Snow and ice depth etc.

[stantaras]

How much snow build up on the rail head is too much for todays Big G.M and G.E. engines to cut thru.
I ask because I live in Southern Ontario [Canada] and we have had a ton of snow.
The C.N.Dundas Sub double track mainline goes thru my town as does a C.P. branch line.
Iam amazed at the piles or small mountains of snow left by snow plows at these crossings and often wonder when a train will possibly derail because of the build up.
Are there any operating rules that address snow build up on the rail head?

[kenneo]

I understand your concern, but unless you get a deep snow, (the kind of which takes a wedge plow to keep the track open, not just normal train traffic) the only real concern is ice in the flangways. That can derail a train, but if it is know that ice is there, the train can cross slowly enough so that the ice is broken by the trains weight and gets pushed up out of the flangeways.

Those piles of snow will clear a train and also a plow, so they create no real problem. And for snow that a street plow piles on a crossing from a street, as long as nothing gets under the locomotive and the snow pushes against the frame and not up from below, the locomotive will just push it out of the way for the autos to deal with.

Extra simple answer there for you.

[zardoz]

If the train you're operating is about to enter a deep, long cut filled with snow, you have to really pay attention to how the train is handling, because the drift might be deep enough to slow down the front of the train enough to cause an unwanted slack run-in. And when the power exits the snow drift, it has a tendency to want to surge ahead causing an unwanted slack run-out. This series of events can easily cause a break-in-two. And since the break is likely to happen somewhere inside the deep cut, which means the conductor will have to walk through xx feet of snow to get to the break, well, lets just say the conductor will not be too pleased when he returns to the locomotive.

What was fun (at least for me it was), is when operating a train during or right after a big snow on a piece of track that only gets used maybe two or three times per day. The CNW track from Milwaukee to Fond Du Lac was like that when I ran there. The highways would get plowed, and of course the hugh mound of snow (the one that always fills up your driveway) is stretched across the tracks. If the snowfall was deep enough, there could be a pile of snow up to ten feet high just off the road. And of course when the motorists would stop for the train, they almost always stop just short of the gates.

The fun part was when your train would hit these piles of plowed snow at over 40mph. These drifts would completely bury the dolts that just had to stop as close as they could to the crossing. The look on their faces as they saw the wall of snow coming at them was quite (perveretedly) satisfying. And a quick look out the back window would confirm that where there was once a car, was now what looked like a big pile of snow in the road.

[Anonymous]

Earlier this week, Canadian Pacific had an avalanche bury their main in British Columbia w/ approx 20' of snow. The pics that I saw showed a front end loader trying to cut a trench through. With the bucket fully extended up, he still wasn't reaching the top of the snow. They expect to be closed until tomorrow night.

[Puckdropper]

Zardoz, you certianly are sadistic when it comes to that!

I usually try to stop close enough to the crossing to get a good view, but far enough away to be able to read the reporting marks with out getting dizzy!

[kenneo]

Jim --- Oh, yes. And to watch that from a "safe distance" with an extra big pile and a bit of extra speed was always spectacular![}:)][}:)][8D][:D][^]

[Anonymous]

Sometimes when 'railfanning' (waiting for trains to come), my buddy and I will make a snowman on the tracks and watch the train smash it to molecules!!

[Anonymous]

Sometimes when 'railfanning' (i.e. waiting for trains to come), my buddy and I will make a snowman on the tracks and watch the train smash it to molecules!!

[zardoz]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dragonslayer87

Sometimes when 'railfanning' (i.e. waiting for trains to come), my buddy and I will make a snowman on the tracks and watch the train smash it to molecules!!

Yea, hit a few of those in my day. We could usually see the kids 'hiding' in the brush along the track waiting for the event. The snowman sure does explode into a satisfying "poof".[:D]

[rrnut282]

I need to get out more, that sounds like fun..[:o)]