Eastern Railroad Discussion > Sperry Detector Car

The Sperry Detecor Car inspects the CSX Willard Sub in North Baltimore, OH last night. It ran from Willard to Garrett last night and will continue west from Garrett tonight. 

thetrainsandplanes.com and youtube.com/user/sethamtrak 

Seth- 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/20 11:13 by sethamtrak.

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Nice image and a fine catch - thank you. I enjoy that section of the former B&O, and if I were not obliged to shelter-at-home, I'd probably head out to try to catch it, as well as other CSX traffic. My understanding is that the fleet of self-propelled railcars like this one is diminishing in the Sperry fleet, and that more hi-rail vehicles are being used instead. That makes catching it even more notable.

By the way, you may want to add an additional "o" to make it "doodlebug". Things might go slowly and "doddle" along (I do that sometimes too as I get older), but "doodlebug" has generally been more associated with such railcars for their sound. And according to some, the fact that like a bug of the same nickname they were able to move or operate in both directions without turning on a wye or turntable.

MC
Muskegon, Michigan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/20 08:42 by ironmtn.

Funny, my 61 year old eye-to-brain connection automatically pronounced it "doodle" bug, even with the missing "o". :-D

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

I don't see a Doodlebug, I see a Detector Car. SRS 131 was the first Sperry Rail Service car to have an electronic strip chart installed, basically touch screen computer monitors as opposed to traditional paper tapes. The system is very different now then it was in the 1990's though. Nice shot!

Jim

This is not a Doodlebug, the true Doodlebugs are long gone from the rails.

dtoeppen Wrote:
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> Anybody that says they don't like Doodlebugs is
> lying.
>
> How was this shot lit?



I have 4 flashes set up on the ground all linked to my trigger/shutter 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0142KIVY0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seth- 

ironmtn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice image and a fine catch - thank you. I enjoy
> that section of the former B&O, and if I were not
> obliged to shelter-at-home, I'd probably head out
> to try to catch it, as well as other CSX traffic.
> My understanding is that the fleet of
> self-propelled railcars like this one is
> diminishing in the Sperry fleet, and that more
> hi-rail vehicles are being used instead. That
> makes catching it even more notable.
>
> By the way, you may want to add an additional "o"
> to make it "doodlebug". Things might go slowly and
> "doddle" along (I do that sometimes too as I get
> older), but "doodlebug" has generally been more
> associated with such railcars for their sound. And
> according to some, the fact that like a bug of the
> same nickname they were able to move or operate in
> both directions without turning on a wye or
> turntable.
>
> MC
> Muskegon, Michigan

Living in Bowling Green (until may) I have a lot to choose from. "The Branch" traffic here is H719, Q131/Q132, Q630/Q631 and Q230/231 with the latest addition Q286. South of Galatea has Q246, Q146 and Q147. Also near Galatea is Mortimer where the Branch crosses the NS Fostoria District. I am a 20 minute drive from North Baltimore and the Willard sub "B&O", 15 mins from the Pemberville Sub, 10 mins from the Toledo Sub "C&O" and 25 mins from the NS Chicago Line. And of course 30 minutes from the busy Fostoria junction. I've got a bit to choose from!

Also my eyes looked right over that missing "o" as well. I missed it a number of times!

Seth- 

I've always wished someone would make a model of one of those cars that would fit on an RDC chassis...
Same for UP's test car.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

I'm surprised those are still in service.

Eng.Shadetree

MojaveBill Wrote:
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> I've always wished someone would make a model of
> one of those cars that would fit on an RDC
> chassis...
> Same for UP's test car.

An RDC would be incorrect. Walthers made an HO scale exact representation of what the detector cars were like in the 1990's, back in the late 1990's or 2000's. They had all the doors, windows, roof details, all the correct tanks and stuff underneath, they had specialized rear truck was correct with all the correct test equipment, they even put the box for the Reflectoscope on the rear, they forgot the diesel jug on the rear but those varried by car. You may still be able to find a Walthers Sperry car secondhand. 

I think I finally sold the last on I had.

Jim

Anyone know how many Sperry has left running?  

EL-SD45-3632 Wrote:
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> This is not a Doodlebug, the true Doodlebugs are long gone from the rails.

According to this reference, SRS 131 was originally built in 1925 for the Lehigh Valley as their 27.  For me, that's close enough to qualifying as a doodlebug

http://www.trainweb.org/elso/SRSROST1.HTM

Brian

choochdude, it used to be a Doodlebug a long long time ago. It's a Detector Car. It's been a detector car longer than it was a doodlebug. It has been rebuilt and reconfigured many times over for testing rail. In this picture it has even been rebuilt since I worked and lived on it over twenty years ago. I did not live on a doodlebug, I lived on a Detector Car. A doodlebug hauled passengers and mail on lighter routes, the Detector Car tests rails for internal cracks and fissures. 

Jim

 

Cool pic!!