Nostalgia & History > "Buda" prowls Cima Hill

This is Union Pacific hi-rail inspection bus B41, nick-named "Buda" on an inspection trip to check the new CTC equipment along the way between Las Vegas, Nev. and Daggett, Calif. on June 16 and 17, 1943. The CTC installation was the first on Union Pacific, designed to help move the heavy war-time traffic over the LA&SL. Notice the car has markers fore and aft and flags, making it a "train" under the general rules. Also you can see smoke from a distance steam train up the hill. (Union Pacific Museum Collection)

JB

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Copy19 Wrote:

> This is Union Pacific hi-rail inspection bus B41,
> nick-named "Buda" on an inspection trip to check
> the new CTC equipment along the way between Las
> Vegas, Nev. and Daggett, Calif. on June 16 and 17,
> 1944.

I think Buda was actually the manufacturer - Buda Engine Company of Harvey, IL. Santa Fe had several Buda cars like that one as well. I'm not finding much about Buda on-line except that it was bought by Allis Chalmers in 1953. I've read that Buda engines wound up in those funny high-hooded GE export centercabs of the WWII era. There was also a Buda Foundry & Manufacturing that made bumperposts and wheelstops among other things, also based in Harvey. I assume the firms were affiliated, but I'm finding even less about the foundry than the engine company.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> I think Buda was actually the manufacturer - Buda
> Engine Company of Harvey, IL. Santa Fe had
> several Buda cars like that one as well. I'm not
> finding much about Buda on-line except that it was
> bought by Allis Chalmers in 1953. I've read that
> Buda engines wound up in those funny high-hooded
> GE export centercabs of the WWII era. There was
> also a Buda Foundry & Manufacturing that made
> bumperposts and wheelstops among other things,
> also based in Harvey. I assume the firms were
> affiliated, but I'm finding even less about the
> foundry than the engine company.

Thanks, Evan, for the info. I'll add that my files on this machine. You never know what you'll learn on Trainorders!
JB

Would that be Elora Siding?

notarb Wrote:
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> Would that be Elora Siding?

I'm not sure, but the John Signor painting for the dust cover of his book, The Los Angeles and Salt Lake RR, shows a westbound passing a siding and hitting a bridge at what he said was Hayden.
JB

I corrected the date in my post. The CTC was installed and inspected in 1943, not 1944.
JB

Buda was a engine manufacturer that made engines for Allis Chalmers Construction Equipment. The HD5 loader and HD 19 and smaller bulldozers had Budas in them. upkpfan

Hello

It looks like hayden, Elora has more of curve to it.

Chirs

upkpfan Wrote:
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> Buda was a engine manufacturer that made engines
> for Allis Chalmers Construction Equipment. The HD5
> loader and HD 19 and smaller bulldozers had Budas
> in them. upkpfan

During the war years (40/45) there were a lot of heavy trucks that ran over the road powered by Buda's as well. Years before Cummins and Detroit Diesel were the engine of choice Buda and Hall-Scot made a name for themselves.

Butch,,,,,,smellin' da fumes

Another view of a UP Buda car at Denver in 1933, courtesy Otto Perry and the Denver Public Library:

http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?00019454

It's hard to tell the difference between Elora and Hayden since all the sidings on Cima Hill look pretty much the same, but I'm going towards Elora on this one. From the photo it's pretty clear that it's taken near the top of the hill, plus you can see a small peak behind the Buda that shows up in my attached photo.

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A bit more on Buda cars from McCall's The Doodlebugs. The book talks about Santa Fe's five Budas, which look a lot like UP B-4 in the Otto Perry photo. Santa Fe's cars were built in 1929 on Buda's No.619 chassis with a 110hp engine. Twelve passengers could be accomodated, and the cars were good for 45 mph forward and 25 mph in reverse, getting around 7.5 miles per gallon. Santa Fe's cars were equipped with electrically insulated wheels (steel wheels and tires separated by a rubber insert) but also copper contact shoes that slid on the rail to operate the signal system.

Aircraft tow-tractors, too, from Buda. In the Navy, they were still called "Budas'" into the 60's, though I'm really not sure who manufactured them.

Ed

Edwardjb Wrote:
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> Aircraft tow-tractors, too, from Buda. In the
> Navy, they were still called "Budas'" into the
> 60's, though I'm really not sure who manufactured
> them.
>
> Ed

We had fork lift trucks in the factory where I worked. One or two were made by Buda and the rest were other makes. It didn't mattter--they all were called "Budas."

Pepperidge