SnowPlows

Are the Railroads still buying Snowplows ? or are they still using plows made many years ago?

I think most of them are still using very old plows, which seem to last forever. Pan Am Railways has some old Maine Central plows that date back to the early 1930s. Even Union Pacific has a lot of snow fighting equipment that is positively ancient.

The old plows don't see much use in the summer out side of maybe a few MOW projects here and there Parts if anything could be replaced with a simple drive to a caterpiller dealer ship for some cylinders or replacment hoses when need be.

I know I have been seeing many snowplows and they don't look like they are new but as long as they can still do the job required, more power to them.
Thank You all for your answers.

With modern technology, there is no real need for standalone snowplows to be built anymore. All the class 1's and many regionals still have plenty of older plows that work fine in the rare instance they are needed. Jordan Spreaders, Snow Dozers and Rotaries are also plentiful compared to actual need.

Modern locomotives have effective plows and are heavy enough that so long as train frequency remains in proportion to snowfall, you never really need to use a large plow. You will find them on branch lines that see few trains a week or in areas like the plains and mountains that see huge snowdrifts. But the vast majority of mainlines have enough trains moving to handle any real snowfall without specialized equipment.

UP has never been afraid to spend HUGE amounts of $$ on modern equipment that it needs. Yet they are still using equipment fron the 60's for most snowfighting. That should tell you something.

I rember about 2 years ago there was a Union Pacific Jordon Spreader sitting in DeWitt Yard in Syracuse, NY I think it was UP 909031 or something like that? I wonder why it would have strayed so far on off UP Rails to end up in a CSX Yard??

I came across this photo of an MM&A plow train: http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=218706&nseq=1 When plowing, who rides the plow and with all the blowing snow how does the engineer know what's ahead (crossings, signal changes, etc.)? Does a 2nd engineer or conductor ride the plow and relay information back?

There is a crew of two or three people in the cab of the plow, along with a crew of one or two in the locomotive. The two crews stay in contact via radio.

tj48 wrote:I came across this photo of an MM&A plow train: http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=218706&nseq=1 When plowing, who rides the plow and with all the blowing snow how does the engineer know what's ahead (crossings, signal changes, etc.)? Does a 2nd engineer or conductor ride the plow and relay information back?

A Local MOW guy will ride in the cab of the snow plow and or snow blower along with the operator. The mow guy is assigned to cover X amount of miles with in a block and should know the section in which he works just like a locomotive engineer. They will change mow guys before they enter new blocks and track sections..

Thanks for the answers.

tj48 wrote:I came across this photo of an MM&A plow train: http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=218706&nseq=1 When plowing, who rides the plow and with all the blowing snow how does the engineer know what's ahead (crossings, signal changes, etc.)? Does a 2nd engineer or conductor ride the plow and relay information back?

That plow photo "set as desktop" is an awsome background on my computer. Thanks!

NV290 wrote:
UP has never been afraid to spend HUGE amounts of $$ on modern equipment that it needs. Yet they are still using equipment fron the 60's for most snowfighting. That should tell you something.

And it shows; Their snowplows are still around and kicking.

The difference between a snowplow and a bulldozer is that when the engine on the bulldozer dies, after a while, you get a new bulldozer. With a railroad snow plow, just hook up a newer locomotive to it, and off you go.

Here's a couple of plows at the WPrr Museum in Portola, CA