pump car

plural pump cars · alternative pump-car

1. A light railroad car propelled by a hand-operated pumping mechanism; a handcar.

   Down from Black Adder came Tim O'Cannon and his gang, pumping a pump-car for all they were worth, trailing behind them a flat-top trolley packed with Tim's Blossom and his six quadroons.

   1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XII, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 191

   1 more example

   To reach their destination, the group had to go down from camp on pump cars, four miles by rail to Deep River; here they took boats to Svenson's Landing, two miles down the river and then walked the remaining six miles with the musicians carrying their instruments.

   1986, Carlton E. Appelo, A Pioneer Scrapbook of the Columbia River North-Shore Communities: Wahkiakum and Pacific Counties, Washington, 1900-1985, self-published, page 105

   Synonyms: handcar, jigger, Kalamazoo, pump trolley

2. A child's tricycle operated by similar action.

   There's no reason why junior can't have a pump car due to metal priorities because you can make an all-wood model.

   1944 April, Popular Mechanics, page 89