Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-01-11
HOW THE RAILROADS
BATTLE WITH THE
SNOWDR|FTS
Tremendous Machines Fight
Their Way Through the
Banks of the Rockies.
lst. Lnuis Globe-Democrat.l

est. Louis Globe-Democrat.)
Probably the most picturesque phase
of American railroad operations is
found IN the manner In which the
steam roads OF The west battle with
the giant snowdrifts Of the mountain
regions This novel activity Is seen IN
rs most spectacular form on the
higher levels Of the Rocky mountains.
me largest rotary snowploW in the
world is in service on that engineering
marvel the Moffat railroad in Colo
RADIO, and the manner In which it
bores through the great white banks
that block the ste~el-tracked highway
mas solved one of the most perpleXing
problems Of operating a railroad more
than 1000 feet above the level Of the
sea.
In the early days of %railroading In
the region beyond the Mississippi river
the familiar hand shovel was the main
dependence for clearing the tracks.
and after every heavy fall Of THE
beautiful m army Of men that in
Guided every available emnlOye Of tho
road Was hurried to points where
hlockades might be expected. Loco
motives in strings of Two. three or
four were also hurled against the
drifts in an effort to dislodge the trou-
blesome masses Of icy crystals.
As q solution for this aforementioned
makeshift some genius Invented the
push-ploW. a huge 'wedge-shaped
structure on wheels, which "bucks''
the drifts. impelled BY the force Of
several powerful locomotives behind it
and if the snow barriers be not too
heavy, can force a pathway through
The mass. However, the fact that
even the heaviest snownlows are oft
times baffled by the drifts In the
mountains indicated the necessity for
a yet more powerful type Of snow
tighter, and thus IN time there was
evolved the snowplow known as the
rotary, which has revolutionized the
methods Of lighting snow and is rep
resented in the rolling stock Of every
railroad that IS liable to feel the grip
Of the western blizzard
In the principle OF its operation the
rotary is radically different from all
other DESIGNS Of snowplows, for in
stead Of being anything in the nature
q scoOn or shovel that shoYes the
snow aside, its chief working mechan-
consists of q monster wheel which
burrows through the SNOW, tossing the
more or less Aeecy material in every
direction. The wheel or snow screw
1t the forward end of a rotary resem-
lles the propeller OF 2 SlearnShl or q
giant electric fan, although. of course.
I has many more blades than either
)f these.
The wheel Of the average rotary
NOW fighter is from to IL feet in Iii
lmeter and consists Or r series Of
cone-shaped steel scoops, each
.%qpipped with a h1tfeiike piece of me- 7
al. As the wheel revolves at high
'peed, these blades strike the snow
md ice. loosening ii and throwing it
MO the scoops. The Wheel proper Is
in a metal hood. at the top of
which is a square opening or funnel.
the revolution Of the wheel the
caught up by the scoops is
through this opening with
force and the funnel is SO shaped
hat the suow is hurled in an oblique
ERECTION and caused to fan at a dis
Of from 50 to 100 feet from the {
de Of the track. according to the !
peed at which the wheel Is being OPP ,
rated. Moreover, the hood IL inclined !
lward, 50 that the falling snow does
OF descend upon the toy Of the ro- ,
Try and bury the machine in a drift 7
its own making r
Tho rotary pillow. like the old-fash- I
med TYNE Of push pillow Is p~rOpallpd q