Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-04-04
RAILWAY SNowSHEDS.
FeIeseoDie Advancement to Prevent
Dloekades In the Mountains
Of CalifOfnfo.

In describing . new snowshed used
now by the railroads In mountainous
country. a railway magazine says:
among the many difficulties encoun-
tered by the early railroad builders OF
the west was the heavy and long con-
tinued snow fall In the Sierra Nevada
mountains OF California, which in some
winters, aggregates 90 feet in depth.
The history of the invention OF the snow
sheds by the engineers OF the Central
Pacific is already well known, and refer
ence has frequently been made to the
developments made, as result OF expe-
rience with the peculiar conditions.
which could not easily have been for
seen. The snowsheds, extending from
Blue Canyon station almost to Truckee,
were first built, as naturally suggested
itself, with steep roofs, and in section
somewhat resembling an ordinary
house, but it was later found that the un-
balanced weight Of the snow on one or
the other side, especially on side hill
work, caused continual trouble by
throwing them out Of line down hill.
"The next step was to anchor the
snowsheds back to the side hill with
heavy rods attached to the framework
of the shed and sulphured or otherwise
secured to the rock or earth Of the cut
1t was found, however. that the. snow
would melt from beneath the rods, and
on the adjacent ground and roof OF the
shed, so that the entire mass, many
feet deep, would hang upon the rods,
bending them down and pulling the
sheds in towards the bank, throwing
them out Of line in a direction opposite
to that which occurred when there were
no rods. This brought about still fur
Their development, that of extending the
roof, where it was practicable. into the
adjacent banks, forming a shed which
prevented the wedge OF snow piling in
between the building and the bank.
Much shed of this character is still in
use over the high Sierras. t
This was found to be OF such ad-
vantage that it suggested the present
typical shape, which is that Of q fiat
roof, making the top OF the shed some
what wider than the bottom, SO that
the melting wedge Of snow, between the
structure and bank, falls away from the
side of the shed instead OF pressing
against it, and the weight upon the
base is increased to prevent overturning.
This form of roof necessarily brought
the roof covering down closer to the To-
connective stacks and increased the dan
ger of fire during the dry summer sea
son. To obviate this hazard, defiectors
are attached to the smokestacks OF the
mountain locomotives for the purpose Of
throwing the sparks to the sides in
stead of straight up against the roof OF
the snowsheds. These defectors are so
hung that they can be thrown to one
side of the stack when the engines are
not in the sheds.
but there still remained the danger
from brush and forest fires, which cause
most of the trouble, although the right
of way is kept clear OF all brush and
trees. On the Central Pacific there are
80 miles Of continuous snow sheds. and
others in isolated spots bring the total
up to about 80 miles, along the Sacra-
mento and Truckee section. Travellers
are we'll acquainted with the. famous
chain OF snowsheds over the Sierra Ne
vada range. The sheds are built right
up to tunnel portals SO that trains pass
from shed into tunnel and out into shed
again, over the 80 miles course, without
going into the open. With the advent OF
the snow plough it was presumed that
the sheds could be ultimately done away
with, but near the summit OF the Sierra
Nevada mountains, the racks are subject
not only to blockade from snow, but
also from avalanches containing rocks.
trees, ETC., carried along with the slid
ing snow, against which the snow
plough is of no avail. During long con-
tinued snow storms, only the snow
ploughs could use the tracks to the ex-
clusion of traffic, as the deep cuts would
fill behind the ploughs almost immedi-
ately. Therefore it seems impracticable
to dispense with the snowsheds. In this
section of the country. In which the snow
lies upon the ground in some years from
November to June"