Western Railroad Discussion > New rotary snow plough question

The discussion about the rotary snow plough at the CSRM got me wondering who could build new rotary snow ploughs today.

I realize that they are speciaized pieces of equipment with a very long service life.

OCV

At this point pretty much every plow still running is brand new, BNSF and UP have done some pretty extensive rebuilding programs in the last 10 years.  

Would snow blowers be the modern day equivalent?  Zaugg of Switzerland manufactures
snow blowers for use in many applications.  Manitou & Pikes Peak received a new Zaugg
unit just over two years ago with claims it can clear drifts up to 3 meters(10'). 

Seen on being delivered at Manitou Springs in March 2021.  Photo from the European-based
site RailColorNews



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/23 21:22 by milepost20.

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I wonder how that thing would make out on Donner….
SR

Probably destroy itself......

Oh no, not the Swiss plow debate again. I remember when I started on TO years ago there was a poster that swore they would work on Donner.

Posted from iPhone

It looks like that thing only has one axle at each end.  If so, I bet it would come off the rails from time to time.  

I might think it would bury itself, dig into a drift and bury itself.

Out 

Yep, we beat that topic to small pieces but it keeps coming back.

At one time we had JLY put in a few words, the issues become the 100 mile snow district, the type of snow, the concept of avalanches and crew safety. The Western RR's have identified some serious design challenges that worked surprisingly well during the steam era.

The recent rebuilds look very well designed. But they only get one or two runs a season and then it's back into the shops. Last season they did have extra time and extra snow, maybe they worked out some bugs.

Always liked the 'Battle for Donner Pass' DVD the best though.

Two more photos of the Zaugg unit under construction in November 2020.  Not a serious
contender for the heavy duty North American class I market.  More appropriate for light
duty branches in the Alps and used on a regular basis to keep the tourists and skiers happy.
They do cite the following specs:

• Capacity: 4,200 tonnes of snow per hour
• Cutting reels diameter: 120 cm
• The capability of removal 3 m tall, 6 m wide snow drifts
• Ability to blow snow 30 to 60 m off the line

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What kind of plows are used in CPR and CN?

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> What kind of plows are used in CPR and CN?
>
> Posted from Android

They don't have rotary plows anymore, they use older wedge-style plows and Jordan Spreaders. Much of the snow accumulation is engineered out by making cuts wider to reduce wind-blown accumulation.

Worth noting that the rotary plow was a Canadian invention.

This unit has two unpowered axles, this railway snow clearer must be pushed to work.
It can rotate within its own length but the rack locomotive has to be on the rear of the
snow clearer to control its ascent or descent.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/23 08:33 by leon.