Other Name: Fairmont model ST2-F

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Small motorcars or “speeders” once carried railroad track workers from place to place where a full-size work train was not needed. These small gasoline-powered cars were once common on railroads across America. By the end of the 1970s, these cars fell out of favor as railroads turned to standard motor vehicles fitted with railroad wheels (so-called “hi-rail” gear).

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Fairmont Number 8315 is a model ST2-F railroad section car that was built by Fairmont Railway Motors, Inc., of Fairmont, Minnesota. The car was built for the New York Central Railroad in August of 1945 and was used in track and signal maintenance service around Chatham, New York. Number 8315 was donated to BSRM by the Estate of Donald Cowan of Richmond, Massachusetts, in 1986 and has been restored to operating condition by museum volunteers.