The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-02-20
BATTLES WITH. SNOW
HARD FIGHTING FOR RAILROAD MEN
IN THE ROCKIES.

IN THE ROCKIES. s5
notary snowpIows md tho Men
Who Rum Theh,-Buc1kfng Through
tbc :aonstcr Drifts That Pack tho
Moup tain Passcs.
Every western railrond Is equipped
with Il large force Of snow fighters.
Rotary snowplows and men who know
how to run them can cut their way
through, drifts that i'll the early days
OF western railroading would have
resulted In complete blockades. The
eotary snowplow is one Of the mar
ycls OF the railrond Of today, and 1t is
n libcral education in the art Of snow
lighting to see one of them enung Its
way through white drift that threat
ems 10 cut OF communication between
The cast and tile west. There are sew
cral passes in the Rocky mountains
witch for six months in the year or
more form constant menace to train
crews. Thcse passes are situated ut
the top of the Great Divide, where the
clements have full sway. Boreas pass,
In Colorado, is n fair example. The
SNOW begins falling ut Boreas late in
August or early in September, and it
does not cease until we'll into May and
sometimes June. There Will be inter-
mittcnt snowstorms In the midsummer
non'h.i, but these arc tri1ing affairs
utoI re not to be mentioned In the
came breath with tile tremendous
snowfalls OF January and February.
Few men make their homes at Boreas.
1t Is nothing for them to get up in tho
morning and find themselves complete
ly buried In SNOW. The one store is
usually ct the end OF tunnel cut
through IN immense snowdrift. The
population Of Borcas during these
snowy months consists, for the most
part of the railroad men who are en-
gaycI in the strenuous work Of fight
ing constantly changing drifts. Snow
at i,oreas docs not fall; 1t rages. 1t Is
flown about in swirls and eddles and
IS fprever forming new drifts as trcach-
prously us q river that is constantly
shifting the snnd banks of its mouth.
These drifts arc not little affairs that
wili barely cover ''stake and RIDER
fem1c. They are piled ten, twenty and
thlriy feet high, and they spring up In
a night.
20 the "tendcrfoot" 1t would seem
impossible to plow way through these
drirts ut Borcas, but when huge ro-
taiy snowplow comes whirling up the
treqs; with three or four engines push
ing vigorously behind 1t the .tender-
foot" reserves his decision. He ts
still inclined to favor tho snowdrift,
but be prefers to await developments
before committing himself. With a
r.isn md plunge the big rotary is
hurled Into tile white mass OF snow
Black smoke pou13 from the engines,
and the huge blades of the snowplow
car relentlessly into the drift. Tho
snow shoots out OF the orifice at the
side Of the plow, forming q huge, white
acnlclrcle constantly moving forward.
One can keep track OF the progress Of
The plow by following tho advance
ment Of this rainbow of snow. Foot by
foot the rotary cats Its way forward.
and finally 1t and tho engines are
bulled in huge trench Of white. Only
the stacks OF the engines can be seen,
'c''' NJ tncfr htnc'Il.ass " tic T'Tg,l;
lhout tLrG3 IuL the Erent Willie
aeltelrn!4 neyer fnl,i q 81 forward
uBtil Qadlly Tie ,'lapierfgGt" knows
tint tlln drift i na,ng copquered
Wnnn 1hc regular overland linitad
coulca along !, few hpWrs later the ras.
-.s rs % 1ict EloW or the battle tllat
has Just been fought. They travel
through canyon Of snow as they pass
Dureus, but they have no idea Of the
! tremendous force required to cut this
N.i,tta path over the ridge Of the con-
ttnent; SO thoy go on, oil unconscious
q. 1lcir pullmans, while tho railroad
mesa ut tho next siding ahead oil the
rotary and gird up thei" loins for the
mex: battle. which they know Boreas
will be prepared to give them in few
| hours.
! me experiences ut Boreas pass dur
itng hard. winter are duplicated Mt
! 1nay other railroad passes in the
! 1ccky mountains, to say nothing Of
| gt'ynt stretches at lower attitudes which
| have always been the +, ored haunts
! OF snowdrifts and which have always
lgtNan railroad men great trouble. 1t
it nc unexpected element at these
! oo;uls that brings serious aspect to
The situation. at the passes over the
! Ircet Divide railroad men nre prepared
/ 70: trouble, and consequently serious
| lirCNades are few. but when word
! cuncs that train hns failed to fight
lttS ny through the drifts 100 or per-
| taps 200 miles from tho nearest avail
nbig rotary plow there is constcrnn-
/, tic- TO get rotary plow to the
I hlaeiaded train takes time, and in the
| meantime the drifts are nccumulatlng
/! o. ihe unused road, and each hour
7, brings new menaccs to railroad men
( and passengers alike.
J Scmetimes even tile rotary plow hns
been known to be cnught IN snow
! blockade. One instance occurred In
| Wyoming. An engineer who had ro.
| tary plow OH ahead and who was max
i,i.. good progress during fierce snow.
| .torm was compelled to run back few
( miles for water. Instead Of taking the
rotary with him lie urcoupled and ran
MS engine back, and in the meantime
! the SNOW gathered so fast over tho
tracks TINT he was unable to fight hif
way back to the plow. Such instances
hrc rare, however, and nrc only owing
;o The oversight Of some trainman, fol
9 rotary snowplow with sufficient pow
or behind 1t can ent its way through
almost anything in the shape Of drifts
New York Tribune.