After years of dreaming to own my own "Speeder", or rail inspection car, I finally realized that dream and purchased a Woodings CBI railcar from a fellow enthusiast in Indiana. After a long tow back to New Jersey, Canadian Pacific #3700-41 sits in front of my garage an hour after arrival to its new home. (11/24/2021)
Woodings manufactured two models of its rail inspection car, a two person model, the CBI, and a four+ person model, the CBL. Woodings also manufactured at least one other car which was larger and used for transporting track gangs. The two person CBI model fits my requirements perfectly. (11/24/2021)
This railcar has forward and rear headlights and taillights, per NARCOA rules. The car has a radio and intercom set, roof strobe, factory horn and an air horn, an electric turntable, The trailer is custom built for the car. The trailer and car feature all-LED lighting. (11/24/2021)
Getting the car home was one thing - where to store it was another matter. It wasn't until I got the car to my house I was able to take measurements of the car and my garage to see if it was going to fit or be a permanent fixture in the driveway. The car just fits! (11/24/2021)
A look inside on the driver side shows the control panel on the tunnel (center). The large red lever is for the brakes. The wood panel under the dash is the glove box. Cup holder on the left with a dome light, rear view mirror and cab fan on the dash. (11/25/2021)
Located between the seats is an intercom system and vhf 2-way radio tuned to NARCOA frequencies used during excursions. It gets a bit noisy when the car is running on the rails, thus the need for the intercom and headphones. (11/25/2021)
The power plant for my speeder is located behind the black front door. Shown above is the Tecumseh model OH180, horizontal crankshaft, cast iron, air cooled four cycle engine. The front belt drives an alternator. The air cleaner is inside the red cover (center). The two red round items on each side are the original electric horns. (11/26/2021)
The time arrived to unload the speeder off its trailer. This trailer was custom built for this motor car and features an electric winch for loading and unloading. The trailer also tilts back as the car is unloaded. The black box on the hitch arm holds the 12v battery for the winch. I connected the trailer to my vehicle before starting the unloading. (11/26/2021)
With the winch control wand connected and the rear ramps in place, the car was lowered to the driveway nice and smooth. A really simple design but most effective. After further measurements, the car clears the garage opening by an inch. (11/26/2021)
With family over for the holiday, I had a lot of muscle to position the car in front of the garage before we easily pushed the Woodings into its new home. Now that it is inside and out of the weather, I'll be heading back to the basement for more work on the layout. (11/26/2021)
Here is the railcar tucked away in the garage in front of my work bench and keeping company with porch furniture and bicycles. I'm still trying to balance this new hobby with my current ones, including the layout. (12/7/2021)
I finally had time to empty the garage and move the trailer inside. Everything went back with no less room than before. I ran up the motor car for ten minutes while checking systems and filling the garage with exhaust! The air horn sounds awesome! (12/7/2021)
The control panel for the Woodings is pretty simple. The brake is on the left followed by the throttle lever. The lever on the right is connected to the transmission - reverse, neutral, forward. Various knobs run the lights, electric horn, beacon. The red switch center is the engine cutoff in case of emergencies. (1/2/2022)
Here is a view down the center of the car showing the custom-built turntable which is used to lift the car so it can be spun around to change direction on an excursion. Fredricksburg Shops built and installed this electrically operated system for a prior owner of the car. My fortune! (1/2/2022)
Here is the dash. I pulled the single fan/defroster, which was common in these cars, and replaced it with a dual fan unit for operator and passenger comfort. A GPS unit is to the left of the fans. My shop is in the background. (1/2/2022)
This neat custom-made CPR emblem is on the front motor hatch. The Canadian Pacific was known as the Beaver Line and my Woodings has been known as "The Beave" for at least the past 10 years by its previous owners. (1/2/2022)
When I garaged my railcar last November it was facing forward. Well, that was not good having the exhaust facing my workbench! Using the car's turntable, I swung the vehicle 180 degrees (above). Now I can roll it to the door for running tests and work. (1/13/2022)
Here is an undated photo of my car on an excursion by a previous owner. I was lucky to obtain maintenance logs on the car from previous owners and have been able to track down who they were via the Internet. (1/13/2022)
Vic and Paula Booth of Mattie, Pennsylvania pose in front of my rail car on their property in 2019. The Booths purchased the car in 2018 and towed it from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, where they enjoyed nearly two years of running on the rails before selling it to the next owner in Michigan. (1/23/2022)
The "Beave" on an excursion along with a consist of various motor cars from a few manufacturers of these vehicles. The major player in the United States in motor car production was Fairmont Motorcars located in Fairmont, Minnesota. Woodings Motorcar (my car) was the big player in Canada. (1/23/2022)
Nice weather and a bit of free time brought me out to the garage. I was able to get the flashing LED brake light installed on the rear of the motor car. This light is very bright and will get the attention of whomever is running behind me. (2/13/2022)
Safety vests and wheel calipers/gauges await the spring. Also awaiting work is a bit of re-wiring of the car. Too many wires running in all directions and too much electrical tape under the tunnel covers for me to let go. (2/13/2022)
My Woodings CBI came out of hibernation last month and will sit on 2x4 rails in the driveway during the summer. Finding time to work on this car has been as hard as finding time for work on the layout. (7/10/2022)
The cramped conditions in the garage were not friendly for the work this car needs, so the wide-open outdoors is perfect. Even though the car is operational, it needs the turntable wiring totally re-done with new safety features. (7/10/22)
After removing the two seats and tunnel covers, I've been digging into fixing/replacing various deficiencies, mostly with wiring. (7/10/22)
I also re-mounted the communications apparatus on the back wall from the tunnel cover to create more room in the cab. (7/10/22)