Saturday was a day for smiles and laughter when 52 vintage railroad speeder cars and their owners arrived in Tamaqua as part an excursion from Schuylkill Haven to Lehigh Gorge.

Speeder car visits to Tamaqua have become an annual tradition since 2015. This year, however, was different. A fancy Victorian-themed passenger platform, just finished Friday, greeted the participants.

Also, for most it was the first time they were out and about due to the pandemic.

More than 130 local residents turned out to welcome the visitors.

It also was a day for surprises. Turns out, the pandemic has taken a toll on more than just humans.

Even the privately owned rail speeder cars have been affected.

“There have been a lot of breakdowns because of COVID,” said Allen Tracy of Locke, New York.

That’s because the cars haven’t been run or used while their owners have been quarantined. So the machines have been setting idle. As a result, some are acting finicky and breaking down.

“We stalled out and now we’re done. We’re battery powered and I think it’s an electrical problem,” said Locke. “We can’t run so we’re being pulled by this large one in front of us, which is a four-cylinder.”

Locke, 51, was on the trip with his father, Bruce, 83.

Fun adventure

Despite mechanical woes, Locke said the trip has been exhilarating. They’ve met new friends, he said, and discovered even more of the natural beauty of Pennsylvania.

“There are people with us from as far away as Georgia and we like the scenery here. I live in the Finger Lakes area but there’s no doubt I’ll live here eventually. There’s lots of history here and always something to do.”

Locke said people of Schuylkill County are tops, much friendlier than in other areas of the country.

“I’ve been a trucker for 30 years and in Pennsylvania, truckers are friendly. In New York, they’ll flip you off.”

Another surprise was that two of the visiting speeder owners are from Tamaqua - Sean and Marian Hegarty.

The couple has owned a speeder for several years but were never able to join the excursion into their hometown because the trips have been sellouts.

“This year we were on the reserve list and made it,” said Sean Hegarty, who keeps his vintage Missouri Pacific Lines Fairmont model stored in a Tamaqua garage.

The Hegartys started the day at 5:30 a.m. and said the trip was fun and fulfilling.

Dale Freudenberger, president, Tamaqua Historical Society, said the excursion is an ambitious trip.

“After Tamaqua, they’ll cross over the new Nesquehoning Bridge and then go up the Lehigh Branch to the Lehigh Gorge.” In the afternoon, they reversed course for the return trip.

Spectators couldn’t get enough of the curious little train cars.

“They do look cool,” said Ryder Holmberg, 9, a student at Tamaqua Elementary.

Some had never seen the oddities in person.

“This is our first time here,” said Ron Blickley, Rush Township. Wife Lorraine, an artist in visual imaging, was busy grabbing photos.

“I’m doing shots for my Next Level iPhoneography,” she said.

Earlier era

All of the visitors are members of the North American Rail Car Operators Association. NARCOA members travel together in their privately owned speeders, showcasing a legendary era in transportation history.

Speeders are small motorized cars which once carried railroad workers who were responsible for maintaining the railroad right of way and making repairs. They carried tools and supplies and sometimes several other cars were coupled together to carry more supplies and more workers.

Many gas or diesel-powered speeders were produced from the 1940s to about 1985.

Some are older. A motorized inspection car was produced as early as 1896.

Another type, a hand-pumped version, would have carried a worker or track inspectors known as a gandy dancer. Those hand pumpers evolved into motorized speeders. A speeder weighs about 1,500 pounds and must be rolled down a ramp and positioned on the track. Most of the two- and four-person motorcars have a 20-horsepower, Onan four-cycle engine. Some restored older motorcars use the original two-cycle, five-horsepower motor. By the 1990s, speeders were replaced with today’s high-rail trucks, which use flanged wheels lowered for on-rail use.

A speeder car can cost from $3,500 to $10,000. Usually a trailer is needed for transporting the car. On top of that, owners pay a fee for the privilege of placing their car on rails. Scheduled regional excursions are coordinated with permission of local railroads and can cost $200-$300.

In Tamaqua, the passenger platform was exceptionally busy Saturday as a separate dining excursion brought trainloads of dinner guests into town later in the day. That excursion was reportedly sold out.