Galloping Goose passenger railbus - real world MOC (v3)

[Murdoch17]

This rail vehicles is a type of railcar called a Galloping Goose, and is slightly inspired by seven real vehicles built and used by the cash-strapped Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge railway back in the early 1930s. This tiny railroad couldn't afford to run a single steamer in the worst part of the Great Depression, so they made the Geese to deliver the mail, supplies, and people to the silver mines / camps around Durango and Ridgway, Colorado. In fact, the lucrative mail contract is what kept them afloat - when that went away in the early 1950s , the railroad was torn up. Six Geese still exist in original form, with one being a reconstructed replica. These machines are really something Doctor Frankenstein would love - a bus body or boxcar welded to a road vehicle (usually a Pierce Arrow limousine) for the front end, with train wheels added underneath.

This is my third interpretation of this type of passenger doodlebug, which is numbered eight in my rail fleet, and was never owned by Rio Grande Southern. (The seven real-world ones originally had boxcars on the back for freight service as well as having seats for passengers up near the driver.)

The rear of the rather odd-looking vehicle.

As a play feature, you can open the doors to the drivers compartment and place a driver at the wheel. The back half of the vehicle is not meant to be accessible.

My version of the Goose is slightly inspired by the front half of the second one made. As you can see in this 1940 picture, the railcars were referred to as Motors by the Rio Grande Southern. This was true up until close to the end of the first careers, about ten years after this photo was taken - though the public has seemingly always called them Galloping Geese. You can read more about these fascinating railcars here on Wikipedia.

Thoughts?

Edited 3 hours ago by Murdoch17

[Shiva]

Nice railcar, car rail? Boxcar on rails.

[Murdoch17]

7 minutes ago, Shiva said:

Nice railcar, car rail? Boxcar on rails.

Thanks @Shiva!