Review: Lionel O gauge Trackmobile car mover

Not long ago, businesses that received or generated moderate levels of rail traffic called the local railroad for switching duties. Others had their own switcher.
Other firms with less, though steady traffic had another recourse for motive power: the Trackmobile.
First developed in the late 1940s, the Trackmobile was a dream come true for firms with dead-end tracks and awkward staging areas. An early version could be towed behind an automobile, and it looked like a cross between a car and a riding lawn mower.
Before long, the equipment became more sophisticated. It found a niche being able to move freight cars where they were needed and then drive itself over the road to the next spot, where it might have to shift a boxcar or a flatcar.
Today, Trackmobile still cranks out a variety of models in varying horsepower ratings for shippers who want to keep things simple.

Opening the box
This O gauge model is a well-executed entry in the long line of motorized units – made all the more special because it is based on a real unit – and the care that Lionel’s designers took to get it right. There is an amazing level of fine detail on this model.
Let’s start from the rear. The paint scheme was simple, but well done.
The coil coupler extends from the metal frame. There are black and white safety stripes below the shaft.
There are yellow sand lines on each corner (the safety bars are attached to these features). Headlight and marker lights (they change according to direction) are built into the frame.
The handrails are nicely crafted plastic with rounded corners. The rear deck and the steps have see-through water drainage holes.
There is a small hump behind the cab that, in the real world, provided access to the prime mover. There are vent slots near the bottom and a silver exhaust stack.
The cab has the best visibility in railroading. The rear windows are deep, the center and side windows are wide, and on the front are four lower windows for a track view.
At first, the cab appears fully rigged up, but on closer look the various shapes – a console hump to the motorman’s right, a steering wheel, and even a second seat back – allude to detail.
Popping outside, there are fore and aft facing dual add-on horns and tiny strobes that flash. The front of the cab has two add-on wiper arms. Poised just above the front wheels are head and marker lights.
As for the wheels … this is so neat.
The Trackmobile scores a hit. Because the vehicle is supposed to operate on road or rail, the highway wheels are present, but “raised,” when the metal railroad wheels are in the normal business position.
No fake wheels with the frame from an old track gang car hidden underneath. Two thumbs up from me for cleverness.

On the test track
As you would expect from such a diminutive model, pulling power is not the Trackmobile’s strong suit. While I gather that some prototype Trackmobiles can move as many as 40 empties at a time, that’s not going to happen in O gauge land.
On flat O gauge track the Lionel model could move three cars, but often stalled on a curve. It could handle two cars easily, but the physics of the third car and the curvature of the track made handling a third or fourth car iffy.
I also strapped on a single postwar Lionel no. 2421 illuminated coach, and while the Trackmobile did get the car around the loop of track, it slipped a bit on the curves.
Both command-mode and conventional-mode low speeds were very close, with the command-mode low speed being 1.3 scale miles per hour and the conventional-mode low speed being 8.3 scale miles per hour. Our high-speed average was 34 scale miles per hour.
Drawbar pull was 2.6 ounces.
Motor operation was totally quiet, and coupler operation was good.
This nifty unit is great for shoving cars around an elevator or oil depot. It looks nice, and delivers good performance for its intended tasks. – Bob

Price: $299.99 (no. 28450 Canadian Pacific)
Features: O-27 operation, die-cast metal frame, TrainMaster Command Control, ElectroCouplers, directional lighting