT to do such a thing. First is the expense. Next it smacks of the extreme "foamerism" that we sometimes discuss here. This is according to the way you put the question. Then there is the temptation to "test" this ability by operating the truck without lineup or track time authority, perhaps on tracks you think are not live. Spending this kind of money on a 'hobby" (?) is not worth it. This could get you KILLED. IF you are lucky, you'd end up in JAIL. This is NOT funny or "cool". It puts shivers up the spines of T & E employees who have had to deal with striking non-authorized persons on the rails. Even tho it is not their fault, nothing truly "fixes" hitting someone. I know! I"ve been aboard engines when it happened. It's terrible!!!! Are you doing it to "look" like you are a railroader? If so, you really need to step back and consider WHY you would spend so much if you weren't going to trespass.

In the days when we were converting from the M-19 Motor Cars to Hi-Rail trucks, we sold hundreds of Fairmont motor cars to the the public. I did hear of some people getting into some deep doo doo for operating these cars on live tracks.

If you are a contractor, I could understand this conversion. If not, simply don't do it. There's no reason to do this. Save your money and donate it to some railroad cause------like ME example!!!

GF

When somebody told me that most people on this website were a bunch of guys waiting to jump down people's throats they weren't kidding. A question isn't a threat. I volunteer on a railroad so I'm familiar with safety and the few times Ive been there I've seen idiots on the tracks. I have an idea of what steps you have to go through to have the authority to travel on a section of track.

And who said I was going to do anything? I didn't post pictures of me doing it or ask any specific questions did I? And who said I was gonna spend a lot of money on something that im gonna use once or twice? I was only asking how much it would cost.

Time to close this one. If you want a quote, best bet to contact a company such as the one in the link above.

Charlie