Northwestern 566W Speeder - North Kingstown, RI
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 41° 34.954 W 071° 29.606
19T E 292147 N 4606433
This self-propelled vehicle with "Wickford Junction" on top is in the center island of a rotary on the way to the Wickford Junction Commuter Rail Station.
Waymark Code: WMFPRE
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 11/14/2012
Views: 3
In North Kingstown, in a shopping area known as Wickford Junction, is a rotary where, on the traffic island, is a self-propelled speeder.
The rotary is just a couple hundred feet in from the junction with Route 102 and the the access road to both Walmart and the Wickford Junction Commuter Rail Station. As you approach the rotary, the speeder is straight ahead. There is a parking area to the south where you can stop the car and get out to inspect this vehicle closer. Be careful about the traffic as you cross the road, though.
The speeder is an open structure that is painted bright yellow, red and green colors. Off end end there are wooden tie bumpers. Over the top is a metal rounded canopy. The apparatus is standing on a very short section of tracks.
At one end, on the radiator, is the following: "Northwestern 566-W". The engine is still there, but it is obvious that it will not run.
It took some digging to find information about the company, but nothing about this particular car. Northwestern Motor Company from Eau Claire, WI, made rail maintenance cars starting in the 1930s. Pictured on a page of the collections at the Danbury Railway Museum is a similar unit, but it had a model number NH514.
Sources:
NMC-Wollard, Inc:
(
visit link)
Danbury Railway Museum (NH514):
(
visit link)