Operating a personal vehicle on train tracks?

Question

If I added a kit to my truck so that I could operate it on train tracks (like Amtrak does with its utility vehicles), would you need, and could you get, permission to use your vehicle on the train tracks? Is there such a thing as public train tracks?

Answer 1

1: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO IT!  YES YOU NEED PERMISSION! Without it, besides endangering lives, you are also breaking Federal and State law. There are no such things as public train tracks. Just wanted to make that clear...not yelling at you...

If you are serious about this and want to do it legally, get in contact with the North American Railcar Operators Association.

http://www.narcoa.org/

As you can gather looking at the website, they are a group of enthusiasts who as a group will get permission to go over a stretch of tracks for a day. They did this near me on the NECR between Vermont and New London CT as a 2 day trip, and they had nearly 50 or so speeders. I'm sure they'd accept your hi-rail pickup... When the NARCOA gets permission, the railroad will give them an escort and proper track warrants to traverse the line.

Hope you found this helpful.

Answer 2

No, all train thoroughfares are privately owned or owned by a government entity...

NEVER try to do what you are suggesting.  Trains can run on any track, in either direction, at any time.  You risk DEATH if you try this, no matter what country you are in...

Answer 3

I doubt very much if you would be allowed to operate your private vehicle on the railway system. Way too dangerous, you would have to have a thorough knowledge of every train running plus you would have to log in with central control any time you wanted to use the tracks. A big no way on that one buddy.

Answer 4

If you wish to drive it yourself, you would have to pass a test to show you knew the route like train drivers have to, you would have to arrange the track access price with the track owners, alternatively you could pay someone else to drive the vehicle, There are private trains in the UK that do this they have to pass safety checks like a car but more stringent. The type of rail road vehicle you are talking about are used for maintenance they can only usually be used when the track is closed to other traffic.

Answer 5

I agree with Aussie Pete on this one.And I have no idea but I,m guessing it would be incredibly expensive and thus cost prohibitive to install those great big steel wheels on an average pick up. And I don,t think there are any train tracks open to the public just yet.

Answer 6

The "kits" are expensive, a lot of railroads have that what is called a "hi-rail".  YOU CAN´T operate them in rail tracks because they are used by trains or by utility vehicles with permission and track use granted.  Tracks cannot be used by smaller vehicles because it hurts capacity of the lines for move only few people.