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Doodlebug (rail car)

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For other uses, see Doodlebug (disambiguation).

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2012)

East Broad Top doodlebug M1

ATSF doodlebug M119

In the United States, doodlebug was the common name for a self-propelled railcar (multiple unit). While such a coach typically had a gasoline-powered engine that turned a generator which provided electricity to traction motors, which turned the axles and wheels on the trucks, versions with mechanical transmissions also existed.

Doodlebugs sometimes pulled an unpowered trailer car, but were more often used singly. They were popular with some railroads during the first part of the 20th century to provide passenger and mail service on lightly used branch lines, obviating the need to operate conventional trains consisting of a locomotive and coaches. Several railroads, mostly small regional and local networks, provided their main passenger services through doodlebugs in a cost cutting effort.

Contents

[hide]

1 History2 Origin of term3 See also4 References5 Further reading6 External links

[edit] History

While interest in self-propelled cars did exist before the late 1910s in the form of the electric trolley and streetcar as well as a few other examples, the better portion of doodlebug usage in the United States can be traced to this time period. Electro-Motive, then in the form of the Electro-Motive Corporation as the General Motors purchase had not yet occurred, began the large scale production of self- propelled railcars using bodies manufactured by Pullman and the St. Louis Car Company. By the 1920s the gas-electric car had become one of the main providers of branch-line service.

[edit] Origin of term

The term "doodlebug" is of uncertain origin. Most likely it is used in a number of unrelated ways, often as a nickname applied to diminutive types, such as small airplanes or cars. In the railcar usage of the term it may have been derived from the phrase "doodling through town" that may have been applied to reference the function of the coaches themselves.

[edit] See also

Budd Rail Diesel CarDoodlebug DisasterEdwards Rail Car Company

FM OP800HoodlebugMcKeen Motor Car Company

RailcarSteam dummySAL 2027

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

Edmund Keilty (September 1979). Interurbans without wires: the rail motorcar in the United States. Interurbans. ISBN 978-0-916374-38-9.Edmund Keilty (September 1982). Doodlebug country: the rail motorcar on the Class 1 railroads of the United States. Interurban Press. ISBN 978-0-916374-50-1.Edmund Keilty (December 1988). The Short Line Doodlebug: Galloping Geese and Other Rail Critters. Interurban Press. ISBN 978-0-916374-77-8.

[edit] External links

Doodlebugs at american-rails.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012Doodlebugs in Jacksonville, Florida http://www.jaxhistory.com/Jacksonville%20Story/Picture%20of%20Jax%20Train,%20Doodlebug.htm

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Doodlebug_(rail_car)&oldid=531337785"

Categories:Multiple unitsRailcars

Hidden categories:Articles lacking in-text citations from October 2012All articles lacking in-text citations

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