S. Berliner, III's Crittters Page keywords = rail road way critter model train
Updated: 23 Nov 2006, 21:20 ET
(Created 17 May 2004)
[Ref: This is critters.html (URL http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/critters.html )]

S. Berliner, III's

Critters Page

Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
"changing materials with high-intensity sound"
Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
Popularizer of Science and Technology
Rail, Auto, Air, Ordnance, and Model Enthusiast
Light-weight Linguist, Lay Minister, and Putative Philosopher

CRITTERS

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On this page:

Critters.
Steam Critters.
Internal Combustion Critters.

See also the Railroad page, et seq., and the Boxcabs page, et seq., and especially Rail-Auto Page, with "critters" you can model.

[I seem to have my Rail-Auto Page and this one fairly well scrambled; so what! Enjoy them both!] (22 Jan 05)

For weird prototypes to model, it's hard to beat Don Ross's "Critter" ( more photos) page, where you can find such gems as this one:

Palmer Sand & Gravel Co. - Don Ross photo

Take your tongue out of your cheek and visit D. Dickens' The Patiala State Monorail Tramway site; whooie (and it's for real)! Nothing, but NOTHING can top this actual prototype predecessor of such as the old NMRA "Burdick Nightmare" 0-2-0!

Critters

Let's define a "Critter" as a vehicle, usually self-propelled and usually on rails (but I can deviate from these strictures) which is incredibly unusual, often just plain weird, or perhaps "cute". Whatever, it is something that catches the eye and may pique the interest of a modeler.

The critter Don Ross shows (above) is a perfect example of both the "unusual" and "weird" categories.

Here's another:

(from Railroad Work Equipment and Special Service Cars, Robert J. Wayner, NY, ca. 1989)
[Thumbnail image - click on picture for larger image.]

It really isn't any oddity; it's just B&O Chicago Terminal Speeder #4, a perfectly ordinary track speeder with a box body on it.

Tiny little diesel switchers often fall into the "cute" category (in my eyes, at least); among those are this GE gem I spotted out at the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge RR in Felton, California, on 06 May 2004:

Critter fanciers had better hotfoot it over to Tom Yorke's site; he is the publisher of the "Light & Industrial Railway Quarterly", with back issues available on a CD.

(23 Nov 06)

Steam Critters

A great example of a steam critter is the one shown on my Boxcabs page 5, from Dick Bolt's collection, the Boston & Albany's "Berkshire":

She's probably an inspection engine; dig that boarding ladder fo'ard!

Internal Combustion Critters

It's hard to beat this IC one I show among(s)t other Odd Boxcabs on my Boxcabs page 5:

This unit hummed along at the Dinger Sugar Mill in Java; did that make it a "Humdinger"? I claim it is either a motor car with a box cab or a boxcab with a motor - I'm not sure which; it looks like a boxcab that slipped backwards on its chassis (maybe the traction motor blower blew too hard or the radiator fan blew backwards?)!

The little GE above is matched well by the hard-working mini-switcher cranking away at Williams Grove, PA, in place of the 1901 PRR B4a class 0-6-0 #643 which was down for major repairs when I had last visited on 01 Sep 2003 but up and running again on Labor Day weekend, 2006: (23 Nov 06)

As I recall, it's a Plymouth.

It's also hard to beat the Long Island Rail Road's Volkswagen Railbus(es?), even though they were brand-new when modified for Hi-Rail service:

Chrysler Corporation unwittingly supplied a lot of fodder for my various auto and rail pages, among(s)t which are this '46 Dodge critter from my Chrysler page 3, with a Pierce thrown in for good measure (I ran across the Dodge on an overcast, rainy day at the Mid-Continent Railroad Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (near Baraboo on 24 Aug 99):

It's sure a far cry from the Colorado Railroad Museum's Rio Grande Southern narrow-gauge
Rail Truck #6 (pictured at the CRM in 1986 by V. G. Aylward):

Image from George Elwood's Fallen Flag Railroad Photos
[Far from being a Chrysler, this gem was an old Pierce-Arrow 36 6-Cyl. car obtained 1/1934 and modified with a
Chevrolet 6-cyl. engine in 1952, and again with a 1957 Chevrolet 6-cyl. engine installed 6/1988
(I rode all around the museum grounds in one of these "Galloping Geese" ca. 1980).]

Then, there's this "thing" from my Chrysler page 5; I doubt a Chrysler can get more "crittery" than this U. S. Gypsum twin-Chrysler personnel carrier created for a 20-mile run from mine to plant. More than just a rail critter, this is a Chrysler critter, and Hemi powered, no less!

(from Railroad Work Equipment and Special Service Cars, Robert J. Wayner, NY, ca. 1989)
[Thumbnail image - click on picture for larger image.]

The end facing us, at least, is a '53. That crate must have FLOWN!

This belongs here, under Critters, and under " Odd Locomotives" (they don't get much odder):

(sent to me without provenance)

[BIG turntable girder, anyone?]

Many geared steam locos were converted when they reached the end of their useful life by removing the boiler and cylinders and hooking a gas or diesel engine to the drivetrain; this example, a converted Heisler, is a real doozie!

My many RR pages are full of such as these; browse away!

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S. Berliner, III

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