Lets see your Russell style Snow Plow car

Sounds like a great project.  Show us your build pictures when you get a chance.

Are you building a single-track plow or a two-track plow?   I think commercial ones are single track (MTH/Atlas), but if you are scratch building a plow, a two-track one would be unique.  Plus I think the plow would be simpler to form.

There are lots of photos on the internet for both.

Charlie;

Here is a pic of my Strasburg Russell Plow from the latest Atlas run…

MTH Maine Central plow.

John

1/1 scale Maine Central plow.

John

The Atlas plow above seems to be a reincarnation of the MTH Russel Plow.  I believe Atlas now uses a lot of MTH's old tooling.  Here are two of mine, both from MTH.  A New York Central and an Alaska Rail Road.

From MTH, these Russell plows came with removable front couplers and a "plate" to cover the hole in the plow face when "removing snow".  I would think the Atlas plow is the same.  Scratch building a plow you wouldn't need the front coupler unless you plan on moving it from place to place in a train when not needed for snow duty.  Although the picture of the 1:1 plow does show the front coupler.

Joe, the Atlas plow was made from MTH tooling.

John

That's what I thought but I didn't want to make a definitive statement because I don't "Know" which tooling went to which importer.

Great responses all.  Ron:  I am modeling a single track snow plow as my layout does not have any double tracks.  I am  still painting.  The car project has taken much longer to do verses my other car builds like the Vanderbilt tenders and the Life Saver car.  It will not be an exact Russell car as mine started as a junk caboose.

Charlie

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

Great responses all.  Ron:  I am modeling a single track snow plow as my layout does not have any double tracks.  I am  still painting.  The car project has taken much longer to do verses my other car builds like the Vanderbilt tenders and the Life Saver car.  It will not be an exact Russell car as mine started as a junk caboose.

Charlie

Do you mean "trucks" not "tracks"? That seems to make more sense IMNSHO.

Charlie;

Since you are scratch building your plow, here are a few more close up photos of my Atlas version. Best of luck with the build.

@PRRMP54 posted:

Do you mean "trucks" not "tracks"? That seems to make more sense IMNSHO.

A single-track plow moves snow to both sides of the track.  The MTH (now Atlas) Russell style plow is a single-track design.  A double-track plow moves snow to only one side of the track so as to not cover the parallel track with snow.  Charlie commented that making the single-track plow was challenging.  The double-track design just looked easier to build and unique in O.

Ron   Thanks for the enlightment on single track plow and double track plow.

Paul  Thanks for postsing the great pictures of your Atlas snow plow.  My homemade Russell will not be that beauiful but I am trying.  Still in the painting and detail stage.

Charlie

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

Ron   Thanks for the enlightment on single track plow and double track plow.

Paul  Thanks for postsing the great pictures of your Atlas snow plow.  My homemade Russell will not be that beauiful but I am trying.  Still in the painting and detail stage.

Charlie

While yours may not be “that beautiful”, it will be something better - something you built yourself… something I haven’t the skill to even attempt!!! Look forward to seeing your creation.

Paul

Thanks for the response.  I enjoy making or modifing cars a favorite part of model railroading along with making buildings like a round house and a homemade turn table.  So this snow plow is a great project.

Charlie

@Steam Crazy posted:

1/1 scale Maine Central plow.

John

Wow, after all these years, I had no idea they were built here in Western Pennsylvania.  Looking on a Pennsylvania Visitors' site, I see they went out of business around 1960.  No wonder I didn't know about them; I was 4.

Thank you, John!!

Double track plows are indeed unique in O gauge. In fact, I've never seen one commercially made. Maybe in O scale, but I've not seen that either. This presented a challenge, and a number of years ago, I decided to do something about the lack of said plow. Check out the pictures below. The front end is completely scratch built. The plow men's postition was a cupola from an SP caboose, while the rear started life as a Lionel bunk car, and was very heavily modified. The wings do swing out on both sides.

Chris (P&O)

The double track plow in action. The right wing is out, throwing the snow over to the next track for the rotary to blow it away.

@lehighline posted:

Double track plows are indeed unique in O gauge. In fact, I've never seen one commercially made. Maybe in O scale, but I've not seen that either. This presented a challenge, and a number of years ago, I decided to do something about the lack of said plow. Check out the pictures below. The front end is completely scratch built. The plow men's postition was a cupola from an SP caboose, while the rear started life as a Lionel bunk car, and was very heavily modified. The wings do swing out on both sides.

Chris (P&O)

The double track plow in action. The right wing is out, throwing the snow over to the next track for the rotary to blow it away.

Very nice craftsmanship. Looks professionally made, Chris!

Great work on the double plow, Chris!

Chris

Thanks for posting your great homemade double snow plow.  Hope mine single snow plow comes out that well.

Charlie

My friend Terry is a retired machinist. IMHO, his modeling skills are exceptional. Some time prior to MTH coming out with their version of the Russel snow plow, he built a single track version completely from scratch, except for the trucks and horn. This is the US version of the Russel , which is noticably longer than the Canadian version, which is what MTH used. Here are a couple of shots of the result of his effort.

Chris (P&O)

@lehighline posted:

My friend Terry is a retired machinist. IMHO, his modeling skills are exceptional. Some time prior to MTH coming out with their version of the Russel snow plow, he built a single track version completely from scratch, except for the trucks and horn. This is the US version of the Russel , which is noticably longer than the Canadian version, which is what MTH used. Here are a couple of shots of the result of his effort.

Chris (P&O)

It’s no surprise that Terry did this. He turns out some incredible work. The work he does with the Live Steamers is a testament to his work

Terry’s Russell looks really great!  What craftsmanship!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Terry’s Russell looks really great!  What craftsmanship!

Mark his work is truly outstanding.