Other than money and parking, what's stopping me from buying a hi-rail truck?

Don't  people buy bikes and little gas powered cars to ride the rails? 

And, seriously, don't play on the tracks. We're not too far from the tracks, and not too long ago a teen was hit by a train. It didn't end well. 

I just dig those trucks with the little train wheels. 

If there's a market for truck nuts there's probably a market for add-on little train wheels.

Appleseed said:

Just remember active railroads take trespassing very seriously and there are weird railroad laws from the 1800 still being used. 

You mean like how sprinkling salt on railroad tracks is punishable by death in Alabama?

NickD said:

Appleseed said:

Just remember active railroads take trespassing very seriously and there are weird railroad laws from the 1800 still being used. 

You mean like how sprinkling salt on railroad tracks is punishable by death in Alabama?

Strange.  I googled it.  I found many references to salt causing rust to rails but I am more inclined to believe this explanation I also found...

You’d never guess how this one may have come about. At one time, Alabama was an open range state, so livestock roamed freely. Anyone or entity that caused harm to the livestock was responsible for the market value of that animal. This includes the railroad company being responsible for cattle that were hit by trains.

A common scam in those days was for farmers to lure sick or injured animals (via a salt lick) to the train tracks. When the animal was hit by a train, there was no longer any evidence that it was sick or injured, so the railroad company would be liable for the full market value of a healthy animal!

Since there was no way to prove that this was the case after the fact, this law was passed so in order to outlaw the farmer creating the circumstance for the “loss” of their animals.

There is an old saying that “Nothing increases the pedigree of a cow more than an encounter with a train” !!

John Welsh said:

NickD said:

Appleseed said:

Just remember active railroads take trespassing very seriously and there are weird railroad laws from the 1800 still being used. 

You mean like how sprinkling salt on railroad tracks is punishable by death in Alabama?

Strange.  I googled it.  I found many references to salt causing rust to rails but I am more inclined to believe this explanation I also found...

You’d never guess how this one may have come about. At one time, Alabama was an open range state, so livestock roamed freely. Anyone or entity that caused harm to the livestock was responsible for the market value of that animal. This includes the railroad company being responsible for cattle that were hit by trains.

A common scam in those days was for farmers to lure sick or injured animals (via a salt lick) to the train tracks. When the animal was hit by a train, there was no longer any evidence that it was sick or injured, so the railroad company would be liable for the full market value of a healthy animal!

Since there was no way to prove that this was the case after the fact, this law was passed so in order to outlaw the farmer creating the circumstance for the “loss” of their animals.

There is an old saying that “Nothing increases the pedigree of a cow more than an encounter with a train” !!

I think we share the same brain.  If I had seen this first, I would have googled it too and then showed up and spent precious work hours describing it to people on the interwebs 

David S. Wallens said:

Also, I'm not saying that I want to drive my hi-rail on the tracks. I totally understand physics, probability and trespassing laws. I just think it would be cool to have those train wheels. 

If you just want train wheels on a 4-runner, probably easier to add faux train wheels.

If you want a 4-runner, and buying a hi-rail is a financial benefit, plan on at least a tire/wheel swap to make it more suitable for the street.

To the best of my knowledge, there shouldn't NEED to be any other difference.  I've heard rumors about extra grounding on railroad trucks to counteract the static buildup and potential for ECM confusion, but that certainly isn't a bad thing on the street.