Snow removal and other odd creatures

[Mike Fox]

A double headed Diesel plow extra should do the job. Times like this a second diesel would be handy.

[Ira Schreiber]

Last Saturday, I picked up a copy of the specs for the DRGW flanger at the Colorado Railroad Museum. If I can scan and transmit it, you will see how it is built.
Yes, it does use a brake cylinder to raise the flanger.


As a side note, back when I was railroading in Nebraska, I had a GP-9 to open up the line. The Road Foreman told me to STOP and pick all the crossings. I came to a farmers access, not even a marked crossing but a couple of planks. Since there were no tire tracks, I proceeded across at about 5 mph. BAD decision as I heard the lead truck head off in another direction.
I called the RM and he aked if I had picked the crossing. I said "no" and he informed me that I derailed it and I could put it back on. Using tie plates and angle bars and my extensive vocabulary, after several hours it was back on the rails.
Lesson learned....

[Duncan Mackiewicz]

The mainline may seem a bit much for the average snowblower but a tractor-mounted unit would easily ride on the rails and do the job. I know it's not as it was done back in the day but it's very efficient. John Deere tractors can mount a 44" snowblower that would sit on the rails. With some guide wheels mounted on the frame of the tractor, I suspect such a unit would do a respectable job of keeping up with snow up to 12" at a time. It will do deeper snow but moves more slowly.

[Dave Crow]

I know it's been said in earlier threads, but we would need two of those awesome 44" snowblowers to really do justice to clearing the right of way.  Most of our railroad equipment is about 6'-6" (78") wide, so two blowers side-by-side would make a cut wide enough for us to run trains.  Grade crossings and other flangeway areas would still need hand cleaning to reduce the ice build-up. For what it's worth...

[Mike Fox]

Thy do have bigger blowers. Some shaft driven.

[Wayne Laepple]

We seem to be glossing over a question I raised last week. Are we keeping the railroad open just for fun, or are we doing it for some economic gain to the museum? If we're doing it for fun, that's okay, and we should go ahead and build a replica flanger and plow as we have the time and money. On the other hand, if we're doing it to extend the operating season and/or to accommodate charter operations, we should mechanize snow removal as much as possible to be done expeditiously and inexpensively. Also, if we're extending the operating season, we better think about heat for the gift shop, restrooms and even the coaches, and we have to keep the parking lot and walkways clear of snow, too.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Hey guys,

In years past we kept the railroad open on the premise of keeping it available for use just in case.  In the early years it got used by our own crews mainly to get the cutting crew to the tree-clearing front.  That lost favor as railroad construction lagged behind tree clearing, making the hike undesirable.  The habit of keeping the line open continued past it's prime by several years, mainly by James and I, until logic eventually won out. 

This year is plainly for a revenue purpose.  In the future I hope we can entertain some small level of revenue winter operation- in part, to be honest, to give us a legitimate excuse to clear the line.  At this point i'd vote for hibernation until we have a real winter program ready to go.

As for method I just don't see a problem with the wedge plows.  We had no difficulty through 2+ feet of snow- granted some situations will be harder.  It's quick, very dramatic (i.e. fun) when it goes well, and it's historically accurate.  My point is- even for revenue operations, I don't see any reason to break the historic mold here (of wedge-plowing); in fact it's something we could be proud of and promote someday, especially with a proper wooden wedge plow and flanger set. 

see ya
Jason

[Bill Fortier]

From a review of an On3 flanger kit in the November, 1991 issue of Model Railroader:



The prototype was built in 1885 and rebuilt in 1913 and 1941. I'm guessing the target on the blade mechanism is there to let the engine crew know if the blade is up or down.

How similar or different is this from the Maine 2-foot flangers?

[James Patten]

Quite different.  Because Maine 2 foot flangers didn't have air to operate the blade, they operated it manually.  So the flanger was enclosed so the crew wouldn't be so exposed to the weather.  I think the blade itself was double pointed, so that the car didn't have to be turned.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Yes,  The D&RGW flangers worked well, one is still used on the D&S.  As to the Maine two-foot flangers, as James noted some had blades that were double sided.  The flanger cars looked a bit like a short caboose.  You can tell the difference because the side windows had swing out wind screen windows.  The only flanger with D&RGW style spreader blades was the B&SR flanger which is in Bridgton.