Prototype News

A Triple Crown RoadRailer has been preserved and put on display thanks to the Southern Michigan Railroad Society. 

The RoadRailer was created in the mid-20th century but took off in the 1980s. It allowed a trailer to be moved on the highway and railroad without being put on a flatcar, thanks to a wheelset that was placed between each trailer. Conrail and Norfolk Southern were among the largest users of the RoadRailer concept, but it eventually fell out of style. NS last used RoadRailer trains in 2024.

The RoadRailer at Southern Michigan in Clinton, Mich., includes the RoadRailer trailer, bogie, and CouplerMate. The group hopes to eventually put a display inside the trailer with artifacts and information about these innovative cars. 

The  Southern Michigan Railroad Society was formed in the 1980s to preserve and operate excursions on the state’s oldest branch line between Tecumseh and Clinton.

—Justin Franz

The post RoadRailer Put on Display in Michigan appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

The Illinois Railway Museum has restored perhaps the oldest bicentennial diesel locomotive in existence. Ingersoll-Rand 91 was the eighth production diesel locomotive ever built and was constructed in 1926 by a consortium of American Locomotive Company, General Electric and Ingersoll-Rand. The 300-horsepower diesel engine was perfect for low-speed switching and was sold to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western as its 3001. 

The boxy locomotive worked at the DL&W’s Brooklyn rail yard for a quarter century before being sold back to Ingersoll-Rand, which used it as a shop switcher in Phillipsburg, N.J., from 1951 until 1984. It was then donated to IRM. During its time at Ingersoll-Rand, the locomotive was painted in a special red, white and blue livery to celebrate the nation’s 200th birthday. 

As the only locomotive at IRM to have been given a special patriotic livery for the bicentennial, I-R 91 was selected by Diesel Department volunteers for cosmetic restoration during the nation’s semiquincentennial year. The locomotive is complete and largely in good condition. Restoration work in recent years has included rebuilding the trucks and replacing air tanks and piping, but significant funding is still necessary to rebuild the locomotive’s electric traction motors. The museum intends to eventually restore the locomotive to operation, which would make it the oldest operational diesel-electric locomotive in the country.

—Justin Franz 

The post Oldest Diesel at IRM Gets New Paint appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.