Mattapan Snow Blower

OK...so what sort of device/technology, if any, would be more effective at clearing snow and ice from the tracks? Are we "stuck" with something like this contraption for as long as the PCCs are vulnerable to snow?

How many gallons of diesel would a locomotive burn in a day of service?

Are you suggesting that the unimpeachable Globe might have an agenda, danib ? My goodness ! (I was hoping that they were recently going to take a nosedive and get replaced by a more reputable newspaper such as The National Enquirer.)

Jee-zus. This thing's used like, half a dozen times per year in near-record snowy winters. And only after very large accumulations like these blizzards we've been hit with. There are some winters where we barely get anything that size and they don't operate at all.

You really think a hi-rail truck is going to have a fun time clearing out 1-1/2 feet of heavy wet snow the likes we had a few weeks ago on miles and miles of tracks? Or that there's a whole bunch of century-old Type 3 plows just lying around? Or that any old traction car or RR set is capable of being retrofitted into a monster-power snow annihilator? Or that some expensive new 'green' vehicle's going to prevent the entire above-ground subway system and every single CR line from getting shut down for any less than a week if we get another Blizzard of '78?

RR's and snowbelt transit agencies have these jet-fuel behemoths because they can overpower any amount or consistency of snow and clear the tracks bare FAST to quickly get service operating again well before all roads are even drivable. They Just Work™. That's why everybody has them. And I guarantee they waste less fuel than Logan does plowing its runways nonstop with huge diesel plows for 24 hours straight and using thousands of gallons of harsh petroleum-based chemical deicer every time it sleets. While sending and receiving hardly any flights because of the way snowstorms cascade delays across the country these days from all of the less snow-capable airline megahubs.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:Jee-zus. This thing's used like, half a dozen times per year in near-record snowy winters. And only after very large accumulations like these blizzards we've been hit with. There are some winters where we barely get anything that size and they don't operate at all.

You really think a hi-rail truck is going to have a fun time clearing out 1-1/2 feet of heavy wet snow the likes we had a few weeks ago on miles and miles of tracks? Or that there's a whole bunch of century-old Type 3 plows just lying around? Or that any old traction car or RR set is capable of being retrofitted into a monster-power snow annihilator? Or that some expensive new 'green' vehicle's going to prevent the entire above-ground subway system and every single CR line from getting shut down for any less than a week if we get another Blizzard of '78?

RR's and snowbelt transit agencies have these jet-fuel behemoths because they can overpower any amount or consistency of snow and clear the tracks bare FAST to quickly get service operating again well before all roads are even drivable. They Just Work™. That's why everybody has them. And I guarantee they waste less fuel than Logan does plowing its runways nonstop with huge diesel plows for 24 hours straight and using thousands of gallons of harsh petroleum-based chemical deicer every time it sleets. While sending and receiving hardly any flights because of the way snowstorms cascade delays across the country these days from all of the less snow-capable airline megahubs.

You guys know that the T has a ballast regulator with a railroad-scale snowblower on the back end, right?
It was out clearing the line after last weeks storm. Seemed to have no problem at all moving foot or so of snow at about 5mph.