One of my sisters JUST sent me the link thru one of those grabber news websites, to (HJ’s find) of CN snowplow mini-blizzard. Below it, I noticed a link to this one which does go back 3 yrs but I don’t recall it.
CPs alternate method of removing a well-frozen pile of organics…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eWFBETPOew#t=161
fyi, Leo is a local g-gauge enthusiast plus avid photographer, who has had a booth at supertain.ca the last 2-3 yrs.
doug c
Kind of a spendy way to melt some snow. Things must be good on the CN.
I’m thinking the same thing Steve. Paying the fuel, the crews… There has got to be a better way to get that snow off without spending so much money. How about waxing that wedge?
“…Paying the fuel, the crews… There has got to be a better way to get that snow off without spending so much money…”
Yep !
But I’m sure if some peoples would come up with a cheaper process they would adopt it as SOP (after at least a year of inhouse analysis and additional mtgs). Although the majority of corp-like entities do not accept recommendations of new ideas products from out-of-organization sources.
How do the other railways remove their accumulations of frozen organics from their plows, and other snowmoving equipment ? Do they have that many units that they side track them till it naturally sheds off (july/august ?).
Anyone out there railfanning the donner pass region to catch what process UP uses ?
Thanks for any additional info . . .
doug c
Who says steam is dead on Class One railroads? 
To answer your question, Doug, steam cleaning would be much less expensive, as well as quicker. Or, you could bring them down the hill, where it is warmer, like Roseburg.
Sorry Ken your link is just a ad for BA productions the trailer vid’ shown on the link does not contain a alternate solution.
I’ve seen more of that vid’ elsewhere (PBS last month ?) and don’t recall nothing about cleaning the blades or plows, which is actually what I was asking about.
Possibly Steve, but where is a vid or documentation from the railways showing/hi-liting alternate which would imply that CP is doing something more expensive aka not viable, steam maybe but seemingly just an opinion of a few !
"…if some peoples would come up with a cheaper process they would adopt it …… How do the other railways remove their accumulations of frozen organics from their plows, and other snowmoving equipment ? … "
Actually I was wondering about the steam trucks that quite a few municipalities use to thaw out (as required) the storm water and sewer lines during the winter/spring season. But ya would think the railways have tried …maybe even used that tech’ already, but no railfan’ has caught it on a medium to share to the masses.
doug c
A Hotsy pressure washer would be the best way. I used to work for a company and we washed everything and anything and even removed grafitti from highway overpasses.
One year our area was hit with several big storms like this year and ice dams were a major issue. We were inundated with customers willing to pay $75 an hour plus travel time to go up a ladder and on to their roofs to cut off and melt chunks of ice with our hot water.
Stop and Shop, a big grocery chain here had one of our trucks go over to their warehouse to cut chunks off the roof of their trailers because they wouldnt’ fit under bridges on the highway. That was expensive so the next year they installed a plow blade that the semi would drive under to skim the snow off the roofs.
CP needs a guy with a hot water pressure washer and a few hundred gallons of water and that ice would be off in about 15 minutes.
They might move the wedge into a heated building/ shop and over night the snow would be gone.
“…CP needs a guy with a hot water pressure washer and a few hundred gallons of water and that ice would be off in about 15 minutes…”
Perosnally, I think the heat from a “jet engine” is waaay warmer than a hot water pressure washer and it took over an hour to blow everything apart and off.
Although (!) with a washer (wand) ya could get behind/to the side of the ‘block’ to eat away at the two surfaces wedge metal-snow/ice block. That said I use a wand wash to clean my vehicles and when attempting to blow off even a inch of snow/ice on the mudflaps it can sometimes take a minute before it will release off the rubber surface… {Tah kick it off though almost instantaneous 
}
The water we were using was 180-200 degrees and when faced with removing ice like that it was best to cut it into chunks and the run off was usually good enough to melt the backside allowing the chunk to slide right off. Mudflaps on trucks did hold some nasty ice but it only took a few minutes to loosen it. Washing anything was a game of angles, you hit the wrong way and you get a face full of dirty water.
I would go up against that jet engine in a test any time.
IF CP has used steam in the past but switched over to the jet engine ‘torch’ maybe it was due to all the gallons of water laying about and seeping into the water table …
Possibly new (sometimes old but occ. enforced) environmental regulations, meant using a tech’ that involved more $$$ but took care of another ‘problem’ !?
doug c
It’s not just the temperature of the water vs. air, but the weight and force of the water. Since water is incompressible (as compared to air), it “hits” the surface with much more force.
My bet is on the water system.
Greg