A couple of comments on the last two Shorpy photos:
- The photo of the "part of the car shops" is the Rip Track, where cars with en route defects are repaired, as well as some home road car repairs. Rip stands for "Repair In Place" meaning the repair was not so serious that major work would be required. Wrecks and frame failures, etc., had to go to the car shop. If a car in a train in the yard was found to have a defect during the 500 mile train yard inspection, it would have been switched out of the train, sent to the Rip Track, and, after repair, would have been forwarded to destination in a later train. Foreign road* car repairs were charged according to a manual published by the Association of American Railroads. Home road cars were given periodic maintenance at the Rip Track.
- In the Fort Madison (actually Shopton, IA) photo, the device mounted on the pilot truck frame of 4-6-2 3438 is the drive unit for the speed sensor of the cab signal system. Santa Fe used cab signals (called Automatic Train Control by ATSF) between Fort Madison and Chicago. The mechanical (hydraulic) speed recorder in the cab was normally driven by a cable drive from a small wheel resting on one of the drive wheels, or a cable drive off of a trailing truck axle.
* Foreign road car: Any car not owned by the railroad handling the car, in other words, all other railroads as well as private owner cars.
