In 1911 Fairmont Railway Motors Inc. of Fairmont, Minnesota started building many different transports for workers and equipment to inspect and maintain rail lines. These gasoline powered vehicles replaced hand cars and were widely used on the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and nearly all other North Americaqn railroads in the 1950s and '60s. The Speeders were later replaced in the 1980s with the more flexible Hi-Rail trucks that could transport more men and equipment and ran on both roads and rails.