Love the pictures of Mount Florida - haven't been through there in over 20 years. I remember the old wooden station building; lovely but falling to bits
True true, but the weather and times they are a changing. The beauty of electric switch heaters is once installed they have a very small cost if not turned on. I'd rather have then installed even if you only use them 2 to 10 times a season. Being able to keep the railroad operational is going to keep many hundreds of thousands of people able to commute to and from work. Add a few specialized pieces of snow work equipment such as a jet powered snow blower mounted on a flatcar hauled around by a freight engine. The New Haven railroad used a jet engine to blow snow out of switches back in 1953. I happened to see this specialized snow fighter back in 1976 in New Haven, Connecticut and was surprised when the operator told me this was the original jet snow blower. 2000 gallon fuel tank built in 1943 to transport oil because of German U-Boats affecting seagoing shipping. It was an experiment in 56 and became accepted one month later. Mostly used around major freight yards. Push comes to shove try using a leaf blower. What? A leaf blower that runs the exhaust through the air blower nozzle which increases the temperature of the air out of the nozzle. A lot of people in the states use the to blow snow and ice off their cars and driveways. It's not the fastest method but it works very reliable if a bit slow. A hell of a lot better than using a broom or shovel. Using one I've cleaned out a power switch by handing it to a track worker for CSX who thought I was nuts. 5 minutes later he was convinced though I don't know if CSX purchased any but I know of a track crew who bought them with their own money and love them. The style of leaf blower that runs the exhaust through the blower nozzle raises the temperature to roughly 36-38 degrees. Not very warm but enough to get the job done.
It appears to me they have no snow melters for the switches. As a retired locomotive engineer I'll tell you right now when your railroad is not equipped to melt snow on the railroads switches you have a serious problem. On the 200 mile division I ran on all are switch heaters on the mainline were electric which made it easy to melt the snow and ice. The single track bridge going over the New York through way my train had a stop signal in the middle of February and when I called the west end dispatcher he didn't have any indication of snow or ice. He turned the switch heaters on and just over 10 minutes later I got a green signal as the two switches there were spring switches and were filled with ice and as a westbound freight had just gone through but ice was preventing the eastbound switch from closing properly. I then notified the west end dispatcher I had a green and off I went.
James Shanks There are switch or point heaters but they tend to be used in the more exposed areas that normally see bad weather. Snow like that in Glasgow is not normal : Glasgow winters tend to be wet and mild
Good video, the Beast from the East v Scotrail---winner, the Beast, the trains had to be off because of safety reasons. I do praise all those who got the trains back as soon as they could.
Love the pictures of Mount Florida - haven't been through there in over 20 years. I remember the old wooden station building; lovely but falling to bits
True true, but the weather and times they are a changing. The beauty of electric switch heaters is once installed they have a very small cost if not turned on. I'd rather have then installed even if you only use them 2 to 10 times a season. Being able to keep the railroad operational is going to keep many hundreds of thousands of people able to commute to and from work. Add a few specialized pieces of snow work equipment such as a jet powered snow blower mounted on a flatcar hauled around by a freight engine. The New Haven railroad used a jet engine to blow snow out of switches back in 1953. I happened to see this specialized snow fighter back in 1976 in New Haven, Connecticut and was surprised when the operator told me this was the original jet snow blower. 2000 gallon fuel tank built in 1943 to transport oil because of German U-Boats affecting seagoing shipping. It was an experiment in 56 and became accepted one month later.
Mostly used around major freight yards.
Push comes to shove try using a leaf blower. What?
A leaf blower that runs the exhaust through the air blower nozzle which increases the temperature of the air out of the nozzle. A lot of people in the states use the to blow snow and ice off their cars and driveways. It's not the fastest method but it works very reliable if a bit slow. A hell of a lot better than using a broom or shovel. Using one I've cleaned out a power switch by handing it to a track worker for CSX who thought I was nuts. 5 minutes later he was convinced though I don't know if CSX purchased any but I know of a track crew who bought them with their own money and love them. The style of leaf blower that runs the exhaust through the blower nozzle raises the temperature to roughly 36-38 degrees. Not very warm but enough to get the job done.
It appears to me they have no snow melters for the switches. As a retired locomotive engineer I'll tell you right now when your railroad is not equipped to melt snow on the railroads switches you have a serious problem.
On the 200 mile division I ran on all are switch heaters on the mainline were electric which made it easy to melt the snow and ice. The single track bridge going over the New York through way my train had a stop signal in the middle of February and when I called the west end dispatcher he didn't have any indication of snow or ice. He turned the switch heaters on and just over 10 minutes later I got a green signal as the two switches there were spring switches and were filled with ice and as a westbound freight had just gone through but ice was preventing the eastbound switch from closing properly. I then notified the west end dispatcher I had a green and off I went.
James Shanks There are switch or point heaters but they tend to be used in the more exposed areas that normally see bad weather. Snow like that in Glasgow is not normal : Glasgow winters tend to be wet and mild
Good video, the Beast from the East v Scotrail---winner, the Beast, the trains had to be off because of safety reasons. I do praise all those who got the trains back as soon as they could.
do a review of Class 175
They need snow plows like we have here in the States to keep the rails clear and open.
This is why network rail needs some snow plow units
Just get a class 37 with a snowplough and your ready
Thanks for liking
Great Idea
I couldn't get to town because my local commuter services were cancelled
Amazing!