Probably about the same inconvenience as for a steam dummy, getting through the housing to the smokebox door. I hadn't really thought about it, but I assume the boilermakers and steamfitters who maintained them at the shops developed techniques for that. Since the surviving D&RGW rotary is still used occasionally, the people at Alamosa presumably have figured out how to do it.
Jace Kahn General Manager Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co. > I imagine it was quite a job to change a tube in a rotary boiler. > > My kiddo and I have had a lot of fun over the years poking around the OY at > Chama, whence my email address. > > Charles Weston > > --- On Tue, 12/21/10, JGG KahnSr <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: JGG KahnSr <[email protected]> > Subject: RE: {S-Scale List} snow plow > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 2:46 PM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Rotary plows were a lot more expensive than wedge plows, both to buy and to > maintain (there was an entire steam engine in there-- > > most, like wreck cranes, were later dieselized), and the traffic on a route > had to justify the investment. Many branchlines had to make > > do with just a wedge plow, and in the midwest that often was a homemade job > (like the Sunshine kit or the Larsen project based on a > > MILW prototype) rather than a Russell-type. > > In mountainous territory I've read about crews actually dynamiting jams > before they could attack them with the rotary (which works better on powder > snow than the iced and impacted kind. Rotaries worked better in deep cuts > where a wedge plow had no place to move the snow as it progressed. In the > old days often three or four (or presumably more) steam locomotives would > push on the plow, and often one of the was coupled tender-first to pull the > entire train in reverse between pushes. And usually a snow train had a > hopper or gondola full of coal to replenish tenders as they used up their > loads--or, even worse, got stuck and needed to keep up steam to prevent > freezing the boiler and piping. > > Not all plows had a coupler on the front (and those that did took a lot of > abuse in service), but having one did facilitate moving them in a train or > removing them from storage on the MOW track when winter threatened. The > casting in the Ambroid kit seems to be a kind of pewter, sturdier than the > usual white-metal, and both it and the headlight are specialty items; one can > (and I have in other applications) fabricate one out of brass or styrene > channel or rectangular tubing and bevel the mating surfaces to the plow. It > won't be quite as fancy as > > the original casting but will do the job. > > > > Jace Kahn > > > > General Manager > > Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co. > > > > > On 12/21/10 1:56 PM, dhultay wrote: > > > > > > > > I have an Abroid snow plow kit missing front white metal casting > > > > coupler draft-gear box. Does any body have a source for one, or a > > > > decent substitute? > > > > Dennis H. Bloomfield NJ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Mine doesn't have one either. I'm wondering if the prototypes all had > > > them or perhaps they were removed when the crews readied them for winter > > > use. > > > > > > Several years go I purchased a VHS video of snowplows pushing snow in > > > Canada. Pretty interesting overall, but the last segment (as I recall) > > > shows one that derails and goes aerial. Not exactly 'Americas funnest > > > home video's' but pretty impressive. > > > > > > I often wondered why some railroads preferred plows vs the rotary > > > style. In mountain conditions when there was the possibility of rocks > > > and tree branches being mixed in with the snow the rotaries' blades > > > would be damaged immediately, so they had to stick with plows. I know > > > on many branch-lines the plows were almost useless if the track required > > > slow speeds--the plow trains just bogged down in the slow running. I > > > guess both styles are getting a workout in the mid-west and Eastern > > > states. I wouldn't know as it's nearly 80 today. > > > > > > Bob Werre > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
