The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1903-03-20
BATTLES WITH SNOW
HARD FIGHTING FOR RAILROAD MEN
} IN THE ROCKIES.

} IN THE ROCKIES.
Rotary SnOwplOws and the Men
| Who Run Them-Ducking Through
| the Monster Drifts That Pack the
Mountain Passes.
Every western railroad is equipped
| with a large force of snow fighters.
Rotary snOwplows and men who know
| how to run them can cut their way
! through drifts that in the early days
| OF western railroading would have
| resulted in complete blockades. The
rotary snOwplow is one OF the mar
wells of the railroad OF today, and it is
liberal education i'll the art of snow
fighting 10 see one of them eating its
way through white drift that threat
ems to cut off communication between
the east and the west. There are sew
eral passes in the Rocky mountains
which for six months in the year or
more form Il constant menace TO train
crews. These passes are situated at
the top of the Great Divide. where the
elements have full sway. Boreas pass,
in Colorado. is fair example. The
snow begins falling at Boreas late In
August or early in September, and it
does not cease until we'll into May and
som9simes June. There will be inter-
mittent snowstorms in the midsummer
months. but these are trifiiAg affairs
and are not to be mentioned in the
same breath with the tremendous
snOwfalls of January and February.
Few NEIL make their homes at Boreas.
1t is nothing for them to get up in the
morning and find themselves complete
ly buried in snow. The one store is
usually at the end of a tunnel cut
through an immense snowdrift. The
population of Boreas during these
snowy months consists, for the most
part, of the railroad men who are en-
gagged in the strenuous work of fight
ing constantly changing drifts. Snow
at BoreaS does not fall; it RACES. 1t is
blown about in swirls and eddies and
Is forever forming new drifts as treach-
erouSly as a river that is constantly
shifting the sand banks of its mouth.
These drifts are not little affairs that
will barely cover n stake and rider
fence. They are piled ten, twenty and
thirty feet high, and they spring up in
a night.
To the "tenderfoot' it would seem
impossible tc plow way through these
drifts at Boreas, but when a huge ro-
tary snowplow comes whirling up the
track with three or four engines push
ing vigorously behind it the tender
foot reserves his decision. He IL
still inclined to favor the snowdrift.
but he prefers to await developments
before committing himself. With q
rush and plunge the big rotary IL
hurled into the white mass of snow.
Black smoke pours from the engines,
and the huge blades of the snowplow
eat relentlesSly into the drift. The
snow shoots out OF the orifice at the
side of the plow, forming huge. white
semicircle constantly moving forward.
One can keep track of the progress OF
the pillow by following the advance
ment of this rainbow of snow. Foot by
foot the rotary eats its way forward.
and finally it and the engines are
buried in huge trench OF white. Only
the stacks of the engines can be seell,
belching their bIackness on the virgin
garb about them. iiut the great white
semicircle never fails to 20 forward
until finally the "tenderfoot' knows
that the drift is being conquered
When the regular overland limited
comes along a few hours later. the pas
sengers do not know OF the battle that
has just been fought. They travel
through n canyon OF SHOW as they pass
Boreas, but they have no idea Of the
tremendous force required to cut this
white path over the ridge Of the con-
tinent; SO they go OH, all unconscious
in their Pullmans. while the railroad
men Mt the next siding ahead oil the
rotary and grid up their loins for the
next battle. which they know Boreas
will be prepared to give them in few
hours.
The experiences at Boreas pass dur
ing a hard winter are duplicated at
many other railroad passes in the
Rocky mountains. to say nothing Of
great stretches at lower attitudes which
hdNC AWAY Dtttl tl!N NplVu
of snowdrif.s and which have always
given railroad men great trouble. 1t
10 the unexpected element nj these
points that brings Il serious aspect to
the situation. At the passes over the
Great Divide railroad men are prepared
for trouble. and consequently serious
blockadcs are few. but when word
f1nf trni in htS fpilnl N fiphf
its way through the drifts 100 or per-
haps 200 miles from the nearest avail
able rotary plow there is consterna-
ton. TO get rotary pillow to the
blockaded train takes time, and in the
meantime the drifts are accommodating
on the unused road, and each hour
brings new menaces to railroad men
and passengers alike.
Sometimes even the rotary pillow has
been known TO be caught in a snow
blockade. One instance occurred in
An engineer who had ro-
tary pillow on ahead and who was max
ing good progress during fierce snow
storm was compelled to run back few
miles for water. Instead of taking the
lOldEy Win hlIIl uc uiSoupleu dhu Auh
his engine back, and in the meantime
the snow gathered so fast over the
tracks that he was unable to fight his
way back to the pillow. Such instances
are rare, however, and are only owing
to the oversight Of some trainman, for
a rotary snowplow with sufficient pow
or behind it can eat its way through
almost anything in the shape of drifts.
New York Tribune.