Bartlesville (OK) Exsaminer-Enterprise, 7/5:
Here come the little ‘speeders’
Around a dozen hobbyists and railroad enthusiasts zipped through the City of Legends in unusual style last Saturday. The visitors, hailing from California, Nebraska, Missouri and the nearby area, traveled the local railroad tracks on a small train of vintage motor cars, better known as “speeders.”
The two- and four-seat vehicles — slightly bigger than a golf cart but not much more powerful than a riding lawnmower — were once used on railroads around the world by track inspectors and work crews.
Nearly 30 years ago, however, railroads phased out railcars in favor of pickup trucks fitted with dropdown steel wheels that allow them to run on railroad tracks. Much like antique automobiles, “speeders” have become collectors’ items, where hobbyists take the vehicles on excursions on rented tracks, weaving through some of the country’s most picturesque areas.
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