The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-02-18

sliding back to the tracks Cases hay
been known when comparatively lgh
| fall of snow has blocked a mountain tract
for forty weight bours
| In the old days when the rotaries were
weapons Of the future. and the snow ha'
| 10 be literally 'bucked 10y main force
from the tracks. casualties we're numerous
! The type of pillow used hame-msd'
affair product OF he railway shops
consisted Of REINFORCED and strongl,
! braced box car base. upon one end o
! which was buiii aa iron-ijpped pillow
4 shaped something like a lofty vow-catcher
! Near the Top the sides were So arranged
| tina Z he snow r1assessrere directed into n,
| air al an angle.
When a particularly heavy and tighu,
| packed drift was 70 De tackled 81 was thu
] custom to place one of these crude affair.
in front of from six 10 ten engines ans
charge the drift with flying start Of ;
mile or two. If the drift consisted Of gran
Iiated SNOW frozen into separate particles
the enormous mass OF iron went through i
Ikea heated knife through butter. In the
wake Of the plow came an army of shovel
ers. whose duty Il was to bank the scat
A"a NhpASh itfiH aHt - H.h -
prevent them sliding back. This was diff
fculf enough and rfctoFy came only after
herculean labor.
Sometimes ii happened thar the drift Ia
the cut Was composed of damp Snow sld
had had time TO settle and become packed
Then the perils OF snow huci,iBg becam,
perils in ruth
The 'bucker" with las powerful motive
force OF seyea-0r eight locomotives was
hurled bodily N the. dri1t, ard one Of tw9
results Following. EifSsf -ssv->6-ift was
broken or the ..bus~sS" c,qi,npled IN like y
toy of cardboard The fate of the crew Of
several Inen depended upon what Artemus
Ward called their natrsl born luck
Stories are still told of catastrophes &C
curing during one hard wiuier many
years ago; of how. in one instance. a
''bucker . three engines. and fourteen
men We're buried in mass OF snow for
ninety hours. and that when the rescuing
party finally reached them the imprisoned
men were encased at their posts like the
baker Of Pompeii
To-day there are no such narrowing
tragedies. The Invention of the >reSiry
plow has made the clearing away OF snow
instructions a comparatively easy task.
In appearance the rotary piow Is like a
huge box ear strengthened with heavy
Iron girders and plates. The front end IS
square and open ard within can b. seen
great steelwinged wheel somewhat
similar TO the ordinary wilma mill. The
edges OF the opening slope inward and are
strongly REINFORCED with iron. The '-au-
ger" or wheel revolves upon an axle and
as the pillow. is forced against the drift the
snow is eaten away and blown through
tunnels pitched al an angle above she
chine.
II Is seldom that more than two engines
are Required 10 push the To.ary. as il
works By cutting instead OF brute force like
the old tinie Quicker" Railroad men ale
great admirers of the new order Of ma
chine. and they never fail 10 praise its
efficiency.
The new rotary Piows are also repute1
TO have been the means OF saring lives n
quite another way. Since their introduc-
ton on -he mountain railways. espeetiil,-
in the West; there are inHumers bic cases
where snowhcund trains and esaS. ;now-
bound villages have been saved from act
usl starvation by the efficiency u the Io-
tary ploxs
During the winter Of iSs7-as. Wi q was
severe. a gang OF tr.'r, dean
ers which had been sent out 90 i.alls The
snow near Hector. a steaiou ea abe Cana
dian Pacific Railway, became henmed IN
by two enormous slides. The great masses
Of snos on the mountain peaks nearby
descended with terrific force. completely
blocking all egress from the cnt in Ighich
the unfortunate men we're working.
A trackwalker who had seen the a-ci-
dent carried information ~ the dearest
station. and rotary. backed by a number
Df shovelers. was soon on the scene II
required thirty hours OF continuous work
to clear the cuts even with the means at
hand. without the aid of ire powerful
rotary the task would haze taken AZ least
1--we days. ant the gang 81 siSty men would
have persisted with the extreme Geld.
On what Is known as the mountain di-
Iision Of the Canadian Pacific Railway the
average annual snowfall Is all feet. This
does not mean drifts or Oiled
-uts. but snow on the levei.
During the seas0n-tha, is from about
October Il until April 1.-THE snog plors
make two trips daily The two hundred
and odd miles of the division are divided
into four sections. with . rotary and a
'bucker" TO each section. This system
together with The aid afforded by gangs
If trsckmen and shoyelers. serves n keep
.he road comparatively clear
The ordinary fall Of Stow rnd even the
banking and drifting are OF small impor-
anre however. TO the terrific slides which !
occur from time 20 time. II .s these phc-
lomeDa which send a thrill over the entire |
inc and cause as much interest and ex- |
,itement in the general Managers Offices !
IS in that Of the section boss 81 the To- |
,ality. |
Mountain railroads are buiii for the most |
,art along the banks OF some convenient |
tream, This necessitates long aud sinu !
'us rosdhed directly at the haseg OF in !
lumersble mountain perks
The almost continuous fall Of snow dur
ng the winter months in the upper reaches \
:ausesl the deposit Of great masses ul,oa
he slOping SUBMITS and in The rretasses.
n time strong breeze from q particular /
Iuaiter or q sudden rise Of temperature,
will loosen the mass. and without warn 4
ng. hundreds OF toEs Viii slide down uIton
he tracks al the foot Of the mountain
In the majority OF cases ihe only dam
&c resulting is the blocking Of the read
nul the piows can clear il. but AZ lines
ives have. been lost and property de-
troyed.
I