I've sold some big old belt sanders on eBay for good money, the ones that resemble the old streamlined steam locomotives. Indeed the eBay market seems to refer to them as "locomotive" belt sanders. I'm curious if folks buy these to use? Or to look at on the shelf? Or do they hot rod them and race them? I remember seeing something on the tube years ago where guys were putting long cords on belt sanders and drag racing them down a wooden track / channel. Sort of like Tether Cars for tool junkies.

Sounds pretty wild to me.

Hello, I do believe that Belt Sander Racing is taken pretty seriously by some folks. There are regional belt sander racing associations, and there might even be an international association. I have heard of job-site races, no track, the sander switch locked ON, with a short extension cord. Cord was then plugged into the outlet, and the sander that went the farthest once the cords detached from each other , or the outlet, was the winner. Regards, Lou

I checked Youtube after the original post and found many videos of belt sander racing. Haven't checked them all but I didn't see any of the big shiny locomotive looking vintage ones yet. Some seemed pretty serious and others seem to take place in the back yard of drinking establishments!

The latter are the most fun!!!!!!

Some folks love the locomotive belt sanders because the weight of the motor is centered over the belt.  If you want to see testimonials to locomotive-style sanders, go over to the Old Woodworking Machines and track down some of the threads on the various Porter-Cable sanders of that style.