English

pump trolley

Alternative forms

• pump-trolley

Noun

pump trolley ‎(plural pump trolleys)

1. A light railroad car propelled by a hand-operated pumping mechanism, handcar
   • 1901, Gipps, George, The Fighting in North China (up to the Fall of Tientsin City), Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, OL 23299616M, page 40:

     The train, minus the three abandoned trucks, again proceeded at a slow pace, with a pump trolley doing pilot ahead ; this was very necessary as a great many sleepers were found to have been burnt underneath the fishplates.

   • 1910 March 4, “Supply Trade Section: Fairbanks-Morse Inspection Car”, in Railway Age Gazette, volume 48, page 509:

     A gang was sent out on a pump trolley and the inspection car followed.

   • 1976, Calder, J. William, All Aboard, Formac Publishing Company, ISBN 9780887800061, OL 5253265M, page 118:

     Immediately after the train had pulled away from St. Peters, Alfred Morrison, section foreman along with his helper, Frank Lindloft, took off with the pump trolley.

Synonyms

• handcar
• jigger
• Kalamazoo (Australia)
• pump car