The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1903-02-16
BATTLES WITH SNOW
HARD FIGHTING FOR RAlLRoAO MEN
m rHG ROCKIES.

who uun Ihcrl--i.un niciuw Through
the Monster Drifts That Pack the
Mountain PASSES.
Every western railroed is equipped
with a large force OF SNOW fighters.
Rotary snowpuNs and men who know
how to run thcm cam cut thcir way
through drts that n The early days
Of western uI padding would have
resulted iu complete b.ockadcs. The
rotary snowplow is one of the mar
vels OF the railroad Of today, and It il
a liberal education in the art Of snow
fghtng TO see one of them eating its
way through a white drift that threat
ems 10 cut or communication between
the cast and the west There uro sew
eral passes In the Rocky mountains
which for six months IN the year or
more form a constant menace 60 train
crews. These passes are situated at
the TOP Of the Great Divide. whore the
elements have fsll sway. Borcas pass.
I'm Colorado. is n fair example. The
snow begins falling at Boroas late i'm
August or early I'm September, and 1t
does not cease until well into May and
sometimes June. There will be inter
mittent snowstorms I'm the midsummer
months, but these are trihing affairs
and are not TO be mentioned iu the
same breath with the tremendous
snowfalls OF January aud February.
Few men make their homes at Boreas.
It is nothing for them to get up In the
morning and find themselves complete
~ buried I'm snow. The one store Is
usually at the end Of tunnel cut
through an immense snowdrift. The
population Of Boreas during these
snowy months consists, for tho most
phrt Of the railroad men who are en-
gagged In the strenuous work OF nght-
ing constantly changing drifts. Snow
Al Boress does not talli II rasss. 1t IL
Aswn about in swirls and SddiSs and
is forever fsrmlng new drifts az trsach-
ePousk as river that 10 constantly
shiftAAE the sand banks Of itn mouth.
Those drifts arc not littis Affairs that
VIM barely covog a stake and rider
cenee. They are pilo1 ten. twenty and
sA~tV fcet high, aRd they spring up In
a night
10 tha "tnndorfoop' 10 wsuld seem
iuIpossibls 10 plou a way through these
drtfts at Dsress but whsA a huge ro-
tory sn0wplsw comes whlriing up the
track with three or four engines push
ing vigorously behind it the "tender-
fosf' reserves his declsisa. He Is
still inclined to favor the snowdrift.
hut he prefers 10 await Developments
before committing himself. With a
rush ana q plunge ths big rotary Is
hurled into tho white mass OF snow.
Black smoke pours from the engines,
and the hugo blades Of the snowplow
eat relsntlessly ato tho drift The
: sow sheets out OF tia orlhcs at the
side Of the plow, forming huge, white
semlclrele constantly moving forward
enc can keep track Of the progress OF
tho plew by following the advance
ment of this rainbow OF snow. Foor ~
foot the rotary eats its way forward
and finally 1t and the engines are
buried In a hugo trench Of white. Only
Z the stacks OF the engines can be seen
belching their blackness on tho virgin
garb about them. But the great white
semicirce never falls TO go forward
until finally tho "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 tha
has Just been fought. They trave
through a canyon Of snow as they pass
Boreas, but they have no idea OF tn,
tremendous force required to cut thi.
white path over tho ridge Of the con
tinent; so they so on, all unconscious
\. IN their Pullmans. while the railroad
lynen at tho next siding ahead oil thl
rotary and glrd up their loins for tn
next battle, which they know Borea
will be prepared TO give them IN few
hours.
The experiences at Boreas pass dur
ing a hard winter are duplicated a
many other railroad passes in th'
Rocky mountains, to say nothing o.
great stretches at lower attitudes whlcl
have always been tho favored hHunt
of snowdrifts ard whioh havs Away
given railroad msn great troSbls. l
is the unexpected element at tses
points that brings . serious aspect Z
tho situation. At the passes ever IN
lGreat Divide rsilrohd Hsa are prepares
for trouble, and consequently se1eu
blockades are few, but when Wort
comes that a train has failed 10 ngh
its way through tho drifts 100 or pei
haps 200 miles from the nearest avail
able rotary plow there is consterna
tion. TO get rotary pillow TO th
blockaded train takes time, and in tn
meantime the drifts are accumulatin
on the unused road, and each hou
brings new menaceE to railroad me
and passengers alike.
Sometimes even the rotary plow ha
been known 10 DO caught In a snoy
blockade. One instance occurred /
Wyoming. An engineer who had a II
tary plow on ahead and who was mal
ing good progress during fierce snow
storm was compelled to run back fey
miles for water. Instead OF taking th
rotary with him ho uncOupied and ra