The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-01-23
ROTARIES CLEAR THE TRACK.
Defeat Of the Storm King Along the
Central Route.
PASSENGER TRAFFIC THROUGH SNOW.
Up on the Oregon Road, However, 1t Will
Take Much Time to Repair the
Damage Of the Avalanche.

SACRAMENTO, Jan. 22.-The storm in the
Sierra Nevadas and along the Oregon line
through the Shasta Mountains still con-
tinues, and with apparently no sign of
cessation in its violence.
Despite the enormous snowfall and the
drifts caused by the heavy winds the rail
road officials have been enabled to keep
the road through the Sierra Nevadas en-
tirely clear, and passenger trains are NOV
ing nearly on time.
Not only is there no stoppage of travel
on account of the heavy snowfall, but
freight to the amount OF over 100 cars is
being forwarded daily to Eastern points.
Freight trains, to be sure, are not run
ming on time, but advantage is being taken
of every lull in the storm to pass them on
ward to some point where they can be tenn
porarily Sidetracked until the condition of
the road to the next available point can be
ascertained. No chances are taken in the
moving of traffic, and the road must be alb
solutely clear before trains are moved.
Never have the railroad officials been so
perfectly supplied with the means of meet
ing the assaults of the storm king as they
are at the present period, and they assert
that they will be able to keep the tracks
clear without difficulty unless some I'M
foreseen accident occurs.
Three rotary snowplows are kept con-
stantly moving on the exposed portion of
the track, and gangs of experienced snow
shoyelers are scattered along at all the
threatened points and can be conveyed to
any place on the road on short notice.
At a few points on the line it has been
found necessary to broaden the space
between the snowbanks by shoveling, but
in the main the rotaries have been all
sufficient to remove the snow deposits as
fast as they fall. Working in three feet of
snow these machines will throw to dis
lance of 300 feet. So as to give a clearer
idea of their power, if one was run through
the streets of Sacramento with that depth
of snow to battle with it would throw the
snow over two-story buildings and deposit
it in the back alleys. In heavy drifts of
eight feet and upward the machines throw
to distance of fifty feet and possibly
little farther.
Travel is temporarily stopped on account
of the enormous avalanche that occurred
on Monday in the canyon, near Castle
Crag. The railroad company has large
force of men engaged in clearing the track,
and the officials hope to be able to forward
trains to-day. Local trains between this
city and Red Bluff are running by way of
Marysville without hindrance.
A heavy washout in the vicinity of Will
lows has caused that line to be abandoned
temporarily. At present the track where
the washout occurred near Dunnigan is en-
tirely covered with water, and it is simply
impossible to ascertain the amount of dam
age incurred or the necessary time that
will be required to make the needed re-
pairs.
There is a remarkable similarity between
the present storm and the one that oc-
CURED in January, 1890. Both began on
the same date, the 18th, and statistics
show that nearly the same amount of
rain fell on similar dates. The storm of
1890, which caused such an absolute block
ade in the Sierras, lasted fifteen days, and
by present appearances it will be equaled,
if not surpassed, by the one now raging.
The official reports for the last twenty
four hours show the snowfall to have been:
Truckee 3 inches, on the ground feet;
Summit Is inches, on the ground 90 feet;
Cascade 20 inches, on the ground II feet 1
inch; Emigrant Gap 10 inches, on the
ground IA feet Z inches; Blue Canyon 5
inches, on the ground feet.
The railroad company will tonight send
up from Oakland force of 100 men with
hydraulic pumps and other apparatus to
sluice out the snow that now dams up the
canyon of the Sacramento River and the
railroad in the vicinity of Castle Crap near
Dunsmuir. Monitors will be turned upon
the snowbanks until they are cut through.