Doodlebug (railcar)
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Doodlebug or hoodlebug is a nickname in the United States for a type of self-propelled
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...
most commonly configured to carry both passengers and freight, often dedicated baggage, mail or express, as in a
combine Combine may refer to: Machinery * Combine harvester, or combine, a machine to harvest grain crops * Seed drill, or combine seeder, a machine to plant seeds Company structure * Corporate group, an industrial business group in Western democrac ...
. The term has been used interchangeably with jitney. The name is said to have derived from the insect-like appearance of the units, as well as the slow speeds at which they would doddle or "doodle" down the tracks. Early models were usually powered by a
gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...
engine, with either a mechanical drive train or a generator providing
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
to
traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric vehicle, electric or hydrogen vehicles, or electric multiple unit trains. Traction (engineering), Traction motors are used in electrically powe ...
s ("gas-electrics"). In later years, it was common for doodlebugs to be repowered with a diesel engine. Doodlebugs sometimes pulled an unpowered trailer car, but were more often used singly. They were popular with some railroads during the first part of the 20th century to provide passenger and mail service on lightly used
branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...
s at less expense than with a train consisting of a
locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...
and
coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
with larger crew. Several railroads, mostly small regional and local networks, provided their main passenger services through doodlebugs in a cost-cutting effort.


History

The development of gasoline engines led railroads to seek them as higher efficiency alternatives to steam power for low-volume branch line services at the start of the 20th century. The
McKeen railmotor The McKeen Railmotor was a 6-cylinder self-propelled railcar or railmotor. When McKeen Company of Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A., first unveiled the car in 1905, the McKeen was among the first engines with a distillate-fueled motor. Revisions to the M ...
was a line of self-propelled gasoline-powered railcars produced between 1905 and 1917. The engine on the units drove only one set of wheels, and the lack of power and traction, the unreliability of their transmissions, and an inability to reverse, were major limitations.
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
("GE") was the pioneer of gas-electric railcars: GE in February 1906 rebuilt a wood passenger coach into a gas-electric unit which was placed in trial service on the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. The
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway , commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to November 21, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated of road on of track, not includ ...
was an early adopter of this technology, placing an initial order for ten gas-electric units in 1910 and seven additional by 1913, giving it the distinction of having the largest fleet of gas-electric motor cars in the country. The petroleum-electric drive control system invented in 1914 by
Hermann Lemp Hermann Lemp born: Heinrich Joseph Hermann Lemp (August 8, 1862 – March 31, 1954) was a Swiss- American electrical engineer; he is credited as the inventor of the modern system of diesel electric traction co-ordination and control. Born ...
, an engineer with GE, became the technological foundation of self-propelled gasoline railcars in the 1920s. In 1923, the Electro-Motive Company began production of self-propelled
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...
s, subcontracting bodies to the St. Louis Car Company, prime movers to the Winton Engine Company, and electrical equipment to General Electric. The
Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
was subsequently added as a subcontractor for car bodies. Improvements to railcars were sought by the Pullman Company, who experimented with lightweight designs in partnership with the
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
in 1925. They then enlisted the services of pioneering all-metal aircraft designer
William Bushnell Stout William Bushnell Stout (March 16, 1880 – March 20, 1956) was a pioneering American inventor, engineer, developer and designer whose works in the automotive and aviation fields were groundbreaking. Known by the nickname "Bill", Stout designed an ...
in 1931 to adapt airplane fuselage design concepts to railcars. Also in 1931 the
Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense produ ...
entered into a partnership with the French tire company
Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...
to produce lightweight stainless steel Budd–Michelin railcars in the US. Those advances in lightweight railcar design were important steps in the development of the lightweight diesel-electric
streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor " bullet trains". Less commonly, the term i ...
s of the 1930s. Production of self-propelled railcars dropped with the onset of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. However, their low operating costs prompted the construction of the Galloping Goose railcars built by the
Rio Grande Southern Railroad The Rio Grande Southern Railroad (reporting mark RGS, also referred to as "The Southern") was a 3 ft gauge railways, 3 ft (914 mm) Narrow gauge railways, narrow-gauge railroad which ran in the southwestern region of the United States, US s ...
(RGS) from used
Buick Buick () is a division (business), division of the Automotive industry in the United States, American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobil ...
and
Pierce-Arrow The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive Luxury vehicle, luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manuf ...
automobiles with a custom-built cargo box or flatbed behind the body. The RGS built eight Geese in its own shops between 1931 and 1936, including one for the San Cristobal Railroad. The RGS did not use the Galloping Goose name until very late in its history, instead referring to the vehicles as ''motors'' and later as ''buses''. According to local folklore, the nickname was coined as a reference to their rocking gait or the goose-like tone of their horns, but rail historian Mallory Hope Ferrell notes that the term ''galloping goose'' had previously been used to refer to doodlebugs operating on other railroads, notably the
Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
, in the 1920s. Most of the RGS Geese have been preserved, with several in operating condition. Factory production of doodlebugs was revived in 1949 with introduction of the
Budd Rail Diesel Car The Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC), also known as the Budd car or Buddliner, is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars ...
. The variant name ''hoodlebug'' was largely limited to the mid-Atlantic states, particularly Pennsylvania. A former
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
bed converted into a hiking trail in
Indiana County, Pennsylvania Indiana County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the west central part of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,246. Its county seat is Indiana. Indiana County comprises the Indiana, PA Mi ...
, is named Hoodlebug Trail. The last remaining
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Railroad classes, Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight tra ...
(ATSF) gas-electric doodlebug, M.177, is on display at the City of Los Angeles "
Travel Town Museum Travel Town Museum is a railway museum dedicated on December 14, 1952, and located in the northwest corner of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California's Griffith Park. The history of railroad transportation in the western United States fr ...
" in
Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Amer ...
. Two other AT&SF doodlebugs, both converted to diesel-electric locomotion, survive: The M.160 is in the collection of the Museum of the American Railroad in
Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...
; the M.190 is on public display at Doodlebug Park in
Belen, New Mexico Belén (; ) is the second most populated city in Valencia County, New Mexico, the United States, after its county seat, Los Lunas. The population was 7,360 as of the 2020 Census. Belén is Spanish for Bethlehem. It gained the nickname "Hub Ci ...
, south of Albuquerque.


See also

* CPH railmotor *
Diesel Electric railmotor (VR) The Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM) is a type of railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways in Australia. History Originally built as a petrol-electric, petrol electric rail motor (PERM), they were the longest-lived rail motor on the ...
* Dracar *
Doodlebug disaster The Doodlebug disaster was a railway accident that occurred on July 31, 1940, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in the United States. A Pennsylvania Railroad, gasoline-powered " doodlebug" passenger rail car collided head-on with a freight train; the impa ...
* Edwards Rail Car Company * FM OP800 *
Interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...
*
McKeen Motor Car Company The McKeen Motor Car Company of Omaha, Nebraska, was a builder of internal combustion engine, internal combustion-engined railroad motor cars (railcars), constructing 152 between 1905 and 1917. Founded by William R. McKeen, William McKeen, the Un ...
* Steam dummy * SAL 2027


References

*


Further reading

* * * * *John B. McCall (December 1977). The Doodlebugs. Kachina Press.


External links


Doodlebugs
at american-rails.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doodlebug (Rail Car) Railcars of the United States