I’m reading a book about the Wellington avalanche on the Great Northern in 1910. Reference is made to a double rotary plow. It’s described as one as a rotary plow coupled nose to tail to another rotary plow. How would that be any better than simply one rotary plow?
I believe some plow trains were set up with an outward facing rotary snowplow at each end, and the locomotives in between. That way the train could plow in both directions, and sometimes probably had to. It is possible the author of the book was confused.
But I can also imagine snow conditions that would make two forward facing rotaries advantageous. If the snow is looser, the walls of the cut made by the first plow might start collapsing over the tracks, and the second one will remove some of that. But my understanding is that when snow is that deep it is usually pretty solid.
My thoughts
John
Murphy,
The reverse facing rotary is very handy when you have to get back to fuel and water and it has been snowing for hours or a slide has come down behind you. If the slide has rock and timber you are in deep trouble.
I have read White Cascade and the more recently released “Vis Major”. Vis Major is a historical novel based on real people and includes what they did, where they were, and when. Vis Major focuses on the railroad people, particularly the train and engine men on the plows and Supt O,Neal, TM Blackburn, and ATM Harrington, the “Snow King”. I much preferred Vis Major since it puts you there in the railroaders shoes. Some of the people it follows survive and some do not. All are damaged to a degree, and that too is likely true.
I got my copy from Amazon.
Mac
Thanks for the recommendation on Vis Major. I’ll be looking for that next.
I had envisioned the double rotary to just as you decribed it- back to back, and for the same reason you decribe. Since they are describing the snow and avalances as “Cascade cement”, I figured they’d be cutting a fairly clean path down the line.
Murphy,
The rotary snowplow was a great step forward in plowing snow. Dealing with an avalanche was and still is a whole different kettle of fish.
First the top of the blade as only 12 or so feet high. The plow could not “buck” deeper than that as the discharge chute would be obstructed and would plug instantly. This meant that a crew of shovelers was required to manually shovel down to that height. Back breaking work in the cold and snow while standing in a place you knew was prone to slide. Oh by the way, avalanche debris often included a lot of ice so progress was often measured in a few feet per attack. I would imagine the rotary and its tender bucked hard between the wall of snow and ice and two consolidations shoving it. The 2-6-6-2’s were also used on one of the plow trains, 1900 number series if I remember correctly.
The other problem is that avalanches often bring down dirt, rocks and trees with them. Rocks and trees would disable the plow fan. If the debris included timber it was a matter of chopping it out and moving the pieces out of the way, all by hand. Since old growth timber was commonly 4 or 5 feet in diameter this was no small task. Dynamite was sometime used to deal with the timber, but the GN did not resort to this in the Cascades in 1910 untill after the March 1 slide at Wellington. Today the usual solution is a D8 or D9 cat or two.
My personal belief is that the storm was a once in 100 year or once in 500 year event. It is also clear from Vis Major that the reason the line was tied up so badly was lack of a snow shed at one point.
Mac
That reminds me of the legendary “Crocodalligator”. PM me for the complete story.
Hays
That sounds interesting. Why not post it here, so that all that are intereseted can read it?
IIRC, while trying to reach the snowbound City of San Francisco on the line over Donner Pass, the SP had an AC between rotaries facing in both directions. It was either unable to buck the drifts or was hit by an avalanche…
Been 50-plus years, so my memory is a bit spotty.
Chuck
The rotarty that was sent from Roseville to free the City Of San Francisco was hit by an avalanche and buried. Could not be pulled out by the engine. They had to dig it out by hand. It took a week to completely open the line up again.
When SP would call out their Donner Pass Rotary fleet it was standard procedure for them to operate 2 rotaries as a back to back set with the locomotive consist in between. this allowed them to clear one track and then reverse to clear a second as well as providing a safety margin if a snowslide blocked the track behind the snow train…
True, they used two rotaries, but when the lead plow got buried, nothing could pull it free, so they had to dig it out.
Besides some of the answers already given, I’d add that switchbacks would require double rotary plows. How else would you clear them so the line would be open again?
True, but in the context of the original question the GN switchbacks were gone in 1910 having been replaced by the first Cascade tunnel opened in 1902 IIRC.
Mac
I read White Cascade a couple of years ago. That was truly man against nature and nature won that round. Every time I hear something about the Cascades, I think of those poor passengers sitting there for days waiting for help and finally tumbling down to their deaths. RR’s of today have better ways of dealing with this, but things can still happen like the huge mudslide a couple of years ago on UP in the northwest.
John – “Nose-to-tail”, to me, implies they are facing the same direction (“Elephant-Style”). Your explination make sense. I have never seen pictures of such a lash-up. I’d still like another on the rear end facing the other direction! 3-on-a-train? Rotaries never were that plentiful!
Hays
Now I’m completely lost. After the avalanche, the book says the GN used triple rotary plows to dig out the lines. One facing forward, one backward, and one straight up? [%-)] I may just chaulk this up to the writer not doing his homework.
Murphy,
He could be refering to a two plow three locomotive combination, but I think you may be right about lack of homework.
Mac
Picture of a rotary plow and the remains of one wrecked in 1910. And more Wellington pictures.
http://content.lib.washington.edu/u?/transportation,252