Glare ice, and you might need CHAINS??
In what alternate reality?
Chains are for packed snow; on glare ice they provide all the traction advantage of hockey skates.
Overmod Chains are for packed snow; on glare ice they provide all the traction advantage of hockey skates.
Snow fighting - prior to WW II it barely existed for towns and counties. Beyond snow shovels very little 'needed' to be rendered snow free for 'normal' social operations. People, for the most part, lived within walking distance of their place of employment and their food purveyors, so as long as the sidewalks weren't knee deep in snow people could get to work and keep their families fed.
Railroads were the organizations that 'needed' to have their 'roads' cleared and cleared in short order to be able to continue the economic mission they are in business for and they developed the tools to accomplish snow removal. WW II and it's aftermath changed all that.
With the mass development of housing out of urban areas and 'not being family farms' all those people depended upon the highway system to provide for themselves.
As a kid in the Baltimore suburban area in 1958 our family was helping friends who lived about 5 miles from our house when the 'blizzard' that happened on Valentine's weekend (about 18 inces) struck. My father was 'bucking' his way through the snow to reach their house when the transmission on his 1957 Buick, which was equipped with chains, 'expired' at Midnight while we were a little less than a mile from their house with the snow still falling. We had no alternative but to trudge through the snow to the friends house - and there we were 'stuck' for the following week and all schools in the area were closed for the duration. At that time the City of Baltimore and the surrounding Baltimore County had next to no snow fighting equipment - a few snow plows, a few salt trucks with limited facilites to keep them filled and operating. The entire Baltimore area was barely moving.
In the 21st Century all that has changed - in 2010 the area had back to back 20+ inch blizzrds about 4 days apart - the major roads were cleared the day after the snow stopped in each instance - the residential roads took a little longer but were cleared of the firtst storms snow before then second storm struck. The performance was repeated after the second storm. Of course all the politicians could talk about was how 'snow removal' had gone over budget.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
CSSHEGEWISCH Overmod Chains are for packed snow; on glare ice they provide all the traction advantage of hockey skates. I would disagree, my sons could stop pretty quickly on their hockey skates.
Carl Frink invented the vehicular snow plow as we know it around 1919 - at the request of a bus line operator who installed the plow on his bus. The company was headquartered not ten miles from my house, and I know a number of people who built the plows. The company was bought out by a Canadian company and may still exist in name.
Balt's comment about being close to "the amenities" may have been spot on in built up areas, but was far from the case out in the country. But most folks living out in the sticks were likely "subsistence farmers" who grew or raised pretty much everything they needed to survive. Not many of them left today.
Prior to 1980, it was common for radio stations, especially, to give road reports. Through the winter "hard packed snow and ice" on the roads was a common report. That changed with the arrival of the Olympics in Lake Placid. Word came down from above that all roads leading to the site would be bare. Virtually overnight the material in the hoppers on the rear of the snowplows changed from sand (with a little salt mixed in) to pure salt. These days, it's increasingly rare to see a "sander" with sand in it.
Period snow plowing on "the Tug:"
https://youtu.be/TZR2WbD3Hz0
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...
Anyone else have this come to mind when watching the start of that video? Thanks for reminding me how much I loved it ... and find I still do.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Katy_and_the_Big_Snow.html?id=-2fuCgAAQBAJ
tree68Period snow plowing on "the Tug:" https://youtu.be/TZR2WbD3Hz0
I sympathize with the transmissions and clutches on those trucks.
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Paul of Covington I sympathize with the transmissions and clutches on those trucks.
The secret then (as it is now) is to get off it just before impact. Let the momentum of the truck do the work.
tree68 Paul of Covington I sympathize with the transmissions and clutches on those trucks. The secret then (as it is now) is to get off it just before impact. Let the momentum of the truck do the work.
One other thing - back then - materials engineering had not progressed to shaving 1/8 inch here and 1/4 inch there on the mechanicals so 20 cents a unit could be saved in manufacturing costs - as primitive as the engineering of those days was - the intent of their efforts were for the equipment to LAST and LAST and LAST even when abused.
BaltACDOne other thing - back then - materials engineering had not progressed to shaving 1/8 inch here and 1/4 inch there on the mechanicals so 20 cents a unit could be saved in manufacturing costs - as primitive as the engineering of those days was - the intent of their efforts were for the equipment to LAST and LAST and LAST even when abused.
My thoughts as well. Those plows were beasts.
But won't someone think of the poor stockholders?
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Why single out the poor stockholders? What about the rich ones?
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
zugmann BaltACD One other thing - back then - materials engineering had not progressed to shaving 1/8 inch here and 1/4 inch there on the mechanicals so 20 cents a unit could be saved in manufacturing costs - as primitive as the engineering of those days was - the intent of their efforts were for the equipment to LAST and LAST and LAST even when abused. But won't someone think of the poor stockholders?
BaltACD One other thing - back then - materials engineering had not progressed to shaving 1/8 inch here and 1/4 inch there on the mechanicals so 20 cents a unit could be saved in manufacturing costs - as primitive as the engineering of those days was - the intent of their efforts were for the equipment to LAST and LAST and LAST even when abused.
The old timers were - they didn't want to be eaten up with warranty claims to have money taken away from the bottom line. Back then there was no such thing a product recall. In today's world I would like to see just how much 'sharpshooting engineering' is costing the companies in fixing recalls that were caused by engineering 'solutions' that saved a penny a unit and cost $100 a unit to repair.
Also back then, people that owned machines had some mechanical ability, generally enogh to do some elementary maintenance on the machines they owned, in many cases, that is not true today and with the complexity of todays machines - people don't have the mechanical or electronical abilities to do much with todays machines.
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