John: You are a true pioneer and not given to moaning about the state of what is or isn't available. I'd love to meet you some time. As for pumping hand cars, the answer is "yes!"
About 25 years ago when, to quote Billy Joel, I wore a younger man's clothes, I was hanging out with a bunch of hand car and speeder enthusiasts. Most of their equipment was Fairmount speeders and trailers, but there was one hand car in the mix. It was hard and somewhat hazardous work. The pump handle doesn't freewheel like bicycle pedals do...it's directly connected to the axle. Once you get up a head of steam you have to be careful or it will start pumping you, or worse, crack you in the jaw and send you flying. Anyway that summer, a local rail fair on the Toronto waterfront advertised hand car races. We entered, figuring ourselves to be shoe-ins. It turned out all the other teams were weightlifters from the local gyms. One team pumped the car so hard, they threw it and themselves off the tracks, an incident that at least kept us from finishing dead last. We went home with our tails between our legs, but with our jaw bones intact. Those old railroaders were tough guys. Jim Martin 25 years old and hiding in a pensioner's body. ________________________________ I started with Cleveland Models paper and wood. Chopped up a gon or 2. Any of you ever pump an old hand car? John Armstrong
