Rotaries: Avalanche on the Mountain

This one?

That's the one.

That was awesome wheres part 2

That was extra cool because I was just there back in September. Stopped in Roseville and saw the plows. Then drove over Donner Pass, and spent the night in Truckee.

I've always wondered if there was a reason for those comically short-wheelbase trucks on the rotary itself..

---PCJ

That was way too cool

An amazing and fantastic video for study and enjoyment.

Thank you,

Ralph

Why steam operation? or what is the history of these two pieces of equipment/steam? 

As I head out this morning to use the snow blower, first time in several years, you have to wonder about rocks/boulders in all that snow. 

Gets a bit dice-eee when the facing rear snow blower de-rails and they continue on with out it.   

Drinking water would not have been a problem, I think I would have packed a bit more than a sandwich and a candy bar.  It's pretty easy to do (5) days worth of back packing food, no problem. 

Keep in mind there is a lot of sad history about Donner Pass.    

Wish I had one for my driveway.

Those former SP rotary plows are NOT steam operated, however they DO have steam generators on board in order to melt ice/snow off the wheel & running gear under severe conditions. The plows are actually driven by large electric motors which receive their electric power from the former "F B unit" coupled behind the rotary (the "B unit" only provides power to the rotary and can NOT move itself).

Now that was very interesting....amazing piece of equipment.

All of this was explained in the show...that obviously, somebody didn't watch

I must say that the Flanger crew that got stuck was very fortunate that the windows of the unit did not cave in after hitting the wall of snow! 

Another thing that was mentioned was about them using the wings to cut a wider path through the snow for clearance. Most of you may not realize how important this can be to train operations. Back when we used to get a lot of snow, slides would come down the mountainside along the James River. The slides were deep up against the mountain, but shallow on the river side, so trains for the most part didn't have a hard time plowing through them.

The problems would come along later as the snow was basically still brushing up against the train as it passed by. This normally pastoral ride around the river could then turn very hostile. I've seen snow up as high as the top of the side window of the unit and have been told at times it was higher than that. Sometimes, if there happened to be slack in the train while passing through a snow cut, the slide might be vibrated down some more and inadvertently lift a cut lever, causing the train to separate. If this happened, you were in for a very long delay and train crew in for a very dangerous trek to find the problem as walking was hard enough along the river bank in good conditions. Imagine trying to blaze a trail through the snow while all of the time trying to not slide down into the ice cold river.

In times like this, it was a good engineer that knew to keep the slack stretched through these areas in order to prevent unwanted separations and keep his crew safe and warm...on the train.

That is a great show!  Very interesting!

Art

If this happened, you were in for a very long delay and train crew in for a very dangerous trek to find the problem as walking was hard enough along the river bank in good conditions. Imagine trying to blaze a trail through the snow while all of the time trying to not slide down into the ice cold river.

.....and probably carrying( at night) a hand lamp, radio, pipe wrench, and hose bag. (air hose)

I really enjoyed the video,and will watch it again... Thanks for the post.

Thanks for posting Big Jim, enjoyed it.

Jim, were you allowed to set a little air and stretch brake under those conditions?

I enjoyed this video. No hype, no BS, no contrived "drama", just a straightforward telling of a fascinating story...with some great visuals. Thanks for posting this.

Rich,

Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.

But, to be truthful, back then we had officials that were actual RR'ers. Not some CS "Big Eye in the Sky"...if you know what I mean!!!

Yes...I know exactly what you mean. I have had the fortunate opportunity to work with some very good RAILROADERS in my career.  They taught me good train handling skills that serve me well to this day.

We stretch braked a lot where I ran. We had to. And the world did not come to an end...

Now if we can have Part 2. I wonder how they handle the hours of service? Maybe exempt due to under emergency service?  

Curious who operates the flanger?  Is it   a member of the section crew who knows when and where to lift the plow at switches  bridges etc.  . Do flanger crews actually ride in this flanger in the video.  There doesn't seem to be a cupola or bay window to give  a good view on when to lift plow. Any flanges  I've had experience with were placed behind the caboose.

As I watched the video, the circle on the rotary cab window is obvious.  What is it, and how does it work?

You mean these?  It's basically a wiper that keeps that circular glass clear by spinning at a high speed.  It has been used in the marine industry for decades.

Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed watching the video very much. 

Just viewed it. Thanks Big Jim and Matt.

Hello Matt and Big Jim, thanks for bring this to the post and then posting the video.

This was great!!!!!!

I am going to see if I can purchase this show and part two.

Since my layout is a winter scene all year round I have some snow equipment from MTH.

Can't really do much with it other than move it around the layout and park it in sidings.

Never got the nerve to lay down deep artificial snow and try to do any plowing.

I can just imagine where all the flakes of snow would end up inside my steam engines.

I agree with someone else that made the comment why they had such small trucks under the Rotary.

I always thought the models produced of the Rotary the manufacture just put regular freight car trucks under it because it did not move on it's own power.

I was in Truckee a few years ago stopped there for lunch and one of the Rotary's was sitting there on a siding.

There were some UP workers their at the restaurant and we got talking and I asked them  if I could take a look.

They let me walk right up to it and look around.

You don't realize how big that blade and the discharge shoot opening is until you are standing in front of it or looking down in it.

If we continue to keep getting snow here in PA, NS and CSX may have to get the plows out.

Thanks again gentlemen!!!

Did anyone else notice that one of the locos was 8444?

ChipR

Yup.

For some steam era video of SP Rotaries for free, check out the postwar SP "This is my Railroad".

It's on Youtube for viewing (about 21:41):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SspN6D3uF3s

and the Prelinger archive for download.

Neat film from the postwar era where the Espee was trying to attract employees.

Big Jim - thanks for making us aware of the show, and

Matt -  thank you for posting the video.  It was very interesting.

Chris,

Thank you,

Mike

Good news for California. The forecast is calling for four feet of snow in the Sierras. Doubt that's enough to bust out the rotaries though.

Doubtful, lord knows they need the water.

how does the rotary change sides it is throwing the snow to?

The rotary operator changes the discharge chute from right to left, as well as change the rotation of the rotary wheel/blade, i.e. clockwise or counter clockwise rotation.

wouldn't the angle of the blades have to change if the direction of wheel rotation changed?  does that happen?

No, and no.

When the operator wants to change the direction that he want to throw the snow ( left or right) the top of the discharge chute closes which in turns shuts of the previous side but now opens the opposite side. Pretty neat how they thought of this design, simple but effective.

Usually when the situation would arrive that the operator would have to reverse the blade it would most likely be due to the fact that the blade is either plugged or they have a foreign object caught up in the blade.

Well, I'm  still trying to figure out how  the flanger crew knows when to  lift the plow at switches  etc. They  really  can't  see (snow blowing) where they are except for the rear. what am I missing?