Buda Inspection Cars on Union Pacific

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This file was last updated on February 2, 2020.

Overview

Buda inspection cars were known as Model 619, which Buda started building in 1928. It appears that these Buda inspection cars were used as a high-end speeders, used by managers and supervisors. They were considerably more comfortable than the average track maintenance handcar or motorized speeder. In later years, UP apparently used them with rail detection equipment before they converted OSL M-66 to track test car DC-2 in November 1951.

First located in Buda, in central Illinois, the Buda Foundry & Manufacturing Company moved 139 miles eastward to Harvery, Illinois, in suburban Chicago. Contracts for the company's new eight-building location had been awarded in November 1890, with the new factory being nearly completed by March 1891. By May 1891 the foundary was employing 100 men, expecting to grow to 500 men very soon. (Chicago Tribune, November 9, 1890; March 24, 1891; The Inter Ocean, May 24, 1891)

Buda Cars

The following comes from Interurbans Without Wires, page 173:

Well known in railroad circles as the builder of gang and inspection cars, Buda was also a major engine builder in the 1930s and some of its larger inspection cars doubtless were used in common carrier services, at least overseas.

Most of the cars built by Edwards were equipped with Buda engines, as were some of the conversion of railway coaches to motor cars carried out by Railway Motors Corp.

In 1946 Buda advertised the availability of its inspection cars in 8, 12, 16 and 20-passenger versions utilizing its own streamlined body and bus-type leather seats. None was known to have been sold to a U.S. carrier.

Photos suggest that there were two body styles used on the Buda inspection cars. Both styles were Buda Model 619 cars. UP B-4 (photo below) is the earlier body, introduced in 1928, with just one door on each side and separate interior seats. The later body style, introduced in 1932, as shown on UP B-9 (photo below), was equipped with additional doors, and had bench seats. Both styles seated 11 persons, plus the driver.

Although none are known to have been in service on Union Pacific, a third body style was built by Buda, possibly in the mid 1930s. These cars had a fully enclosed "full length" body with a flat front, in three separate capacities seating 14, 23 and 27 passengers. Photos show that AT&SF and American Association of Railroads owned these fully-enclosed Buda cars.

Although various internet searches reveal information about the Buda company in general, nothing has yet been found about motorized Buda speeder cars, or these specialized Buda inspection cars owned by UP.

These Buda inspection cars are not shown in the UP Equipment Record ledger book.

An article in the November 1931 issue of The Union Pacific Magazine, about the Sperry Detector car operating on Union Pacific, at the east end of the Nebraska Division. A photo, and photo caption mention that detector car S-99 was the motor car in charge of the detector trailer. The photo shows car S-99 with a Union Pacific "Overland" shield plainly visible.

UP Buda Cars

UP B-1 to B-19 (?)

Mark Amfahr wrote about UP B-10 on May 28, 2014:

On a U.P. dispatcher's sheet Oct 19, 1956 it shows a piece of equipment identified as "B-10" operating from Green River to Ogden. The only notation is "fire inspector". It used a conductor-pilot but no engineer. It ran from Green River to Ogden in about 6 hours, about the same amount of time as a hot Forwarder train would take, so it was moving right along.

I would have expected to find critters like that on secondary mainlines, on branches, and in places like LaSalle. But it's amazing to me that cars like that were out running around on UP's high-speed, double track mainlines, especially on the busy Overland Route in the 1950s, mingling with the Streamliner fleets, etc. The dispatcher's sheet I reviewed shows car B-10 running from Green River to Ogden Oct 19, 1956, for example. The note says they were doing a "fire inspection", but I'm not sure if that would have been adjoining forest land, ROW ditches, ties, bridges, coal chutes? As I'd mentioned, those cars could run pretty fast, running GR to OG in 6 hours (including stops) just like the expedited freight trains did.

OSL Buda Cars

OSL B-20 to B-29 (?)

There is a photo of UP Buda B-24 in S. Kip Farrington's Railroading From Coast to Coast, published in 1976, page 189. The photo shows Buda car B-24 sitting at the Ketchum (Sun Valley), Idaho, while being used to take the author from Pocatello to Sun Valley and return on November 15, 1947.

OWRR&N Buda Cars

OWRR&N B-30 to B-39 (?)

Gordon McCulloch wrote about B-30 in his A History of Union Pacific Steam, page xi:

First mention of Buda “B-Cars” was found in The Union Pacific Magazine, September 1930, with a short article and photo of OWRR&N B-30. At that time, OSL also had one and Union Pacific had two. The article states they had seating for nine, and had four speeds ahead and reverse.

Overland medallions stayed with most until the end. These were inspection cars and some were used to pull a rail detector trailer. Originally they were passenger car green but were repainted armour yellow (seen here) when it was adopted for passenger equipment.

Jim Ehernberger offers that “B” numbering below 20 was on UP, the 20s were on OSL, the 30s on OWRR&N and the 40s were on the LA&SL. The Budas were being retired circa mid 1960s.

LA&SL Buda Cars

LA&SL B-40 to B-49 (?)

Photos

UP Buda Cars -- Photos of Buda cars in service on Union Pacific and its subsidiary railroads.

Sources

Buda Manufacturing Company, 619 Motor Car -- An defunct Geocites web site archived by Reocities.com. The archived web pages at Reocities.com, which themselves were archived from the former Geocities service, were among the thousands of personal web sites that disappeared when Yahoo shut down Geocities in October 2009. As of October 2018, Reocities itself was also shut down.

The original Geocities page was <https://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/4742/budaverbage1.HTM> and is presented here in case an archived version becomes available.

(Read more about Buda Cars -- mirrored from the orphaned site at the abandoned Geocities web site.)

More Information

Buda Model 619 Catalog, dated July 1930 -- Compiled from images shared by Evan Werkema on April 5, 2014 (PDF; 5 pages; 1.5MB).

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