Many artifacts of railroading have disappeared in North America in recent decades. One of the more unappreciated items is the section house like this Soo Line one at Boyceville, WI. This shed housed a "speeder" or "put-put car", typcially made by Fairmont Motors, Fairmont, MN. Track inspectors were assigned segments of track, in this case a portion of the Soo Line mainline between Chippewa Falls and St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN, and would ride the rails looking for defects each work day. Today, inspectors use hi-rail trucks and automated defection detecting equipment often provided by contractors like Sperry Rail Services.
