The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-02-19
SOUTH SHORE man WRITES
ABOUT THE PILOT PlOW
ASSISTANT TO GENERAL MANIAC
Err TELLS OF THE BEST
EQUIPMENT.

T.. X. Lewis of Duluth, assistant e
the general manager of the Duluth
South Shore a Atlantic railway. has
contributed To the Railway Age Ca
zette for its latest issue. an interesting
ana calculating article on pilot plows
ior Keeping tracks clear II follows:
No locomotive. however, powerful
on a dry rail. can make satisfactory
progress during severe billiards. In
freezing weather. unless il is well sup
Piled with snow handling attach
inohts. 1t is by no means sufficient
10 provide engines, pushing snow
ploWs and Hangers. 10 run ahead Of
trains drawn by locomotives which
nave no such equipment. During ex-
ceptional winter storms, snow will
uriit IN behind snow pillow and OBJ
Stfuct the track in "A very few minutes
after the pillow has passed
Every locomotive which is expected
To make trip in such weather should
carry It's own protection against drift
ing snow. The ideal equipment is the
combined pilot plow and Hanger. These
plows should be attached 10 the loco
motives at the beginning of the sea :
son of severe winter storms, and re-
moved only after danger of such
weather is past They will handle
snow IN drifts q To 10 feet deep. The
hangers are of course of service i'm
cleaning snow from the rails and away
from the tianges. BY cutting loose
from the train and Hanging the track
Tor a car length or two, the rail can be
cleared Of snow and ice so that the
driving wheels will not slip or skid and
he engine will gain sufficient head
way To push through the drift Care
must OF course be taken not to get so
iar from the trains while Hanging that
the locomotive cannot recouple to the
train, which would then freeze up.
The plow here described is believed
To be bullt on the lines of maximum
efficiency. The nose is set at an angle
Of 40 degrees from the vertical The
spread of the wings includes a total
horizontal angle of ~ degrees. 30 min
utes. The rise and flare of the wings
from nose To heel are such as tn
give the best results in lifting and
clearing snow from the tracks. A dis
tinct advantage over most pilot plows
is the position in which IL is placed,
close to the front of the locomotive.
The pilot and pilot beam may be re-
moved. and the snow pillow with its
beam put in place by four men IN
about four hours.
Locomotive pilot plows should be
provided with dust doors. which when
opened, allow dust from the ballast,
which gathers under a pillow on bare,
dry track, To escape. The No. steel
sheets which form the pillow armOr are
provided with square sliding doors Of
the same material, on each side of the
nose, 50 fashioned as To cover or un-
cover a square space in the sheet n
irihe smaller than the door which
works in grooves on the outside of the
pillow. and which may he fastened open
ur shut. The hangers are operated by
a lever in the locomotive cab. The
bottom leaves or shoes are of spring
steel. If Hanger is broken, square
shoe may be readily applied by means
Of four bolts without going into the
repair shop. The pilot pillow and fan
ger. combined, cost $3.50. The pillow and
danger here described were designed
and constructed under the supervision
Of J. j. Connolly. superintendent of
motive power and machinery Duluth,
South Shore q Atlantic, on which road
II has been in use for more than TWEEN
ty years with the most satisfactory re-
suits"