Herzog Rail Services #173 is the power car for a unique Multiple Purpose Maintenance machine, or MPM, that the company uses for maintenance-of-way work on railroads around the U.S.

The complete unit includes the power car, five articulated well cars derived from the standard doublestack container car, and a flatcar unit that holds an operator's cab and a bucket/grappler unit.

The bucket/grappler rides on a set of rails that allow it to traverse the tops of the well cars while picking up or dropping off material.

The MPM was parked on the siding at Troutdale, Ore., about 17 miles east of Portland on the Union Pacific Portland Subdivision.

Photographed by Thomas McCann, April 10, 2010.
Added to the photo archive by Thomas McCann, April 11, 2010.
Railroad: Herzog.

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