# How did this thing move? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355 "2008-12-02T16:30:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/1 "2008-12-02T16:30:36Z")
I was looking through the photos of [Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii](http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/gorskii.html) (color photos from the early 1900s!) for the thousandth time and got to wondering about [this one](http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1889/p872024er4.jpg). What is that thing, and how did it move? Is there an engine on it somewhere? If so, where? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/2 "2008-12-02T16:33:38Z")
It is a handcar. They are propelled by pumps powered by the people in it. They were used to inspect the tracks. > **[Handcar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handcar)** > > A handcar (also known as a pump trolley, pump car, rail push trolley, push-trolley, jigger, Kalamazoo, velocipede, or draisine) is a railroad car powered by its passengers, or by people pushing the car from behind. It is mostly used as a railway maintenance of way or mining car, but it was also used for passenger service in some cases. A typical design consists of an arm, called the walking beam, that pivots, seesaw-like, on a base, which the passengers alternately push down and pull up to mov It... ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/3 "2008-12-02T16:35:21Z")
It is a railroad [pump car](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handcar), also known as a hand car. It is propelled by a lever which the passengers pump up and down to drive the wheels. You can’t see it in the picture because it’s behind the passengers. [Here](http://www.sftm.org/trolleyfestimages/PumpCar.jpg) is a picture that shows a more modern design. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/4 "2008-12-02T16:35:32Z")
Oh, okay. Just didn’t look like the ones I’ve seen in movies. Heh. They even used that picture I linked to to illustrate the Wikipedia article on handcars. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/5 "2008-12-02T16:36:07Z")
Bah. It’s wind-powered. I can even see the little sail. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wiltshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea5d25/32.png) [@Wiltshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wiltshire)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/6 "2008-12-02T17:58:22Z")
So the question becomes… If this was powered by a _treadmill_, would the sail move in the wind? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/7 "2008-12-02T18:08:46Z")
I think it is a hand car or pump car? I’m just sayin’… ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/8 "2008-12-02T18:14:48Z")
Since the question seems answered, I’ll just say that I think his photographs are great. It’s very interesting to see high quality color photos from that time. There seem to be more of them at the [wiki article about him](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Mikhailovich_Prokudin-Gorskii). ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/9 "2008-12-02T18:16:11Z")
Comparing it to the others pictured in the Wiki article, I think the one in the OP’s link might be the push type. It appears to be coasting downhill, so the designated pushers have climbed on board. Notice that the fellow in uniform is clutching the hand brake. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/10 "2008-12-02T19:02:39Z")
Weren’t they a required prop in comedy movies of the early 20th century? ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/11 "2008-12-02T20:20:04Z")
> [@mwbrooks](#): > > Comparing it to the others pictured in the Wiki article, I think the one in the OP’s link might be the push type. It appears to be coasting downhill, so the designated pushers have climbed on board. Notice that the fellow in uniform is clutching the hand brake. I don’t think it’s rolling downhill. There’s a piece of rock acting as a chock under the right front wheel for the photographer’s benefit. There is also a substantial metal pedestal just behind the VIP’s bench that two of the crewmen are gripping. I think it’s substantial because I can see flanges and rivets. My guess would be that it is a more traditional hand car with the beam arm removed for temporary push car duty. The tent in the background doesn’t look like they’ve gone too far from their base camp at any rate… ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/12 "2008-12-03T02:30:20Z")
It’s a skateboard for the whole family to ride! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-thing-move/475355/13 "2008-12-03T04:58:24Z")
WOW!! I was just blown away by those photos… I guess I must have been thinking of people at the turn of the (last) century as – well – living in sepiatones or something. Thank you so much! That was very cool!