On November 18, 1951, the Times (Shreveport, LA) welcomed the new Hy-Rail Jeep Wagon to the Kansas City Souther-Louisiana and Arkansas railroad. The article provides quite a few details on the vehicle and how it operates.
As this September 26, 1952, article in the Courier Journal (Louisville, KY) points out, by the autumn of 1952 there were 35 Hy-Rail jeeps operating on 21 railroads throughout the US.
Fascinating that tires have to be 55psi on the rail, but must be deflated to 30psi for road use. Today, such a change would be easy with a central tire inflator (as seem on Hummer H1’s), but back then it would take a laborious hand bleed of each tire, followed by a trip to a location with a compressor (presumably close to the tracks) to re-fill them.
Craig: That’s what I enjoy about these articles; they sometimes include details we never would have considered.
Willys America has a really nice Hy-Rail in their Willys Museum in Cazadero, California.
Here’s a lick to a strange HY-RAIL came across on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4158986940824193&set=gm.2918633658392811