Mystery 'departmental vehicle'

[Halvarras]

Photographed at Knottingley depot on 15/4/79 - it must have been built for a purpose, if anyone could enlighten me what that was my 41 years of puzzlement would finally be at an end!

(Bachmann's possible follow-up to the Wickham trolley? They've already got the wheels......... )

 

[Steamport Southport]

It's a Motor Rail I think.

 

They mostly made narrow gauge locomotives, but also some standard.

 

 

 

jason

[Trog]

An early type of wacker packer (AKA jacker packer)? Ram with foot at back to lift the machine and track, and two feet on each side to push ballast under the raised sleeper. Used to rough lift track to level during relaying works, usually with a few men following behind it to pack the lifted track more firmly with shovels.  Once you had the track up to level and hand packed enough to be firm, you could then run a hopper train over the new track to unload enough stone for the tamper and regulator to get the track ready to open.

 

The yellow bars in the cess behind it would be part of the stillage and cross tracking bars used to put it on the track, the machine had a pad underneath it which could be lowered. Once the pad was down and the machine lifted off the rails/cross tracking bars it could be rotated and either lowered on to the rails when being put on track or the cross tracking bars to get it off track.

Edited May 23, 2020 by Trog
Saw stillage bars in photo.

[Halvarras]

Many thanks Trog for the clear explanation - now I finally know! I had noted the ram at the back but couldn't figure out the rest of it. I hadn't realised the yellow bars were part of the 'kit' so I'm pleased I didn't crop them out of the shot.