There is lack of wedge plows & Jordan spreaders that have been retired. Theymay only be needed once every 10 years. It does not help when needed to clear tracks of snow and most trees. Lack of many track workers now is another impediment. Long operating crew districts do not help either.
Snow will drift. Those locations that have snow and freeze thaw cycles after snows can become much harder to clear. Yearly maintenance of controls, brakes, loco MUs,etc is also a cost.
RKFarms ...with snow almost as high as the windows of the dome car...
A long gone logging railroad on Tug Hill, south of me, used a long cut intended for a railroad that died aborning. The cut was oriented north-south, 1,200 feet long and 20 feet deep.
The heaviest snowfall for the area (lake effect) occurs when there is a westerly wind. You can probably guess where this was going.
Despite many feet of snow fence, the cut occasionally drifted shut. The road had a snowplow, but it was nothing when it came to dealing with this.
The solution was many men with shovels.
As a side note, the plow once got away at the top of a long downhill grade. No one knows how fast it got going, but by the time the crew reached a phone it had already reached the end of the line. One fellow died as the result of his injuries.
Larry 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...
As was noted above, UP (and SP before it) does everything it can to avoid bringing out the Rotaries.
They have not gone up this season yet despite some crazy weather. The Spreaders have been up and of course the Flangers and bulldozers.
Current snow level at the summit is proportedly only 6' "Tis but a scratch" as far as donner snow is concerned.
During the blizzard years of the late 70's, the Monon line (L&N at the time) had no plows and had problems with drifts. The Floridian was stranded south of Crawfordsville for a few days and another time was held in Lafayette until things got better. Their method was to send out a pair of locomotives to try to break through the drifts, with another one or pair to pull them out as needed. On one occaision they hit enough snow to break out a window and partially fill the cab with snow. After it was cleared up I took the Floridian to Chicago several times to avoid driving I-65 and went through cuts with snow almost as high as the windows of the dome car I usually rode in. They did come up with a plow later that was kept at the Lafayette yards and did get used several times. I am glad we don't have much winter any more, taking care of livestock was quite a challenge in those conditions. I am too old and soft now for all that.
PR
On my garden railroad we send the plow train when there's about an inch of powder. Wet snow at one inch requires repeated ramming. With glazed snow, forget it and just admire "The Line in Winter." Sorry, couldn't resist that.
Rick
rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.
In 40 years of working for Chessie and CSX in Pa., WVa., and Ohio I never saw a plow. The snow never got deep enough to stop a train. What did cause problems were power switches packed with ice and snow.
The railroad did get shut down at least once by a storm that knocked hundreds of trees down on the tracks.
There were times when the right of way and the yards looked like big empty fields with even the switch lamps buried, but that didn't stop the engines.
I recall the Northwestern would run light engines back and forth on the mainline through our town during snow storms just to keep the line clear.
Huge "it depends" there.
A line with regular traffic may not need plowing as such - the regular traffic will keep the tracks relatively clear.
Drifting is another story. It's possible to have zero snow on the tracks, followed shortly by six feet.
Lines with less traffic may require a plow after a foot or so of the white stuff.
There is ample information about places like Donner Pass. They may not call the plows out (especially the rotaries), but will run over the line frequently with flangers. They also use bulldozers frequently to clear snow away from the tracks.
The local MOW forces will know their needs.
how many inches of snow before they have to plow. When i was young they would plow two feet of snow with f units if it got deeper then they plowed with a wedge plow. Gary
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