Recently, I saw a piece on TV (I don’t remember what show it was) that said snow plows were no longer in use by trains because they had become obsolete? How can that be? If they aren’t using them any more, what do they do? Or was that report just plain wrong? Thanks.
The report was just plain wrong. Plows have been getting alot of exercise this winter. See the following link as an example:
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/146416/1625063.aspx#1625063
Obsolete ?! They still use built in 1914 snow plows around here to clear deep snow drifts.
But in Japan they have a warm water sprinkler system all along the bullet train track right of way to keep the snow off, that does make snow plows obsolete I suppose.
The report, sadly, is true. Most modern conglamorate Class 1’s have either relocated thier tracks to areas where it doesn’t snow (eliminating all grade crossings in the process) or have built snowsheds over the tracks.
TV said what? [:D]
There is still one parked at the CP yards in Woodstock ON that will get hauled out when the snowsqualls nail us around here----I’ve also seen a couple near London ON on the CN[:-^]
And if you believe that, I have a slightly-used bridge for sale, cheap. It connects downtown Manhattan to Brooklyn…[(-D]
Or did you forget the, “don’t take this seriously,” smiley at the end of your ststement.[%-)]
Judging by what was happening on the roads around Flagstaff, I’ll bet the local BNSF rotary has been getting a workout…[8D]
Chuck
Yea, kind of sounded like a snow job to me! [:D]
Most years, the UP can avoid using the rotaries on Donner Pass (they’re expensive to operate).
But when it’s a bad winter, there is no other choice. The depth of snowfall up there can be amazing.
Seems to be a misunderstanding or oversimplification of some kind here.
First, if you just look at the track and think about it - for snowfalls of up to about 6 to 8 inches, the railroad simply doesn’t care or notice from the operating standpoint, for the most part. It’s ‘below the radar screen’ = top of rail, other than the flangeways at grade crossings and in the switches, etc. - and snowplows are of no help in those situations anyway. So for many small snowstorms, the railroad doesn’t even need a plow.
Secondly, many diesels are now fitted with ‘plow pilots’ as standard equipment all the time now anyway. EDIT - Here’s an example of a CSX GP40-2 from March 2006 at its North Croton Yard in New York - note that the lower corners of the plow have been cut away to clear the electrified outer 3rd rail on the Hudson line and into New York City:
That was rare back in steam locomotive days, because the sides/ wings of the plows hindered access to the cylinders and valves - always high-maintenance items. Also, until recent decades, many locomotives had ‘footboards’ on the ends for brakemen to ride on during switching operations, which back then were more useful the rest of the year than a plow would be - but since I believe those have now been outlawed or fallen into disfavor, there’s no longer a supervening reason not to install a plow. Plus, the plow pilots are good not only for snow, but deflecting
Great; thank you, Paul, for the clarification. That helps me understand this much better.
And thanks to the others for their information, too.
You’re welcome. A word to the wise and skeptical here: Unfortunately, the media - esp. TV - seems to often get their facts about railroads more wrong than right - sometimes it’s trivia, such as a diesel locomotive being a ‘‘choo-choo’’, and all railroads being ‘‘Amtrak’’; other times, it’s more germane, such as the time about 10 years ago when our local paper here referred to ‘‘100,000 ton trains’’. I kid you not - they overstated it by a factor of 10. Would they/ could they do that with any other subject ? And get away with it unchallenged ? I doubt it.
For fun sometime, go to ‘‘Index of Magazines’’ at the bottom of the page, and input ‘snowplow’. You’ll get many, many results referring to operations in recent years. For example -
Let’s go plowing
Trains, December 1995 page 50
aboard a snowplow
( “CUNNINGHAM, GLENN”, “FEAR, DOUGLAS J.”, ONTARIO, SNOW, SNOWPLOW, TRN )
How Conrail bat
A couple of additional comments on snow plows and when they are needed.
On busy main lines with reasonable speeds, the trains themselves tend to keep the line clear enough, continually blowing the snow away before the accumulation becomes significant. It will be quite rare to see one needed in this case. But once into the mountains, with slow speeds due to grades and/or curvature, and often heavier snowfalls, plows can be needed.
Where they can be needed more frequently is actually on lightly used branch lines. A cutting can drift in quite deeply when trains are a day or more apart. The cost of a plow train is one of the many reasons why the big railroads find their branches a nuisance.
Rather than plows, a common option is to convert track machinery, like a ballast regulator, into a snowfighter for the winter. They have big brooms and plows and can be very effective in cleaning out the snow around the rails. They have replaced flangers to a large extent.
John
True, on busy mains frequent traffic may keep the tracks clear and less than a foot of snow can be handled by the plow like pilots. But the “mountains” are not the only province of a Russell or Jordan. Look at the LIRR, mostly under 100 ft above sea level, using plows out on the east end. Or the NYS&W in the valleys of Upstate New York often less than 1000 ft above sea leve. Today you will often find plow’s ahead of the power on regular, local freights.
The TV show was probably filmed in the summer, but when the snow is deep, many of them are still used. Don’t believe everything you hear on TV.
CZ
Sorry, “Hen-er-y the VIII’th”, but the snow plows are alive-and-well. Check out the BNSF rotary, working in Nebraska, a few weeks ago. Awesome! Lots of pictures “on-the-net”. BNSF maintains a rotary in Havre, MT, but I have never seen it work. We did have a Jordan spreader work our “Hi-Line” last year.
Think snow! – Hays, in Montana.
Paul North noted that snowplows in many places might only be used once in five or ten years - which is true.
One other truth. A railroad snowplow is like a fire brigade. It may not be needed often, but when it is needed, it’s needed NOW!!!
Chuck
I’d say the same–in many places.
Up here it seems more like a few times a winter season----[:-^]
Brings up a question. Are the high number of trains going through Flagstaff enough to kep the tracks clear? AMTRAK seemed to get thru there OK.
Problem areas would be spurs, the line through Williams, and turnouts between tracks. Any reports?