Trains.com

Canadian Pacific Melting Snow on a plow at Lake Louise.

2331 views
13 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    June 2009
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • 6,824 posts
Canadian Pacific Melting Snow on a plow at Lake Louise.
Posted by CMStPnP on Sunday, January 31, 2016 10:20 PM

 

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Sunny (mostly) San Diego
  • 1,914 posts
Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Sunday, January 31, 2016 11:18 PM

Well, I don't think anybody would be too eager to tailgate that hi-rail vehicle on the road.

Use that as a hair dryer for fast results, if you don't mind looking like Yul Brynner.

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 24,928 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Monday, February 1, 2016 6:13 AM

CMStPnP

Why?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
  • 13,681 posts
Posted by CShaveRR on Monday, February 1, 2016 8:55 AM

 

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 4,115 posts
Posted by tatans on Monday, February 1, 2016 5:28 PM

Note the debris mixed with snow the obviously the result of an earlier avalanche up the road somewhere, just another day of railroading in the Rockies.

  • Member since
    October 2008
  • From: Calgary
  • 2,043 posts
Posted by cx500 on Monday, February 1, 2016 5:29 PM

There were some branches mixed in the snow, so the snow is from punching through an avalanche.  When an avalanche stops moving, as the previous poster noted, it compacts down into a very solid mass.

The avalanche likely was a planned event, with rail and highway plows positioned close by to go to work immediately to reopen the transportation corridors, before the mass hardened even more.  Avalanche control is a regular event in the mountain passes of southern British Columbia.

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Southwest US
  • 12,914 posts
Posted by tomikawaTT on Monday, February 1, 2016 5:47 PM

cx500

The avalanche likely was a planned event...

And now you know where old artillery pieces go to retire.  Just fire a dozen or so rounds a season - and nobody's shooting back.

Chuck, MSgt(Ret) USAF

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: At the Crossroads of the West
  • 11,013 posts
Posted by Deggesty on Monday, February 1, 2016 7:50 PM

tomikawaTT

 

 
cx500

The avalanche likely was a planned event...

 

 

And now you know where old artillery pieces go to retire.  Just fire a dozen or so rounds a season - and nobody's shooting back.

Chuck, MSgt(Ret) USAF

 

Ah, yes.The ski resorts use their artillery to attempt to prevent killing avalanches. I am not sure what cannon they use. There are warnings posted that any shells found are to be left alone.

Johnny

  • Member since
    September 2011
  • 6,398 posts
Posted by MidlandMike on Monday, February 1, 2016 9:06 PM

In the US ski resorts, ski patrol/ops personnel usually hand set charges before the snow builds up to dangerous levels.

  • Member since
    April 2002
  • From: Northern Florida
  • 1,429 posts
Posted by SALfan on Monday, February 1, 2016 11:34 PM

Deggesty
 
tomikawaTT

 

 
cx500

The avalanche likely was a planned event...

 

 

And now you know where old artillery pieces go to retire.  Just fire a dozen or so rounds a season - and nobody's shooting back.

Chuck, MSgt(Ret) USAF

 

 

 

Ah, yes.The ski resorts use their artillery to attempt to prevent killing avalanches. I am not sure what cannon they use. There are warnings posted that any shells found are to be left alone.

 

 

Would be a whole lot of fun to get paid to use a big boom-boom.

  • Member since
    October 2008
  • From: Calgary
  • 2,043 posts
Posted by cx500 on Tuesday, February 2, 2016 1:46 AM

In the Rogers Pass I believe the army uses artillery.  In the Kicking Horse Pass I watched a helicopter dropping delayed charges.  One rolled down to near track level but didn't explode, causing considerable delay waiting for the timer to have definitely run down before going in to retrieve the device. 

  • Member since
    January 2008
  • From: Big Blackfoot River
  • 2,787 posts
Posted by Geared Steam on Tuesday, February 2, 2016 5:41 PM

50 minutes doesn't seem very efficient, but apparently they have put some thought into this. 

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein

http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 24,858 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 2, 2016 6:15 PM

Geared Steam
50 minutes doesn't seem very efficient, but apparently they have put some thought into this. 

Using sharp tools would result in a need to repaint, most likely.  Given that it took a jet engine 50 minutes to melt it off says it was pretty solid.

If they made any runs on drifts/avalanche materials, they probably packed it on pretty hard.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    June 2009
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • 6,824 posts
Posted by CMStPnP on Tuesday, February 2, 2016 11:01 PM

^^^ OK, I will resolve the mystery here folks.    I made the assumption you guys would read the youtube posters comments.    What he said was the reason they used the jet engine against the front was not so much to clear the debris but to thaw out the inaccessible lines behind the plow that were preventing the wings of the plow from moving in and out.     Yes it came in handy clearing the debris as well and yes they were in a rush to get both tasks done.

As many surmised here, the plow was clearing an avalanche and the snow was mixed with compacted and frozen clay, etc.

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy