Snow removal

[Mike Fox]

Shovelling the crossing and waiting a week did the trick. Very little ice left on it today. Lots of Ice on Averil Road to chip out though. Made it all the way to Albee's Crossing on the Main line. One of those days I wish I had my camera with me, instead of in the pick-up. The snow was extremely hard, and flew far, but slowed the diesel quickly and progress was slow. Would have made for some great video. Pardon me while I keep kicking myself.

[Stephen Hussar]

Some pics from our plowing adventure yesterday... I think James worked harder than No 52 just having to shift gears so many times...quite a workout.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Great pictures Steve,  I like the shot from the running board and the line side where you just see 52's headlight and the snow flying. 

[Mike Fox]

Still wish we could have gotten that trestle shot. Snow was really flying there. Right to the woods.

[John A. Craft]

I think James worked harder than No 52 just having to shift gears so many times...quite a workout.

How much would it cost to pick up 10, point her north, and attach that plow? 

JAC

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Hi John,  Lets see, the cost of turning #10 - about the cost of a turntable ...  It should be possible in the next couple of years.

[Keith Taylor]

Stewart,
While not "cheap" I've seen steam locomotives turned by running them up a ramp onto a flat bed trailer, the backing the loco off the trailer onto track up on a cribbing pile. Drive the trailer to the other side of the cribbing pile, and load the loco back onto the trailer. Back to the ramp and Voila! The loco is now headed in the opposite direction!
Keith

[Ken Fleming]

If #10's center of gravity is forward of firebox and aft of the last driver. then #10 could jacked up and "spun".  There are pancake jacks, or with a pit between ties, a 20 ton bottle jack, for moving heavier equipment than #10 out there.   Possible with a 1" steel plate between the rails and a custom jig for lifting #10 to turn it.  We only need a couple of inches to do it, plus a few people to do it.  I used to run an Electro-Switch tamper (close to #10 in weight) was turned this way by me alone.  Just a thought, don't kill me for thinking it.

[Stephen Hussar]

I know John is only "half kidding," but I think No 10 is actually too light for plowing anyway... I'm sure No 9 will fare better....facing north of course

[Tom Casper]

Till a TT goes in, Has a decision on which direction #9 will face been made?

Tom C.

[Gordon Cook]

A couple of observations about plowing:
Not sure if #10 is better than #52 for plowing. When we were double heading to plow for the 2007 Christmas trains, the problem was that #10 would slip on the snowy rails. At that point the speed would drop quickly to zero.
The plow that is on #52 now is designed to lift and throw the snow, and when the speed drops below the point at which the snow is thrown off to the side, it quickly builds up a pile in front of the plow and stalls. If you watch the videos you can see when this happens.
As for turning #10, personally I would love to be able to run the other way once in a while. I bet if it was a priority then our brain trust could figure out how to do it without a real turntable.
Right now, #9 faces south, or at least the frame and cylinders do. It wouldn't be a trivial exercise to change that because the frame and cylinders are pretty heavy and are currently on blocks, so they would have to be put on some sort of shop dolly, backed out of the shop, and turned around somehow.  I haven't heard of any plans to do that.

[James Patten]

The quality of snow depends on the difficulty of plowing.

With our attempts this year, the snow was heavy with multiple layers and ice on the rails.  I'm sure the ice was what helped stop us even with a head of speed built up.

Jason plowed to the yard limit earlier in the winter and encountered no trouble at all.  At that point the snow was relatively fluffy.

[John A. Craft]

I know John is only "half kidding," but I think No 10 is actually too light for plowing anyway... 

As a practical matter, I'm sure you're right.

As a subject of photography, though, it sure would look lovely tossing a few inches of snow off the ROW. 

Were any of the WW&F locos equipped for plowing? 

JAC