Sperry Rail Vehicles

SRS 870 in Saint John, NB

If you've spent any significant amount of time railfanning, you've probably seen one of these vehicles on or near the rails. Sperry is a leader in the rail inspection business and has been performing rail inspections since 1928. They perform induction and ultrasonic inspections to detect defects inside rails before they cause a major failure of the rail.

When Sperry started, they refitted old passenger "doodlebugs" with their induction equipment. I presume this was done because the doodlebugs were ideal platforms, being self-propelled with a large empty interior space.

SRS 136 in Calgary, Alberta

SRS 863 at Diamond outside Winnipeg, Manitoba

In recent years their rail-mounted trucks have become more prevalent and I heard all of the rail-only vehicles have been retired... but I'm not convinced that's true quiet yet. I'm sure the doodlebugs were getting old, and trucks are easier to get to locations because they can switch between road and rail with ease. Also I expect the equipment is getting smaller so large vehicles are no longer required.

Closeup of SRS 863

The very first "doodlebug" Sperry vehicle I photographed was at Valjean, Saskatchewan between Chaplin and Parkbeg. It was during a blizzard and I happened to spot it rolling west on the CP main line. We pulled into the tiny, tiny town of Valjean and I photographed it at the crossing.

SRS 144 at Valjean, SK

SRS 144 at Valjean, SK

The next one I photographed was SRS 119 in the CP yards here in Winnipeg, around Christmas 2004.

SRS 119, Winnipeg

I captured SRS 136 (see top of post) in Calgary, Alberta just outside Alyth yard. I see a couple of other people did too.

The last "doodlebug" I photographed was SRS 131 in Kamloops, BC in 2013. I think it's more or less permanently parked there.

Jeff Keddy photographed SRS 138 in service near Rosser just west of Winnipeg on the CP main line back in early 2011.

SRS 138 near Winnipeg. Photo by Jeff Keddy.

Here's his video:


The most recent "doodlebug" photo I found was this one of SRS 125 on Railpictures from 2014.

Get used to more of these...

SRS 971 outside Winnipeg

I see them a lot around Winnipeg, either parked at their favourite hotel on the south end of Pembina Highway, or out on the rails. Often I don't bother photographing the trucks but I'm glad they are out there doing their thing to help keep trains safe.

More information:

• Sperry history
• Eric Gagnon caught SRS 119 in 2011

Sperry at Diamond

On June 9 I was heading home from work, and decided to detour out to Diamond just west of Winnipeg to see if there was any CN action. I did see something on the rails as I approached, and it turned out to be a Sperry truck, SRS 863, on the north track. I also saw a CN train approaching, and it turned out to be CN 314 led by engine CN 8820.



After 314 went by, I took a few shots of the Sperry truck before it headed west.


A little detail from the above photograph:

Sperry Car in Winnipeg

Jeff Keddy caught Sperry Car SRS 138 rolling just west of Winnipeg yesterday (Wednesday January 5). It was rolling west near Woodman on the CP Carberry subdivision.

He took a little video of it too. It is surprisingly loud.


Thanks Jeff!

NBSR By Gary

Gary Lee posted a few NB Southern videos from McAdam recently.

Here's NBSR 2612, NBSR 9802, and NBSR 2319 on what is clearly a miserable day.


Another day, he shot NB Southern's "Little Giant" crane pushing a single ballast car.


Sperry truck 872 was checking the main line by the McAdam station.


Finally, here's NBSR 2319 rocking and rolling across the Magaguadavic bridge. I've always wondered what the bridge looked like.

Yesterday in Saint John

I was in Saint John yesterday afternoon (November 1), and I happened to see a few trains en route.

I heard CN 305 on the scanner performing their brake test, and getting their TOP from the RTC before heading out. They were authorized only to mile 44 (Sussex) so I assumed they had some work there or at Penobsquis.

Before they left, the Sperry Rail Services truck SRS 870 got off the tracks a little west of the Tim Hortons on Rothesay Avenue.


They rumbled by Gerry Drive at 14:38. CN 5606 (SD70I), 2638 (Dash-9), 2533 (Dash-9) and 7068 (GP9) provided the power.






The train was pretty long: 56 potash cars, 42 tank cars, 1 boxcar, 8 loaded CN ballast hoppers, 1 tank car, 2 covered hoppers, 10 gypsum cars, 12 container wells, 1 5-pack, 1 well car. The Courtenay Bay potash terminal was totally empty after this!

On my way out of Saint John later in the evening, I noticed no activity in NB Southern's Dever Road yard. There was one unit with its light on in the middle of the yard, but no traffic on the scanner. I thought that was odd, because the eastbound should have arrived and they should be making up the westbound to go out later. As I approached Welsford, the reason became clear. NBSR 9801 East was stopped at Welsford with a hot wheel.

I pulled into the parking lot of the former gas station, and walked over to the engine in the siding. I tried a few shots with no flash but they didn't turn out, so I turned the flash on and took a few. That drew the attention of the engineer, who came out to talk for a few minutes. He told me the hotbox detector at Welsford was changed out about a week ago and it seems to be more sensitive than the old one. The conductor cut out the brakes on the offending car and they were on their way at 20:00 exactly. NBSR 9801, 2319, 9802 and 2317 provided the power for about 50 cars, a mix of boxcars, empty gypsum cars, autoracks and tank cars.