Rail conversions

I try to batch my photos by theme. I was asked for this Moke photo. I have modern hirail in the modern truck thread, but this photo is over 35 years old, and there are other early inspection and works vehicles which were conversions of road vehicles. The older ones were permanent conversions; the Moke conversion could be undone. The modern ones use lowering rail guide wheels, but the support wheels are the normal road ones, and the vehicles can be driven from site to site.

The Moke had a wheel spacing just right for 1067 mm gauge track, used in Qld, Tas. & WA, and was a popular conversion for gang/inspection work. In this photo, it is the fire-safety patrol vehicle during a week of running steam trains to mark the centenary of railways in Tasmania. The event was in mid February.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

710214Su, probably Conara Jn (Tas.). Moke on rails.

I saw several of these on my first Myanmar visit, when it was still fairly much a closed country; tourist visas were restricted to 7 days. Independent travel was allowed, but there were restrictions on territory (mainly for lack of infrastructure, not for political reasons). On my second visit a visa was either 14 days or a month, and there were fewer restrictions on travel (and less crowding). The track gauge is 1000 mm, so I guess that this is a permanent conversion, using railway wheels, and not truck wheels with guides.

What make would the truck be? I don't recall seeing anything UK or Soviet in that era. Equipment seemed to be mainly European and/or Chinese.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

870926Sa Toongou (Myanmar). Homebuilt railmotor, made from a truck. R Smith

Looks like either an early Hino or Isuzu .... Probably straight from Japan

...that early looking Hino appears to be a dedicated rail job going by the front guard and pintle hook....

...would it be a case of necessity being the mother of invention?....

Gees if I get the moke out wouldn't need a Myki card

Yes, it was necessity. I have now checked my second holiday, but am finding only half the photos. The posted photo seems to be the only one of the type which I have.
Thanks for the Ford V8 paybus offer: I do have some of my own, when it was displayed on the concourse of Sydney Central station as part of a display on the paybus era. A lot of early railmotors were based on automotive technology and components, but were genuine railway designs, not simply road vehicles on rails. In most states drivers were dual qualified: locos and railmotors. Victoria had a category for railmotor only, and recruited from the WWI servicemen who had gained vehicle experience as part of their service. The vehicles were often on lonely routes, and the driver had to be his own mechanic to overcome any problems which occurred enroute. Driving the Moke (but with a Moki card) reminds me of the first Phillip Island international motorbike grand prix. I was at Stony Point watching the passengers arrived by extra trains, and change to extra ferries. One car drove up, went down the boat ramp, and kept going: it was amphibious (but not a 1960s VW Beetle).
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Toongou (Myanmar), AFAIK somewhere between Rangoon (now Yingon) and Mandalay. A homebuilt railmotor with trailers, for local travel, converted from a Hino TH truck, made over 1950-68. Sat.26.9.87. (Roderick Smith)

I went via a Japanese group, and got a response which seems to be a winner:
...it's a Hino TH-series. Here's one in Myanmar
< upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/t...8569276764%29.jpg> ;

See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hino_TH-series

I don't have quantities or conversion era from the railway side, and probably won't get the information.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

I saw and went for a ride in this interesting rail conversion at the Pukemiro Bush Railway near Auckland last weekend. A White chassis, now fitted with a Holden 179 engine and a Toyota 5-speed gearbox. The steering wheel applies the brakes, which are wooden blocks working on the front 4 wheels. If you look carefully you can see AtkiPete climbing into the back in the front photo.


http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz350/vicandval/WHITE1_zps6bd492b8.jpg~original


http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz350/vicandval/WHITE2_zps1e05c4a0.jpg~original


http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz350/vicandval/WHITE3_zps1aba027d.jpg~original

Good one, VicHung,
Pukemiro is now on my list of "must sees" next time I go to Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud.
Morris.

Hi,








Sulphide Street Railway & Historical Museum,
Broken Hill

-b