Eastern Railroad Discussion > Snowplow Extra: March 2 NYS&W Utica Branch

A bit of serendipity allowed me to catch the New York, Susquehanna & Western Utica crew plowing the line southbound towards Sangerfield, NY late yesterday morning/early afternoon. While the mid 20's temps were not especially frigid, high winds produced a wicked wind chill.

The crew ran into a bit of trouble in Clayville, stopping there to unravel some difficulty, then backing & starting southbound once again.

Conditions in Paris Station, the summit of the ex-DL&W's Utica-Binghamton branch, were especially brutal.

1. "Passing Former DL&W Passenger Station, S Utica"

2. "Passing Former DL&W Passenger Station, Chadwicks"

3. "All Stop, Clayville"

---

---

---

4. "Crossing Main Street, Clayville"

5. "A Drop Of Golden Sun In White Maelstrom, Clayville"

6. "Approaching Dewey Ave, Clayville"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/15 05:55 by ut-1.

---

---

---

7. "Dewey Ave Crossing, Clayville"

8. "Welcome To Paris Station"

9. "Slogging Onward, Paris Station"

---

---

---

10. "Snow Train, Paris Station"

11. "Private Crossing, Paris Station"

12. "Summit Crested, Sangerfield-Bound"

---

---

---

Interesting photos. Do you know the reason for the covered hoopers?
Thanks, John

The covered hoppers were loads bound for Sangerfield; I suspect the crew simply wanted to "kill two birds with one stone" by bringing them along.

Great set of pics. Real railroading by intelligent experienced men on a snowy clogged branch line.

MMMMMMMM
IF they hit a big snow drift the extra weight will help to push thought it.
yours snoopy51

Thanks for an interesting post with great images - although not the Sierra's - by this time of year in Upstate NY snow has long since exceeded its welcome. Doesn't look like much traffic is headed to the lumber shed at Lincoln-Davies (#11) on this day.

Why don't I see the snow being expelled? How exactly is it dispersed?

melalbert Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why don't I see the snow being expelled? How
> exactly is it dispersed?


It's a bit hard to see in these photos (because there wasn't a tremendous amount of snow & the train was only moving 10-15 mph, hence no dramatic plow v. snow shots here), but as is more evident in an earlier post here, http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,3660116, wings extend off both sides of the plow and, of course, the front end of Susquehanna Jordan plow 95 is, well, a plow.

Here's a photo of how the tracks in S Utica looked after the plow train passed by.

And, by the way, thanks for all the feedback. I'm a new to railroad photography having just started a few months ago. Having a lot of fun taking photos of action on the Utica branch, a line I've been following since grade school (mid-60's).

---