Tool used to move railcars

[Anonymous]

Hi there... found this forum through my Internet search for an answer to a question.  I told some of my younger staff that years ago while I was growing up on the Prairies that I used to see the grain elevator manager actually move a railcar with just his human strength and a tool that looked like a sturdy handle from a shovel with an iron "wedge" at the base.  My recollection is he would place the wedge under one of the wheels and with the help of gravity, get the car moving ever so slowly.

I really would like to know the name of this device and if anyone has a picture of it, I would sure appreciate it.  Anyone help me with this one?

[DSO17]

     IIRC some people called them car jacks, but I think the name was car mover. They were fairly common around industries where cars had to be moved short distances such as lining up hopper car pockets with conveyor pits, also in car and locomotive shops. (more to move trucks than to move locos) Some cars were easier to move than others and it helped if the rail and wheels were clean and dry. You had to be ready for them to slip at any time. With a little luck and coordination a couple men with jacks on each side of the car could move it along pretty good if everything went right. Might be mistaken, but seem to recall seeing them offered in industrial hardware catalogs.

[BillyDee53]

I've always heard it referred to as a johnson bar.  Model railroaders think a johnson bar is the reverse lever in a steam locomotive cab.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

I've always heard it referred to as a johnson bar.  Model railroaders think a johnson bar is the reverse lever in a steam locomotive cab.

A Johnson Bar IS a steam locomotive's reverse lever.  The origin of that name is unclear.

[cnwfan51]

    I remember there was a bean elevayor in western nebraska that used a ex army half track to move hoppers around  Ive seen the uase of tractors to move the cars where they were needed to spotted   Larry 

[OldArmy94]

Is this what you are talking about?

 

http://www.advancecarmover.com/carmover.html

 

 

[trolleyboy]

Old army those do indeed look like what he was asking about. We use them at our museum to shove streetcars around in the workshop when we can't energize them,or if one gets stuck on a dead spot on the line.We've always refered to them as "come alongs" but I imagine that depending on the person or railroad/industry using them they would have many names.

Rob

[Anonymous]

Names for tools vary across the US.  At Los Alamos, we weren't allowed to move our machines; always had to call in the riggers, even if it was only a 2 inch move.

They often used a tool that was a long, about 6 feet, heavy squarish pole with an iron foot with wheels on each side of the pole that they would stick under a machine to pry up that end and pull or push the machine to where it was to go.  They called it a johnson bar.  Nothing likean engine's johnson bar.

Seems like it's a rather common tool. There's a picture on the link below. 

http://www.sapsis-rigging.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SRI&Product_Code=14-00-25-4004 

 

Art 

 

[gopherstate]

In the Aldon catalog they are called "Manual Car Mover" and are available with handle or handle only.  This is the 2008 catalog, so they are still available.