I found this little video, showing the joys of railroading in the Swiss Alps during winter.
There is some spectacular b&w footage, taken in 1937 on the Bernina Railway. It shows the use of snow plows, a rotary snow plow and flanger cars.
Gidday, Thanks for the post Ulrich. Makes one appreciate about living in a temperate climate, I never really thought that artilleryman, thrill seeker, and railroader could be combined into one job description !!
Cheers, the Bear.
Thanks Ulrich. I enjoyed watching that. It seems the same methods for snow removal are employed just about everywhere it’s needed. I remember watching crews digging out the gun emplacements in a mountain pass once, and as luck would have it, on my return trip two days later the military had the Howitzers in place and I got to see them fire these monsters and watch the snow come down. It was quite something.
Brent[C):-)]
That is some serious snow…
Thanx
Bob
If you think that´s serious snow, you should see what they have to do to clear the Furka Pass line! The line is now operated as a tourist steam line, but even during the times of regular operation, it had to close down beginning of October and was reopened in July. Snow clearing had to start in May, removing up to 40 feet of snow.
Highlight was the re-installation of the Steffenbach bridge, the only foldable bridge in the world.
Too bad we can´t model snow fighting operation on a layout!
Gidday again, A dangerous thing stereotypes, when thinking of the Swiss, bankers and chocolates are the first things that come to mind, though the phrase, “running like a Swiss watch” is in the common vernacular, and Pilatus make darn fine aircraft, but a folding bridge ?? Why ??I had to find out more…
http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r083.html
http://www.rotzler.com/uploads/tx_templavoila/INFORM_22_07_Furka_engl_02.pdf
…very Clever !!
Thanks again Ulrich.
Cheers, the Bear.
Very spectacular video. If it weren’t for the catenary, I’d swear I was watching Espee battling Donner Pass, LOL!
It definitely brings back that old joke: The Swiss invented the Alps so they’d have someplace to run their trains.
Tom
The Bear,
just to fill you in with some more details.
When the line was built, in 1916, there was a stone arch bridge across the Steffenbach creek, which did not survive the first winter, never having seen a train crossing it. Due to WW I , reconstruction was put off and the line actually went bankrupt. In the early 1920´s, the line was sold, and the new owners (the county and some communities along the line) had the new folding bridge constructed. What an effort, as train season was only 3 1/2 months a year!