I spotted this from an Amtrak train outside Chicago Union Station. I think this is visible from the Roosevelt Road overpass. This is a hi-rail equipped school bus with wierd roof panels, and what really sets it off is the rack-mounted porta-john on the back bumper. It's all behind a cyclone fence with some other wierd stuff like air compressors mounted on TTX flats. It belongs to some kind of railroad contracting outfit there in Chicago, but it rather defies description on just what it is..... weed spray? Crew cab with a view? Amtrak school bus?? So all you guys, I work in the industry and I STILL can't identify it!!! Anybody???? What ever it is, it sure would be fun to mutilate a school bus for a model.....
Man that's one crazy rig! - Something out of "Monster Garage" Check out this photo: Rail Pictures Must be fun a fun ride! Here's another one I found: Alaska Railroad Photographs -Mike [ 08. July 2004, 09:03: Message edited by: SLSF Freak ]
Yeah, that's it. Now that we have two confirmed sightings..... but what the heck is it? I'm studying those top panels, they look like drop-down walking platforms for workers. Huh. Overhead wire maintenance? Tunnel repairs? If you study that overhead shot, it looks like the "wings" fold out and make a complete working platform on top of the bus, and the 'rails' on the side are diagonal supports on deployment. It would be wide enough to span almost over to a parallel track. Never seen anything like that. Love to see a shot with the platforms out - it would look like a huge yellow bird ready to launch off an aircraft carrier! There was more than the bus; a whole 'train' of wierd maintenance stuff. But that bus is what got me laughing with the porta-john on the backside. If you've been a model railroader back in the '70's, the NMRA Bulletin had this strange fascination with 'biffy' cars for a while - this is the living, breathing one. [ 08. July 2004, 16:19: Message edited by: randgust ]
Now that is one cool school bus! Some googleing on 'Walsh Construction' home page They list CTA 'El' work, but that's not the same as Metra or Amtrak. It's hard to tell what they have it for other than its a easy transportation fot a crew. You name it an they seem to have built it. Add to that they list tons of projects in the Chicgo area.
Speaking of buses, here is one from the D&H that was taken by Dave T. Klutchko back on July 1983 in Taylor, PA used as a MOW.
"Amtrak officials, looking for more efficient ways to serve short routes, have been testing the latest in self-propelled rail vehicles from REI, Inc (RedNeck Industries). The first prototype, nicknamed the Yeller Peril, was spotted undergoing loadup trials."
Maybe it's some sort of light-rail commuter that they drag out when NASCAR comes to the Chicagoland raceway to carry fans to the track. I'm sure it would be a sellout... Seriously, though, the outer framework doesn't look articulated. It looks like the sort of framework used to carry large, flat panels. Like a glass truck.
