DCHP-1 Online
speeder 
1a n. a small motorized vehicle used by railway employees for line maintenance.
See also: gas-car hand-car jigger (def. 3) track car track speeder
- 1905 . . . the cow-catcher or the top of a box car is the choicest of propelling methods, unless one can get a ride on a hand-car or a speeder, with opportunity to slacken speed or stop whenever one desires.
- 1947 . . . the husband, apparently a section man, had rushed up the tracks on a three-wheeled "speeder" to bring Molly back to help.
- 1963 A gas-driven speeder got away from workers and scooted 20 miles along the CP's main line through northwestern Ontario before it was stopped.
1b n. Lumbering a small track car used especially for carrying foremen, company officials, and minor supplies on a logging railway.
See also: rail speeder
- 1942 . . . I'm pining to sit on a "speeder, " a "locie," or car on the track.
- 1960 Another innovation developed in the logging railroad industry was called the "speeder."
2 n. Hist. See quote.
- 1912 A low sleigh is known as a cutter, and a high sleigh is a speeder.
- 1905 . . . the cow-catcher or the top of a box car is the choicest of propelling methods, unless one can get a ride on a hand-car or a speeder, with opportunity to slacken speed or stop whenever one desires.