Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1912-04-27
SNOW BATTLE IS ON
Annual Struggle Of Railroads
With Huge Drifts.
Enormous Cost Of Maintaining Snow
Pows and crews-Mueh Damage
10 Caused by Treaeherous
AvaIanehes In Rockies.

Denver, Colo.-Tbe annual battle
with the snow king Ia on in the RocRy
mountains. From the middle Of Feb
ruary to the LIST of May the struggle
is at it's hardest. Western railroads
are hurting their giant rotarles
against the drifts that threaten to I'M
pede transcontinental traffic. Snow
slides are booming down mountain
sides, sweeping away valuable timber
and sometimes carrying away mining
camps, villages. stage coaches and
trains.
To secure an accurate estimate OF
the amount OF money spent in fighting
the snow king in the Rockies every
winter and to cast up the total amount
of damage done by avalanches Is not
easy. Authorities on the subject say
that s2O,OOO,OOO would not cover the
total
Every western railroad is under ire
mendous expense In maintaining snow
plows and their crews. The trst cost
Of a modern rotary plow Is about
$4,000.
In Colorado, which contains the
highest mountains Of the continental
divide, snow fighting has been devel-
oped to science. Every railroad In
Colorado has full equipment Of snow
plows and maintains snow fighting
crews for eight months Of the year.
Necessarily when the SHOWS are Sc
verest attention is centered on the
main lines, which are kept clear most
of the time, traffic seldom being I'M
peded an hour by the worst blizzard.
The branch lines, which penetrate
the high hills to the mining camps, do
not fare so well. and some Of the Col
orado mining towns like Silverton and
Breckenridge are cut off from the rest
of the world for weeks, in spite OF the
efforts of the snow fighters.
Probably the Moffat road, which Is
the popular name for the late David
II. Moffat's Denver, Northwestern &
Pacific railroad. now in course Of con-
struction from Denver to Salt Lake.
is called upon to do more snow fight
ing than any other line in the world.
The Denver, Northwestern & Pacific
crosses the continental divide about
so miles west OF Denver at an alti-
tude of more than 1900 feet above
sea level
For miles on both sides OF the di.
vide tho snow plows are required to
do heavy service. The track must be
swept clean every day, for the reason
that the high winds are constantly
filing the cuts with snow The drifts
accumulate on each side Of the track
until the trains are overtopped many
feet and they pass through miles OF
snow lanes. yet so Systematically Is
the track kept cleared that traffic Is
seldom impeded.
The damage caused by avalanches
in the Rocky mountains each winter
is past all accurate computation.
These snowslides are full Of treachery
and descend at the most inopportune
times and in the most unexpected
San Juan mountains in western Colo
RADIO which follow beaten trails and
which come booming down the slopes
at about the same time each year.
Their paths are avoided and they do
little damage. But the average snow
slide seems to be a creature Of whims.
It forms at the foot Of some craig
far above the timber line. The winds
whip the snow into deep drifts at the
head OF slope leading thousands Of
feet into a deep valley below. Under
the spell Of the frightening days and
warm suns Of February and March the
drifts begin to loosen. Tiny rivulets
trickle from beneath the white man.
tie. and suddenly, with roar that is
never forgotten by those who have
once heard it, the whole mass starts
on its journey to the valley.