New York State getting plowed with Russell and Jordan

Thought I'd offer some pics of the good old days (about 30 years ago) to warm you on these chilly days...
2/1/1977 - CR 7687 leading the northbound "Salt Shaker" over the former B&O
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444721

2/4/1977 - NYC X639 on Conrail Buffalo-Rochester main with RS3/GP35/GP7 approaching CP373 by General Railway Signal along West Ave.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444725
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444730
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444736

2/4/1977 - One of Conrail's hot piggybacks, TV5 with the only CR SD9 I saw, #6920, at CP369
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444739

At Atlantic Ave, CR U25B 2605 and friend with (count 'em) two plows
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444769

1/23/1978 - CR 64509 & Alcos at Stutson St and River St - a couple time exposures
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444774
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444776

A short time later, a block up River St, a CR RS3m at an iced-over crossing
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444786
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444787

2/1979 - A C&O plow up from Salamanca, with road power at Lincoln Park, Rochester
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1444717

Great Stuff!! Thanks for sharing! Liked the second night time exposure one with the head light lighting up the cars and the bridge. And also the....heck!, liked 'em all!!

chris

Boy, it doesn't seem like those Russell plows would push much snow off to the side with all that build-up on them. Nice pics - thanks for posting!

Bob, great stuff! Thanks for sharing the great vintage Rochester stuff!

Nice pictures!! I clicked the topic just because I thought it was spam....

keeper1616 wrote:Nice pictures!! I clicked the topic just because I thought it was spam....

lol- I edited the title slightly to make it sound less like spam... Geez Cyrus, what were YOU thinking? lol

Otto Vondrak wrote:lol- I edited the title slightly to make it sound less like spam...

I was intending to do New York State, as this is the New York forum. I figured on adding to this as I dig up slides from other cities...
L&HR 105, snow flanger, on the caboose track at Warwick on 3-27-1976
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1446011
Zooming in on the build date, it looks to me like 10-14. I think I heard or read somewhere that this was an ex-O&W flanger. Kind of funny seeing two stacks; twin engine, maybe? Or just that L&HR wanted to keep the crews warm?

Wow, I think I read elsewhere that was the flanger completely reconditioned at Warwick just before LHR went into Conrail?

Well these photos of plows are all Rochester jobs, most likely, their speed was in the range of 10-15mph. The 3 unit set on the mains was most likely returning to Goodman St., after clearing, controled sidings, the West Shore, other areas serviced by the locals. So the snow remaining on the plow didn't have the momentum to toss it aside during the plowing process. Then again, I've seen engines coming from Watertown off the St.Lawrence sub. after doing 25 mph most of the trip and the plows are packed tight with snow.

A few more photos at Stutson St and River St in Charlotte, 2-12-1977. Plow extra is getting ready to run west on the Hojack Line. I recall another railfan reporting that this one derailed after hitting a drift or iced-over crossing around Hilton.
Still lettered for NYC, X638 front and rear views
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1446956
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1446959
You know your plow extra has class when it's powered by an F7 (#1725)
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1446962
CR GP35 #2340 and trailing plow; sorry I didn't get road number, but I think it's lettered for PC
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1446965

bluegrass-express wrote:

Otto Vondrak wrote:lol- I edited the title slightly to make it sound less like spam...

I was intending to do New York State, as this is the New York forum. I figured on adding to this as I dig up slides from other cities...
L&HR 105, snow flanger, on the caboose track at Warwick on 3-27-1976
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1446011
Zooming in on the build date, it looks to me like 10-14. I think I heard or read somewhere that this was an ex-O&W flanger. Kind of funny seeing two stacks; twin engine, maybe? Or just that L&HR wanted to keep the crews warm?

Yes, built Oct. 1914, by the O&W at their Middletown shops, as their R-4. Bought from the O&W estate in 1957 by the L&HR. It was only used once or twice by the L&H, but was maintained, up til the end; it had been repainted and relettered about a year before the CR takeover.

The two 'stacks' are stove smokejacks; there is no kind of engine inside (I spent time inside it measuring and taking pictures in the seventies). The two blades were lifted and lowered by two vertically mounted steam locomotive tender airbrake cylinders, through a series of levers, inside the carbody. 'Power' came from the airbrake train line, applied by valves in the cupola. (The operator would be in the cupola; the blades had to be lifted to clear things like switches, grade crossings, and bridge guard rails.)

The 105 was saved, and still exists in Phillipsburg NJ, minus its cupola (it had to removed for clearance purposes when the car was trucked to its current location).

'Power' came from the airbrake train line

Don't you mean main reservoir?

It depends on how far upstream you want to trace the air supply. OMID has a flanger which sounds somewhat similar as far as the "workings" goes. It has two large reservoirs on the roof which are charged via the trainline. As on the L&HR flanger, inside the back of the car are levers, an air cylinder and various counterweights.

So to clarify Luther's post, the "power" ultimately begins with the locomotive, operating the air pump or compressor. That air is sent via the train line (see below) to the flanger reservoirs, and thence to the cylinders which operate the flanger itself.

One addition - IIRC, the OMID flanger (which is ex MILW) has two options - air can be taken from the train line itself, or via a second hose which connects to the main reservoir MU hose on a locomotive. I KNOW their Jordan Spreader had that set-up and THINK the flanger did also.

I don't know about the L&HR flanger, but the OMID one uses the air to RAISE the flanger blade, and gravity to lower it. In theory at least, if the operator misses a farm crossing or obstruction, the flanger blade will ride up, over, and down again. I did use that function on purpose sometimes on dirt farm crossings, but would not want to try it on a switch or a concrete highway crossing.

BR&P wrote:It depends on how far upstream you want to trace the air supply. OMID has a flanger which sounds somewhat similar as far as the "workings" goes. It has two large reservoirs on the roof which are charged via the trainline. As on the L&HR flanger, inside the back of the car are levers, an air cylinder and various counterweights.

So to clarify Luther's post, the "power" ultimately begins with the locomotive, operating the air pump or compressor. That air is sent via the train line (see below) to the flanger reservoirs, and thence to the cylinders which operate the flanger itself.

One addition - IIRC, the OMID flanger (which is ex MILW) has two options - air can be taken from the train line itself, or via a second hose which connects to the main reservoir MU hose on a locomotive. I KNOW their Jordan Spreader had that set-up and THINK the flanger did also.

I don't know about the L&HR flanger, but the OMID one uses the air to RAISE the flanger blade, and gravity to lower it. In theory at least, if the operator misses a farm crossing or obstruction, the flanger blade will ride up, over, and down again. I did use that function on purpose sometimes on dirt farm crossings, but would not want to try it on a switch or a concrete highway crossing.

That's for the clarification, BR&P. I am sure the farm crossing made an "interesting" sound and sight as they were blast away. LOL. Sometimes if it has no right to be there, the easiest way to clear up the problem is by a quick action machine. Concrete sounds like it might make for an interesting challenge however.

Believe me, the sound of that machine was a trip! While in theory once the blade was lowered no adjustments were being made, actually it was a cacophony of clanks, bangs, jingles, rumbles, rattles and about any other noise you can imagine. And all that's WITHOUT going over a farm crossing.

I will say it was tweaked pretty well, and did the job it was intended for without problems. We bought an oil-fired caboose stove from the caboose motel at Avoca - at the time they were just putting the motel together - and the cab of the flanger was nice and toasty.

Originally it had two flanger blades, one for each direction. By the time we got it one had been removed but the operating levers were still there for the other, as well as the mechanism in the end where all the cables, counterweights etc were.