car on tracks?

Question

if i put some train wheels on my car and went down the tracks, would the railroad company detect me on there rails or what. I wanna do this and then follow a freight train for a couple hundred miles. I would put them on my car like the maintence trucks do.... where they come down and go back up.

Answer 1

lmfao! There are easier and less suicidal ways to get your fifteen minutes of fame, cupcake!

News at Eleven!

Answer 2

You are talking about a do it your self Hi-Rail.
If you did this, you'd be detected right away. If you were in dark territory and not signed into the block, or with even a radio on the right channel frequency - You would stlll get nailed. Someone would see you and want to know what you are up to. In these days of heightend worry about terroism, some mysterious non-railroad vehicle running behind a freight would not look too good.
If one of our crews saw something like that...we would call it in.
Plus you would not have the slow orders or track bulletins, know where and what the speed restrictions are - and could come to grief in a number of ways. Would you know how to read the points on switches to know if they were lined for you ?
And if this was a Track Warrant Controlled situation,
some one is going to report you to the OPS Dispatchers.
They will have the law waiting for you at a designated milepost. I am thinking fines, and jail time at the least.
This is an FRA issue, and at best you would be trespassing on railroad property. If the train was short enough, the crew on the head end may see you on a curve.

Answer 3

Well, the answers about not being a smart thing are totally correct,
but:
most maintanence trucks or Hy-Rails have wheels that are insulated from each other. Connecting the micro circuits from one rail to another one is what causes the control system to "see" an occupancy.

Technically it is possible but it takes some pretty sohpisticated insualting systems and it is beyond the realm of normal backyard hobbyists.
So for a purely theoretical discussion over a beer with your friends, it is possible but you would never get away with it, it is possible but highly illegal and for good reasons.
Becuase railroads cross state lines, you would be dealing the Federal Govt and could be charged with felony trespass, and wreckless endagnerment after you get off life support and out of traction.
Trains are very bad things to run into.

Answer 4

If you were able to attach the wheels in such a way as to not shunt the tracks, bear in mind that the track's rounting is controlled by that same dispatcher you are trying to hide from. It's likely that, as the train goes by, the dispatcher may re-align switches behind it, so your car would suddenly veer off onto a different track, and maybe into an oncoming train.

Also, it's common that all railroad employees who are not on a moving train, will inspect a train as it goes by for bad bearings and such. So, there are always some people watching the tracks for trains, and I think they'd notice your car as it goes by. Not all tracks are in the middle of nowhere, so any time you got close to a town, you'd get busted.

Answer 5

You need to know that all train do not go few hundreds of mile at one time.
They travel some distant then move into a siding to let other trains by going in the other direction or it may be a local going 10 - 30 miles up the track, then back to the yard.

Answer 6

If in CTC or Interlocking Limits, your vehicle will appear as a "TKO" (Track Occupancy) on the dispatchers or operators boards.

When you see hi-railers on the rails, they are there with permission and, most importantly, with protection against other movements provided by the dispatcher or operator by turning the signals controlling movement into your area to a stop indication (red aspect).

But, even if in ABS or dark territory, your move is still ill advised. At the least you are looking at a serious law infraction. Keep in mind, the railroads are under the jurisdiction of the Feds. You may wind up dealing face to face with an agent from the FBI.

On the other hand, your car may wind up as graphite and you may wind up as fertilizer.

Answer 7

Doing something like putting railorad wheels on your car can get VERY costly. Also, going down the tracks like that without authorization of the railroad company get you into A LOT of trouble. So I really wouldn't do it.

Answer 8

There are no tracking systems placed by the factory in new cars. There are some used car dealers that install them in their cars, but they would have used it long before now to find the car. I think this person is trying to scare you. You are not required to rat on your sister, so tell them nothing.

Answer 9

I highly recommend not doing this. When the authorities pulled you from your vehicle, you would end up being chauffered in one of two ways. First off, when they pulled you out of the car and if you were still alive, you would go directly to jail on federal charges. The second option, when they pulled your limp, lifeless, broken body from the remains of your vehicle, you would get a once in a life time ride to the funeral home.

Hope you make the correct choice.

Answer 10

consider putting them on a surfboard, sideways and throw a rope on the back of a train and go,,