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I saw a freight train. At the end, third car to the last was this little tiny car with 4 wheels. It was the size of a small compact car. What is that? Anyone with a picture?
George Harris Member # 2077
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Sounds like a scale test car. Most scales weigh cars one end at a time and then add for the total car weight. Therefore, a scale test car that is the equivalent of one truck. These things are of known weight to check whether the scale readout is correct. Usually railroad rules require them to be at the end of a train or within a certain number of cars of the end. Some railroad also put a speed restriction on trains handling these things. Do a web search on scale test car and you should be able to find some pictures.
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