Snowplow Wreck Video

Wow, I bet that was a fun ride.

Thanks for posting the video. Went up in the air, ay!

 

franktrain

Wow, glad I don't have to explain that one!

Wow,, theres some snow.. Thanks for sharing, Cool video..

not to repeat what's already been said but,, WOW

Now there's something that, in today's world, would probably make it to the Yahoo! news page!

Aaron

Just goes to show you, this business of Railroading can get dangerous.  Those guys were lucky or perhaps their guardian angel was looking out for them.  Being in a moving vehicle that gets thrown around like that and ends up on it's side usually results in pretty serious injuries.

 

Paul Fischer

Any winter railroading is potentially dangerous. I remember that during the great snow storms and sub-zero mess of the winter of 1978/1979 here in the Chicago area, the BN had to bring in the rotary snow plow from Lincoln, Nebraska. They were plowing out the Clyde Yard, and were not aware that a rail gange had left their oxy-acytelen torch set lying by a track in the yard. The rotary operator almost had a heart attack when he saw the two tanks come flying out of the snow chute on the rotary!  Those guys were VERY lucky THAT day.

This video was on RFD TV about a month ago, although I don't have that channel I saw it  twice at a couple of model RR friends homes, who taped it.  As it happened a loud WOW was heard by everyone in the neighborhood.  The entire video is on snow removal about 1 hour long.

 

Jack

 

 

There was a movie in 1956 titled "Somebody Up There Likes Me".

Amen.

 

Many thanks for posting that Video.

 

Billy C

What I find amazing is the wreck took place in March of 71...but at 3:37 in the clip a post 1979 Dodge Van (ambulance) pulls up to the scene.

The taillight configuration is definitely from a 1980 or 81 model year Dodge ....or even later.

Hello Thanks for sharing that video. That had to be one of those oh @#$% moments for sure.

Does anyone know on a snow plow like this does the crew in the plow itself control the speed of the power units or do they just have radio communication with the engine crew in the power units and tell them whats happening in front of the plow?

 

That had to be a heck of a ride!!!!

Wow..a class E ticket ride for sure!

Now, was that a '69 Doo Olympic I spied at 2:33?...reminds me of my old '72 TNT 

Can you imagine that conversation with dispatch?

 

"Dispatch....you're not going to believe this...."

Sounds like you have been listening to too many Lionel model locomotives! The term "Dispatch" is used in the Taxi Cab business. The term "Dispatcher" is the railroad term.

Does anyone know on a snow plow like this does the crew in the plow itself control the speed of the power units or do they just have radio communication with the engine crew in the power units and tell them whats happening in front of the plow?

 

 Snow plow crew  has no control of the speed but does communicate with the engine crew via radio telly the engine crew what they wanted. They did have an emergency brake though. In steam  days whistle signals.  The snow plow crew is usually 2 members and are kept busy,, They have to lift the nose of the plow at every switch and road crossing. It fits down between the rails.

They also have to look after the whistle for road crossing the also the side wings that go out & in for switch stands and bridges etc.  The plow crew is also qualified in train operations and writes the same test as engineman & conductors. In train order territory they would also  get a set of  orders.  I actually liked working snow plows   but hated anything with a Jordon spreader.

I saw that video on RFD, and that was an amazingly lucky crew.

I n my younger days I used to like to ride  in the plow and do the radio/ whistle work. However after watching the video ...  That's down right scary.... One of the causes of derailments on branch lines were  snowmobile crossing the track in wet snow  filling in the flange. It freezes to ice and along comes the train the next day... most times it makes it over the ice but not always.

On the current, modernized, rotary snow plows, the plow operator also has a control stand in order to operate his own "pusher" diesel units, which are MU'ed right to the rotary snow plow. It is possible that the "push type" wedge plows up in Canada, have also been modernized to MU with the trailing "pusher" diesel units.

I doubt it, we're not going to let  inexperienced section crews  control  engines especially in the winter . Keep those brake shoes hot

That doesn't sound like a logical answer. Obviously, I don't know how things are operated in Canada, but on U.S. railroads, an FRA ticketed Engineer operates the rotary plow consist, with a Pilot Engineer in the rotary cab also, who is familiar/qualified over that territory.

  Hotwater , we don't have any rotary plows,  Russel plows  are used most of the time.

 

 

Hello Greg, thanks for the information about the crews on the snow plows.

And thanks again for posting the video.