I tired as a mechanic working the snow trains after having been an engineer for 35 years. The snow removing years were very boring and fricking cold while maintaining or repairing these old beast. The rotor is like a huge flywheel designed to run an average 2,000 rpm max about 3,200 or less. Any faster you run the risk of bending the rotor shafts in heavy dense snow other wise you can maintain a more constant speed in light snow but snow drifts are compacted this is why you can walk on it.Cheers
I think you are exaggerating a lot. Do you realize how fast 3200 rpm s is? N ok way on earth big flywheel spins that fast. You might want to research that
Just a guess here, but the cutter head and rotor/thrower are turning at different speeds. The rotor might be what the OP is talking about spinning 2000rpm.
The plow is driven electrically from the B Covered Wagon. The Plow has steam to de-ice the blade, windows, et al. The entire unit is pushed by 2 GP 60's.
I grew up in Colorado and it's still tough to wrap my head around the notion that this machine exists because they get that much snow repeatedly. Every winter.
This is so COOL! I LOVE trains and NEVER knew that a train has a snowblower. The sound, the snow shooting in the air, the whole thing is cool, thanks for posting!!
This is one of the best scenes I've ever seen of a rotary plow in action. It's amazing how badly the snow drifts there. I wish I could've been there and seen that for my self. Also, thanks for using the high quality setting on your camera! Great video!
What an incredible amount of snow! It seems to be rather fluffy and not frozen and hard as I have seen other machines struggling to move only a few feet.
Was it because the cuts we're between two shelterbelt so it would be soft fluffy snow filling up the cuts instead of hard crusted over and with the wind in that area and the fields bear the snow ended up in the cuts between the shelterbelts.
the engine is an old F7B unit with an old 567 or 645 in it from EMD. It pulsate's as you have to keep the blade at a certain speed, when it slows down, you throttle up, when it gets to the speed, you throttle down.
Thanks very much Chad Carlson for taking the time and energy to log this great video of the BNSF Rotary Snow Plow operators. It's fascinating watching what these men do in adverse conditions. Mike
@@dirtfarmer7472 Honestly i believe it would feel amazing getting all that snow blown onto you. Btw I have no memory of posting this three years ago, but time flies by, i got nostalgic
the "Power Units" are basically mechanically and internally Identical to the B-units they were converted from except for the fact that they no longer have Traction motors to drive the wheels and thus the B-unit can no longer move itself. The B-unit also has heavy duty cables to provide power to the plow it is attatched to. The plow is electically driven from the power unit, the plow geared to locomotive traction motors.
they need some big snow fences to pile up all those drifts somewhere else. I remember in VA they took down some snow fence and ended up with a 20' drift on the road. it was amazing1
+Cristi Neagu Go watch "The battle for donner pass" there are some really good prime mover sounds in there, up in the pass plus some in the concrete sheds.
Awesome video I wish I could have been there to see but thanks to you I was and didn't have to freeze. The engines that was pushing that beast sounded so cool I loved this video. Thanks again for your sharing!!
You should see the snow plume, when they plow the line between Essex Montana and Kalispell. Between the snow sheds, once in a while there will be an avalanche that happens at the end of the snow sheds, if there are Bighorn Sheep trapped inside it's a beautiful red snowy plume that shoots out of there every once in awhile between snow sheds and then a big one at the end!
This is an awesome video! My kids and I were just looking at this bad boy sitting in the Hobson Yard. They will LOVE seeing the video of it in action. Thanks for posting!
This plow keeps moving forward at a steady Pace whereas when they close the Carlyle Branch from Beach North Dakota to Carlyle Montana, the engineer had the back up and take a run at it and go forward because the snow was as high as the top of the light on the plow. Rest of the story is with the commenter below!
Interesting snow blower, bigger than my 8hp one at home. Love the action. I also noticed the fields have no snow on them yet there is 6to 10 on the tracks.
I think this was shot after a Christmas Holiday, and a period of snow and 40 mph winds. The wind drifting builds walls and mounds. It can happen in a day. The snow can compact and form ice that needs to be cut through. The operation of the plow involves the direction of the rotatory, the speed of the rotary, and the forward speed. When you hear him letting off its probably the throttle as you cannot rush this. Too fast and you can derail the rotatory. Slow an careful is best.
+consanna true. I was truck driving in Europe in the mid 90's when I got caught in a serious snow storm with driving winds. ( central france, coming back from Italy.) it came on very suddenly. I was on a driving break of 45minutes. lovely when it started. then the driving winds came and that's a game changer. it created utter chaos. wind driven snow can cover houses in minutes. very scary.
If you think that tightens your gut. When the Section Crew was ordered to knock a 2-foot overhang off in front of the plow with shovels. And one shovel accidentally-on-purpose happened to fall in front of the plow when the Engineer had backed up and was headed forward to hit It again and the shovel came out in 3 pieces the Roadmaster said, "I don't think we'll do that anymore". You think!
Not any worse than the blizzard of 77-78, or the one of 78-79. I-70 was closed from Oakley to Limon during the snow of 77-78; and then, in the 78-79 snow, I-70 was closed from Wakeeny to Limon. The UP, which runs through Wakeeny, to Limon, had 2 plows get stuck, during both winters. Took six diesels, and four front end loaders to dig those plows out, so the UP brought down their rotary plow to do the job. Only it got stuck just west of Sharon Springs.
How about if they fell in to a void over the track. Stuck, no one could hear them over the noise of the blower. Not such a good idea to be in front of the blower. Think about safety. Kids, don't try this in your home.
@@datbomb98 with that little star behind the word isn't there supposed to be an exclamation explanation.?.? Is that like a prisoner Trail? Or is that H2O vapor condensation Trail? Sorry I couldn't get my 2 to shrink down and hug the leg at the H.
Well I guess if the government makes the Airlines use DEF, as they do with anyone driving an internal combustion diesel I guess you could call it a chemtrail.
That is a mountain of hard , compact snow. The roost that blower throws is amazing. Very awesome footage. Thanks!
I tired as a mechanic working the snow trains after having been an engineer for 35 years. The snow removing years were very boring and fricking cold while maintaining or repairing these old beast. The rotor is like a huge flywheel designed to run an average 2,000 rpm max about 3,200 or less. Any faster you run the risk of bending the rotor shafts in heavy dense snow other wise you can maintain a more constant speed in light snow but snow drifts are compacted this is why you can walk on it.Cheers
Damn 3000 rpm that realy fast
I think you are exaggerating a lot. Do you realize how fast 3200 rpm s is? N ok way on earth big flywheel spins that fast. You might want to research that
This video explains 90 revolutions on the fan blade. Maybe iij misunderstood your 3000 rpm comment.
czcams.com/video/SuX4G3znpDE/video.html
The old SP rotaries were never designed to run at that speed.
Just a guess here, but the cutter head and rotor/thrower are turning at different speeds. The rotor might be what the OP is talking about spinning 2000rpm.
That snow buster makes such a scenic display in the air, with a bright blue sky as it's canvas. Nature's beauty at it's finest.
Former CBQ rotary snowplow! Nice! Hard to believe seeing how many of these well-maintained units still remain on BNSF's roster!
These are obviously the best snow-fighting equipment the railroads have; they are rather impressive to watch too!
The plow is driven electrically from the B Covered Wagon. The Plow has steam to de-ice the blade, windows, et al. The entire unit is pushed by 2 GP 60's.
"The entire unit is pushed by 2 GP 60's."
No it's not. It's an ES44AC (BNSF 6185) and a AC4400CW (CEFX 1019).
I grew up in Colorado and it's still tough to wrap my head around the notion that this machine exists because they get that much snow repeatedly. Every winter.
Lived by them tracks and was snowed in for 5 days during that blizzard. Watched that machine come thru town .. amazing
Watching the direction they are blowing (trying anyway) the snow reminds me of the old adage about not pissing into the wind.
Sounds intense. I always loved rotary snow plows. There is so much power. It is amazing how far the snow goes.
This is great! Thanks for all the effort you put into it. Glad to see we are not the only area that gets buried in the winter.
This is so COOL! I LOVE trains and NEVER knew that a train has a snowblower. The sound, the snow shooting in the air, the whole thing is cool, thanks for posting!!
This is one of the best scenes I've ever seen of a rotary plow in action. It's amazing how badly the snow drifts there. I wish I could've been there and seen that for my self. Also, thanks for using the high quality setting on your camera! Great video!
The snowplow actually does a beautiful job for heavy snow, no joke. Amazing stuff.
Glad CZcams recommended this, anyone else?
What an incredible amount of snow!
It seems to be rather fluffy and not frozen and hard as I have seen other machines struggling to move only a few feet.
Best toy EVER!
Thanks for sharing AND for explaining why the fields were clear of snow.
Was it because the cuts we're between two shelterbelt so it would be soft fluffy snow filling up the cuts instead of hard crusted over and with the wind in that area and the fields bear the snow ended up in the cuts between the shelterbelts.
THAT FOOTAGE IS AWESOME !!!!!!!
Wow that is so awesome to see. Also the beautiful blue sky. A good day in Nebraska thanks
Superb! Worth watching for the sound alone. Magic.
Wow! Really fast and efficient!
Now this is what i call an awsome recording. NICE
the engine is an old F7B unit with an old 567 or 645 in it from EMD. It pulsate's as you have to keep the blade at a certain speed, when it slows down, you throttle up, when it gets to the speed, you throttle down.
That is a beast of a machine.
yep
Sounds awsome
Wonkabar007, talk about old school...it sounds & looks like it took all winter
@@MrAIRSHOWFAN100 0000000000000
increase engine strength and it would be better
Thanks very much Chad Carlson for taking the time and energy to log this great video of the BNSF Rotary Snow Plow operators. It's fascinating watching what these men do in adverse conditions.
Mike
Just felt an urge to reply to your 10 year old comment 😳
@@urosvlahovic9279
Just adding my 2 cents worth in 2024, & comment about the level of intelligence for the people who were standing down wind.
@@dirtfarmer7472 Honestly i believe it would feel amazing getting all that snow blown onto you. Btw I have no memory of posting this three years ago, but time flies by, i got nostalgic
the "Power Units" are basically mechanically and internally Identical to the B-units they were converted from except for the fact that they no longer have Traction motors to drive the wheels and thus the B-unit can no longer move itself. The B-unit also has heavy duty cables to provide power to the plow it is attatched to. The plow is electically driven from the power unit, the plow geared to locomotive traction motors.
Great video. Wow that's a lot of snow! Thanks for sharing.
That engine sounded amazing on my sound system, shook my whole room and I could feel it in my chest. Bet that sounded great in person.
BMW 801 radial snow blower, that's awesome!!
Wait they used 801's in these?
@@ToreDL87 I'm pretty sure it was General Motors engines, and general electric generators and motors. Henceforth ergo electro-motive division of GM
Beautiful, great filming!
The sound is incredible!
Thank you very much for posting this. Very good quality and content.
Realmente muito lindo a beleza da neve. Bem difícil a remoção. E incrível o trabalho de limpeza e liberacao da via férrea. Amei o vídeo.
they need some big snow fences to pile up all those drifts somewhere else. I remember in VA they took down some snow fence and ended up with a 20' drift on the road. it was amazing1
That’s one awesome piece of machinery! I would imagine that it uses a lot of fuel! Thanks so very much for sharing that with us! Great footage!
That is amazing!! Had to watch it twice and it still is friggen cool!!
That is probably the best sounding engine i've ever heard.
+Cristi Neagu Go watch "The battle for donner pass" there are some really good prime mover sounds in there, up in the pass plus some in the concrete sheds.
Yeah, the EMD 567 is one of the most iconic diesel engines out there.
In this depth of snow 1mph is making good time.
Thanks for a fascinating video! Best I've seen yet!
Awesome video I wish I could have been there to see but thanks to you I was and didn't have to freeze. The engines that was pushing that beast sounded so cool I loved this video. Thanks again for your sharing!!
that certainly is an impressive piece of kit. nice job, well done fella's.
That stuff is packed so hard, no wonder that have to go slowly, yikes
Beautiful!!! To see this ❤!!!
Scenes like these make me glad to spend the winter months in Mexico.
VERY well done! Good video and beautiful snow plume shots.
You should see the snow plume, when they plow the line between Essex Montana and Kalispell. Between the snow sheds, once in a while there will be an avalanche that happens at the end of the snow sheds, if there are Bighorn Sheep trapped inside it's a beautiful red snowy plume that shoots out of there every once in awhile between snow sheds and then a big one at the end!
looks like the kind of snow my dad would make me shovel in NH "to build character" when I was younger..
Guy H. in July!
G. H. With no shoes hehe
No shoes and a spoon and you had to eat it all
uphill, both ways!
Big character.
...THE BEST rotary action camera angles , EVER...👍👍👍👍👍
Now that's what I call winter railroading at its best. That video is something to remember with. Great video.
That thing's like an avalanche in a box!
the engine sound is amazing
Thanks airing the vid.Bliss
Beautiful.................thanks for sharing!
that thing sounds scary and looks amazing!
WOW! Impressive stuff, even though the train is hardly moving!
Excellent video - wow thanks
This is an awesome video! My kids and I were just looking at this bad boy sitting in the Hobson Yard. They will LOVE seeing the video of it in action. Thanks for posting!
"Hey...whats that noise?" - Snow burrowing squirrel nest
Very Interesting. I love those GE's for the sound. Here in Michigan we use Russel Snowplows.
That’s one monstrous snow machine. Awesome
I just love listening to the engine working hard to move that snow.
Thats the train moving, theres a separate motor for the blower.
WOW! That is amazing to such high amounts of snow.. Really makes that rotary plow work!
This plow keeps moving forward at a steady Pace whereas when they close the Carlyle Branch from Beach North Dakota to Carlyle Montana, the engineer had the back up and take a run at it and go forward because the snow was as high as the top of the light on the plow. Rest of the story is with the commenter below!
very satisfying
that is an awesome looking snow blower wow that snow is just flying
I live in Buffalo New York, I can use this in my driveway
I can totally relate. I was there when you got 7 1/2 feet
Jesse H yeh same, I live in England and we got about an inch last winter and it as so bad it was gone by lunchtime
yeah, that was pretty darn cool.
Interesting snow blower, bigger than my 8hp one at home. Love the action. I also noticed the fields have no snow on them yet there is 6to 10 on the tracks.
Greetings from the BIG SKY. That's a big snow drift you got there.
I think this was shot after a Christmas Holiday, and a period of snow and 40 mph winds. The wind drifting builds walls and mounds. It can happen in a day. The snow can compact and form ice that needs to be cut through. The operation of the plow involves the direction of the rotatory, the speed of the rotary, and the forward speed. When you hear him letting off its probably the throttle as you cannot rush this. Too fast and you can derail the rotatory. Slow an careful is best.
+consanna true. I was truck driving in Europe in the mid 90's when I got caught in a serious snow storm with driving winds. ( central france, coming back from Italy.) it came on very suddenly. I was on a driving break of 45minutes. lovely when it started. then the driving winds came and that's a game changer. it created utter chaos. wind driven snow can cover houses in minutes. very scary.
Athearn model trains makes a nice powered HO scale model of this snow plow & tender BN972559.
The sound alone of the engine is awesome
That's deep snow out there very cold locomotives dig it out of the track awesome video friend bless you stay warm inside Nebraska
i love this video so much ive seen it like 10 times lol get some more footage if you can this winter dude !!!
sounds a lot like my 85 Dodge pickup....so thats where it went that weekend, i was wonderin.... thatd also explain the slowness....
Perfect video! Thank You!
I am glad the photographer showed us the cleared track.
Now that is so very impressive.It tightened my guts when you were close too the thing,but it was really impressive.
If you think that tightens your gut. When the Section Crew was ordered to knock a 2-foot overhang off in front of the plow with shovels. And one shovel accidentally-on-purpose happened to fall in front of the plow when the Engineer had backed up and was headed forward to hit It again and the shovel came out in 3 pieces the Roadmaster said, "I don't think we'll do that anymore". You think!
@@earlhollar1906 if you think that tightens your gut you should see my toro 6 horsepower gasoline powered 4 stroke single stage snow blower in action
With that much torque I wonder if they had to engineer something to keep it from twisting itself off the rails.
Cool video! Thanks for sharing :)
Oh what 😳 a pretty sky,...with all that ❄ snow
I love this 😍❤️👍🏽. This is just AWESOME AMAZING BEAUTIFUL ❤️
I wonder if they sell this snowblower attachment at Home Depot.
No, but they have it at Lowe's :)
No only at Train Depot!
@@deannelson9565 Literally AT a Train Depot!
Yeah I saw it for $49
It sounds a little like an Alco. It's a real workhorse!
Smokes like an Alco too!
@@GnonplussedGnome 16-567 EMD diesel.
Absolutly fantastic!
Not any worse than the blizzard of 77-78, or the one of 78-79. I-70 was closed from Oakley to Limon during the snow of 77-78; and then, in the 78-79 snow, I-70 was closed from Wakeeny to Limon. The UP, which runs through Wakeeny, to Limon, had 2 plows get stuck, during both winters. Took six diesels, and four front end loaders to dig those plows out, so the UP brought down their rotary plow to do the job. Only it got stuck just west of Sharon Springs.
Great video
Wow this comment was made when I was 7 holy crap
@@atticusrallye702 👍
Ur old.
the ultimate Zombie train.
Very beautiful !!
Thanks
Thanks, it's appreciated.
How about if they fell in to a void over the track. Stuck, no one could hear them over the noise of the blower. Not such a good idea to be in front of the blower. Think about safety. Kids, don't try this in your home.
Next time a rotary snow plow comes by my house in 30ft of snow, I'll stay far away
Me to lol
They must know the road pretty good.
Wow nice catch! Never seen a pair of GEVO's and a B unit and a diesel snowplow in one catch! Great job
Very cool that you were able to get so close to the action.
You got a lot of likes-for a lot of Snow 👍
Anyone else go "OM NOM NOM NOM" everytime the locomotive opens the throttle a little bit?
Absolute amazing
I'm jealous that had to be awesome to see in person what an opportunity........ 5 stars all around
When they are done there, they can come on over and do my driveway.
Two Beers lol
Boy does that bring back memories of when I was a kid.. just look at those blue skies and no chemtrails.
Contrails*
Chemtrails.. tin foil hat alert..
@@perooster1 wow are you behind times they haven't made tinfoil in years it's aluminum foil, the leading cause of Alzheimer's. Your move!
@@datbomb98 with that little star behind the word isn't there supposed to be an exclamation explanation.?.? Is that like a prisoner Trail? Or is that H2O vapor condensation Trail? Sorry I couldn't get my 2 to shrink down and hug the leg at the H.
Well I guess if the government makes the Airlines use DEF, as they do with anyone driving an internal combustion diesel I guess you could call it a chemtrail.
These things are awesome
Absolutely! Well put...
Damn must be cool being that close to a train.. gg