Thread: ex-govt deefer; good or bad?

when state rail was selling off S3s (?) many moons ago, potential buyers were warned that they had done as many K in reverse as forward. Not sure if current rail regulation allow reverse running of Hi Rail vehicles but worth a mention

Originally Posted by longing4alandy

when state rail was selling off S3s (?) many moons ago, potential buyers were warned that they had done as many K in reverse as forward. Not sure if current rail regulation allow reverse running of Hi Rail vehicles but worth a mention

According to Ferris Bueller, putting it up on blocks and leaving it running in reverse doesn't wind back the clock.

Thanks for all the replies. I was thinking of the heavy dolly wheels etc, hadn't occurred to me the effect of them running a lot on the rails. I know that at least up until recently, the railway dolly wheels were driven directly by the road wheels, so the vehicle was in reverse the whole time. And this does indeed wind back an odometer. I believe there is a more modern system with an idler arrangement so the vehicle rides the rails in forward gears, not sure whether this is widely used though. So, a vehicle that has been spending as much time taking km off the odometer as putting them on, has spent hundreds of hours running in reverse- and has no doubt spent those hours at high revs in order to get anywhere- then has been left idling in between times. Think I'll strike the ex-railway vehicles off the 'desirable' list then.
The museum one would have been a good find. Are there any other govt agencies that use these vehicles nicely?

I would be very surprised if any modern speedos had an odometer that would reduce reading when run in reverse - in all the speedos I have had apart the counter is actually operated by a ratchet that is driven by a crank via reduction gears. The ratchet has the same effect regardless of the direction the crank is driven.

Further, the only 130s I have seen actually operating on rails had the wheels turning in the normal direction, with the tyres running on the rails, the railway wheels serving only to guide the vehicle.

But I still think they will have been pretty much flogged! As with any second hand Landrover, the condition matters much more than the age or mileage.

John