A couple of weeks ago I uploaded a blog about celebrated railway artist Went Folkins who, when I first knew him, had purchased a British Singer Gazelle, one of the Rootes conglomerate's badge-engineered cars. By co-incidence the very next day our contributor Nigel Matthews forwarded some wonderful Canadian Pacific Railway photos taken during the years when family sedans were converted to inspection vehicles. Today the railways use purpose-built equipment but in the "classic railway era" automobiles were considered quite adequate. They were converted for rail use and included (aside from flanged steel wheels) 2-way radios, powerful air-driven horns, signal flags, and whatever other equipment was necessary for safety and efficiency. Apparently CP thought its inspectors should travel in comfort and so most of the company's railcars were luxury sedans, most often Buicks and Cadillacs, such as the one in the photo.

It must have been an interesting experience, traveling at highway speeds with hands off the steering wheel, going wherever the tracks led. That concept has fascinated me to the point that I've often imagined myself and a railway professional "driving" a car from coast-to-coast in Canada. Technically it wouldn't be difficult as any modern car could be converted to rail use and with my "engineer" communicating with train controllers we could easily be slotted into freight and passenger schedules. Of course any sane person might wonder why I'd want to do this. The primary motive is to enter the Guinness Book of Records as driver of the first automobile to be driven on rails, coast-to-coast in North America (rest assured there wouldn't be a second, so the trophy is secure). Aside from that I'd like to see what an engineer sees. Tied to the rails he or she has no choice of direction but on the other hand only a railway can carve a path through the landscape without the impediments of road traffic. Am I crazy, or just a romanticist?