IMAGE EVALUATrON TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^s A,^* ^^^^ €P... '^ 1.0 !.l 1.25 111 2-5 2.2 1^ 1^ 1 U ill 1.6 vQ ^3 ^ ^^ ^ j^^ > ^^ /^ ^/ ^' > o v^ / Photographic Corporation S? .\^v ^V" \\ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ v -b^ 6^ •b V ^ '"^^ >■*:>•.. o ^^^^ m^.. .% ,% CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibtiographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, \Aulilic;ilioni'. SNOW ON RAILROADS. IKIW ri> l'HEI'.\KE KOK, ANU HOW TO DKAl. WITH IT. By .1. \V. Hakkom, M. C.in. Soc C. K. ')'() be read I'liday, the 6tli Mny. 1891'. The oll'oct of it snowl'all is felt in the truffle movenioiit on rail- roiids in invej'HO prcpori. ii U> tlio inc;ms iidiij>te(l to prepare for it, tho greatest iiieo'ivenionce bein^ felt in localitios wliere it .seldom occurH; (•(Hisequonliy a fall eunisidered liylit in one place has the oll'ect of entirely' ijtoupiiig trattic in others. Various Ciiiises go to exaggerate the eli'oc.t in the southern parts of tho snow belt, whei'e snow is more difflcult to deal with by reason of the character of the liill, and boeaiisoof the packing or solidifying which follows attempts to move it. The subject may be considered under four iieads : I. The behaviour of snow under varying conditions of iitmos- phe.v and tempertiture. II. Tho manner in which resistance is otl'ered tt) its removal. III. Tho various meihods lor Ucejiing the roiid bed clear of snow. IV. The best way to deal with snow obstructions. i. There are numerous wtiys in which snow falls and settles, chiefly as under : (a.) Quietly and steadily at a (•oniparalivel3'high temperature, fiakes damp tind suft. (i.) iSimilaily at a low temperature, flakes haril, generally small. (c.) Passing a))parently through a current of coliler air than that in which formed, with high wind which results in drifts. In such a case the smtdl Hakes iiarden separately, anti being free are easily drifted. (d.) One in which the flakes reach the ground apparently through a milder stream of air hardly sutHcient to thaw, and when settled freeze into a mtiss owing to tho chilling influence of tho earth. (e.) Lastly a damp tiill Ibllowod by a sliglii ihaw after low tem- perature u[K)n very cold ground ; this is the cause of ice forming iindei' the snow, an(i is the worst condition to deal with. The different Wiiys in which drilts form are illustrated by Figs. I, 2, 3 and 4. II. Falls such aa described in (1 a.), although greater i:i bulk, are the easiest to remove when railways are properly equipped, oecurring niosl frequently at tho comraoniement of a winter, and the liill being equal tho inishing snow aside is sufticient to open a road. The worst diflicultics with such snow being its eddying into tho ash pan of lirobox, lo'luciiig both draught and steam. What to do with tho snow after it has been forced aside, will be treated in part IV. The fall described in ( 1 b.) is I'rcqiiontly inoie troublesome if its dejtth exceeds a couple of inches, as it tills tho rail flanges (so called) and makes it ditHcult for tho wheels of engines and carb 1 I to touch the ri.il and get the proper adhoHion and smooth running Hurfiice. Whun 11 liili like (1 c.) oceurH, tho Hoason being udvuuued and a Hurtiice of hard ninooth nnow. (specially after a thaw and Hub- Moiiuent dro)) in toinpiiratuio) in ottered for it to drift over, tho trouble begins, livery bush, post, hillock, fence obMtrnclion of any kind, or hollow ottering a loo tho drifting snow does its best to discover and lie in. Railway cuttingr. oiler the best oppor- tuidty lordeej) drifts to gather and uro soinetinies known to get ••full," and when in that condition, are ilitflcult to deal witii, enpeeially in the small hours of the night. When buch cuttings lie parallel with tho wind, little or no ti^oulile results, it being when the snow is blown acroHM that they otter the best opportunity lor drifts to lodge. In localitie.s where a road curves considerably, a change' of wintl in a couple of hours has been known to clear out blocked cuttings and to Hll others which wore clear. The seemingly erratic manner in which drifts form, and the low tompeiatiires at time of formation otter grout difficulties to their ))revention or removal. The tilling of the " ttangos," re- ferred to in speaking of (I b) is an awkward matter to deal with, and will occur with the lightest fall, and even when no snow has recently fallen, being "aused by the disintegration of provioufly formed drifts and by the breaking ott' of small particles of ice from partiiily thawed snow. It is tiiis trouble which will bo specially considered in tho lattei portion of this paper. A fall described in CI d.) is happily not frequent, chiefly occur- ring toward tho end of a winter, and in open country rather than in a wooded or hilly one, it being necessary to the forma- tion of such drifts that the wind should have a clear sweep and unchecked velocity to move the snow ; when packed as described it is like stone to deal with, huge drifts being able to carry any weight without breaking through, tho ordinary wooden shovel being useless for moving it. These are the drifts which cause tho most derailments, and be- ing often "sicie drifts" so called from thoir covering the road bed unequally, sometimes being many foot high on one side and a few inches on the other, are veiy dangerous. Kven when of uinform depth across tho track they do great damage, allowing engine wheels and ploughs to roll or slide up them rather than break through to the rail, and " ditching" is a common result. Another very dj'ngerous kind of drift may be in- cluded under this heading, viz, when earthen banks (generally sand) have been exposed by thaws, wind and snow sweeping over gather particles, which mingling with the snow, torn! a very solid and difficult obstruction to remove. In the case of falls like (1 e. ) the packed matter when not cleared by proper ajjpliances, is dangerous, ice being formed on rails after passage of wheels. Where drainage is bad the ice sooner forms, and when formed nothing but a man with a pick- axe or similar means will remove it. 111. The methods of dealing with snow may be divided into two classes, viz: •' ])revontivo " and '-curative". Of the former, many brilliant propositions have been heard, including tho warming of the loadbed by steampipes to thaw the snow as it comes to rest. That in general use is a " snow fence." Snow sheds are used in many places, but they may be classed with fences. When building a railway in a snowy district, care is now general! V taken to raisi' the roadbed above tho general level of tho groimd, three feet to rail level is sufficient, even loss height has given good results. 01' the '-euros" tho two forms are snow-ploughs, and saow- scrapers, and of ploughs there are four kinds, viz : 1. hKlepennent ploughs, nn.-ihcd by an engine. '1. " Rotary " or maidiine ploughs. 3. Wing ploughs. 4. Nose ploughs built on engines. OfKcraporn llioro are two (ihiof typos, viz: Ist. That placed on the pilot of engine, ami 2nd. that l.iiilt on to a car and when in use towod bcliind a train. "Prevention beini,' liotter than euro" liio Hnow Cenco wtands first in nioii;. among the succeHHful nicthodH of dealing with Hnow, and the host way to He 'ure it is a hedge row of small ovorgioen trees. The common lialsam or (■•■dar ia recomnion.t way to worit a railway. A lertuiu amoiini ni snow on llu! banlts is a hencHt, materially rmlucin^' the ill otlects oltVoMt on the road bud. In di.>*cti.'idos :ind opuiatod troni within, and when fully extendeido« of plough. 'I'hc return pull is secured by two cylinders of same size working with a shorter stroke coupled close to hinge of wing. Air pressure to each wing is operated by u three way cock, bandied by the look-oui man, thus reducing tho number of men an(i expense. One great advantage claimed for compressed air is that should a drift be too heavy, the wings instead of being hold out until the pinion, its dog or the rack break or the engine is stuck, close ill, until the |)ressures equalize, Tlioii if necessary tiie plough is backed up and another run taken to finish the job. The working jiressure i«., the wings can be so regulated that resistance need not exceed tiie tractive force of the engine. It has been assumed in tho foregoing that the wing plough is hauled behind the locomotive, as no plough with men in it should be run in fiont of an engine. Using un uprun in front of a wing plough in opening a road is ver}' dangerou,s, the apron being liable lo be raised by drifts and derailment follows. It is after the road has been oponod lor en- gine passage that the apron will do good work. Another machine plough, the ■' Park's,'' has been foi' many years in use on the Grand Tiunk Kailway, but it is only a heavy scraper, and its consiruction in frout is such thai it must leave the track in a deep side drift, Iherefoi'c the author considers it should be classed among scrapers, not among jiloughs. Tho front us will be seen (see tig. 16) offers no oppoi'tunity for snow to pass from one side to the other, and in a deep drift the wi j,'iug action of the Y I, out forces the wheels otf the track. In a cou- ple of feet of snow with no bankf it is etfective, but being a ma- chine plough men have lo rido in it, and should not be run in front of an engine, thus it becomes for practical purjjoses only a scraper, but it is the very be.st of scra])Oi's. 'f lie hinged portion shewn b}' dotted lines (lilted by a screw from inside) is heavy, and furnished with shoos to ride the rail and guide it. The track "tlanges" (so called) are etfectually cleared out, and such other parts as may be arranged for by tho shape of the cutting edges of scraper. Next in v/rder as a scraper, but called a plough, may be noticed an arrangement patented in Michigan, (see tig, 17) it consists of a flat car (pushed by an engine) carrying u long hinged beam, altached to its free end, in front of car is a V shaped plough or scraper, which is raised m- lowered by an air c^dinder at A. The wlioU' affair is oidy tit lor work which can be done (luite as well and wilhoul risk by tho "Temple" scraper, willi which tho Grand Trunl< Railway Company equip their engines, and which is always ready for service. On double track ploughs there is little to be .said, llioir system of working being far troin perfect in practice. The 15oHton iV Albany Railroad ran (the author Ijelieves) some years ago a plough with a moveable iu>se hung vertically, (seo tig, 18) by nieiiiis of which shuw could be thiown to cither wide, at will. Hut that did not clean out the space between the tracks, and tho trouble of throwing snow from one track to the other still n maltuMi, UH well UM the ohjeclioiiul)!.' ridp- in tlii! cciilri). Tlii>< will bo (leiilt with Inter. Till' coininoii Hhiipo of (louMo (ruck |>loii>^li is tliul mIiowii in lif(. ll», ami i- built willi ti nijuuic nose. TliiM |imctically hIikvcIs up nil tlio nnow in lioni, pifMinjrr it to lliu oiilsidu of I nick. The problem of cliMiiinco (hh illiiHtratoil in Hy. 11) Ih of ypcut importance in iIiIh plough, but hiw uppurontly not roceived the intention ilcsorvcd, :l^ the cleariinco instead ol' lieinj^ double that ro«iuircil in a Hin;,'l(> track plough in. us far as the author has noticed, no inori^ than .1,'ivon to those plou^'hs, and is not enou^'h lor (hem. The iiuostioii ot working,' tho^o and other ploughs on doublo — and even four — tracks will be considorod at the end of this paper. Ol li.xcd or cn;,'inc nose plouf,'h-* there are a variety, and some have boon patented. They arc yenoridly of shoe! iron with .square nose, and of shape sliown in li;,' L'O, practically a largo shovel. .\n objection to this class is ihat I hoy are troublesome when engine backs up, gathering snow under, and eventually either Htailint,' the engine or breakini; thi' plough. One plouf;h like this is arranged over ordinary pilot to allow the 'Temple " scraper to b(! used. The author has given much attontioii to engine ploughs, and tig. 21 iiiiist-'iles one built anil run wuccessliilly Cboth fiirward and backward) on the Drummond Counties Hallway, Province of Quebec, during two wintei's. It is found that the guards on the sides of engine truck keej) the snow out of the plough when backing up, and a heavy tri- angular scraper huni^- underneath at front end, made a': e.xcellent road. Last winter (March 18!)1) one of these ploughs assisted by another engine broke through, near Barrio, Ontario, at one run, a drilt a (juartor of a mile long and from t()ur to si.x Ibet deep, although oidy designed to work its way homo in a storm thi'ough two or three foot of snow. The scjuare front of plough has been found to give the greale.st sal'ety, no case of derailment in any kind of drift having been e.N'perienced. h>r several wintorH on the Arthabaska and Doucel's Landing Bj'an(th. (irand Trunk Kailway, one of tho.so ploughs did goo allowing the bl;ide in case of being acciilentiilly run on to a switch or other obstruction to give way or slide over it. The author has soon these (h) work that had previously been considered work for an independent plough. tJare hat) to bo taken in fitting scrapers that they are always of the same figure on the bottom of blades, and that when on (j rail ilio wliiilo nIuikIm IcvpI, l'uilin>( thin procniition they will not \V(irl< iiiiltii iiiiil j^ottin;,' inoro lo liu in humii) ciimoh, liy rwisoii of liiivin^' toNciapu liani Mnuwlotl l>y llic otliorn, llioy ciituiot ilo mucIi work, anil liunco the Nrni])or ^vIh discio lit which In |)fO|M!i'ly iliio ti) Ihc wnni ot'iiniliirinity and caio in lilting. Wo next lonio lu I ho Hcraiior tlxoil to a cur ami workod at rear of (rain. Tho "(ioiiloito" scrupiT (Ki>,'. -M) !■ " ood work, air being quick and sure in its action. Concluding the doscriptive pait we will now lake up .Section IV. or tho best way to doiil with snow obstructions. I\'. As earlier noticed in this paper the author iidvocates pre- ventive methods. Tho ()uostion of cuts and tills will always in uneven country have in connection with first cost .i very important part in gov- erning the protile of a road, at tho same time in the case of roads liable to be visited by snovvthe iivoidancc of snow troubles should be taken into considoriition. and whore jiossiblo cuttings made wide and shallow to give room for drifting. On prairies tho rails should be throo feel above ground level, then neither snow fences, nor snow |)loiighs will be required, engine scrapers being sufficient with km occasional tiip of the car scraper to thorouirhly clean out the llango.s. In summer the snow clearing apjKiratus should bo over- hauled and repaired, and snow fences attended to, all being ready for service the second week in October, and fresh fences ready for Use whore experience has shown the in to bo necessary. Fences are by tiir the cheapest method of dealing with snow, they reiiuire no wages, iind do bettor work than ii gang of men shovelling, as tho latter only pile it tip worse, unless groat ex- pense is incurred to cast it a long tillii-r it in imt ciiiiiiiniy tu limd oiigiiit-M to tllt> Htil i I'lifiiiTod ; tiiiiii loiidx anil inovt*- inont" citii Ilit'M lie ^ii(» iMM'iii'i'i'ii, tliMl Hoiiit' ciitliiiL; intH dritti'il I'lill, tho ordinary ploiijih ha^ tiiilcil lo iiiaku itn way tlu()ti>.'h, and iiHHJbt- unco Ih iihUuiI tiir, 'I'hiH IN wlioii iiiti'llii^i'iit aclioii is iiucuMHai'y to priH'ont dainai^u to riiliinj; >lock, iiM il iian only too oltuii Ihm'Ii Uio priii'liiu3 lo put uxtru i)iif;inos on and try to ram tlio ploiii^li through, iiNuully rcHiillin^ in HinuNliiii^ it and the lui^iiifH. A ^ood nilo ir! " llial wiiat ono uiiu;iiii' and [ilougli (-aniiol ^t> through i,-t not hUt'o to run at." In coupling |)i(iu;;lis to oiif^inos it is iicciwuary to ciuiplo closoly with Niiiall .slioi'l link: to allow tliu ploui;li to hi'cuk away in canu it jumps the track > iliunt tiikiii^r cngiiiu with it. 'riiOHO smiill links arc not to hu used Tor pullinic Ihu ploii^jis lint only in |(UHhinf^. Soinotiinos if the >now is Hoi't and damp, although doop, two or ihruu unginus moving at a walking paco can push a plough tiirough it >aloiy hut if tt'ini)oraMirt» is low tlial ciuinot ho done, tho drifted snow is hard, and one might as well try to ilig the cutting out of the original earlli hy the saino moans. Under these conditions tho '• rotary'' if on inind will do gito(i work. If the drift is not inoi'o than six or seven feet (hop, tho line can ho opened (piickly. hy taking a gang of men and sotting to work in pairs ahout tiflecn feet apart, to dig cut.i uiToss tiie tiaek ahout twelve foot wide andjunt long enough for theiiiselvoH to work in, going down till ihey liiid tho rail, and leaving it liai'e l()r a eoupio of feel in length. Two houi's of this kind with a gang ot twenty moil will pro|)are for opening a long cutting. When all is ready the plough will at every opening get relief and the engine a clumcc to woi'k, resulting in the opening of the cut, loho widened later, preparing tor .inother storm. Without this widening is ilonc at once there i.s no certaint}' that the cut will not soon ho worse than tin; previous .4orin left it. A roadniaster should never neglect tho widening ot snow cut- tings and the levelling down of hanks close to the r.iil. The wing plough is a good auxiliary for this work, hut fro(|Uently the carrying away of snow on Hat cars is necessary where the rotary is not It )od. The clearing out nlUie moult. < of culverlslo admit free jiussuge of melUd snow is very necus.sary. and gonerul freedom of drain- age requires attention. Thaws aixl rain ai'e often sudden, and as promptly lollo^ved hy fall in temperature lending to freeze ihe road solid in a short time. When ice has formed on the irack it can only he removed hy tho piekaxo. No plough or scraper can touch it and clean the rails, anj' attempts' to force engines over or through it until a thaw has thoi'oughly set in, must result in disiister unless resort is had to hand lahor to clean tho rails and tlanges, a costly under- taking. A serious prohlem has presented it.self of late years in the deal- ing with ,>nov.' on roads of two or more parallel ti'iudcs. Tho Now York t'entral has had unpleasant experiences of Ihis nature, tho trouble hoing that the removal of snow from one track thrcw'^it on lo the other unless side jilougiis were used, and even in thai ease a ridge is left between ti acks, helping tho ibr- mation of fresh drifts. To successfully deal with this the author suggests the following system:— Starting out with the theory that in clearing a lino of 8now between any two given points (whether on single or double 8 - ^ i tinck) no Iriutm nhould U< on tliiil poitlon of tlio lino while ihv cluuiinjt if In |in)^ro«H, utid uHnumiiiK '1"H it Ih iloH'red to cleur a "nei'tion" of Hiiow iiml tliui ul ou iHllviHion torininuw in helil in i-eiturv« tt omplolo e(|uiprnoMt ; it in noifN-iiry lo notii tlic diroc- tioii of tho wind in (inlof that tlio plouK'is nmy hIhi-I from tliHl I'lid ol llii« roiid whitli wiU >{iv<' tint lulion of Iho »idi> plouKl'" the iiHHiwtunco of llio wind in nmyiiiK "" ''»o U»» i- o thii lofl hand tra'dt, conHO- (luonliy till! side ploiinliH aro built to throw hiiow to (hut -.ido. Ill thin CUMO tliu plougliK Nhoiild i iin from llio Kant to tho Went, and the lirHt " ^»Mtioii " — wiy twenty or thirty inilo.t — eocurcd clear of iruiiiM. Hotli tracUM being idoar ot tniiiiH, running ordciM VV'wt aro llrMt given on tho eaKlhound or north track to one plough lo tho tiiid of tho scliK'tod " n«M'iioii," ThiM plough being tho ordinary square noMcd plo.igh is puhhod by cngino, tho hauled wing plough follows lat»r toforeo back tho bank on tho north sido and to clear tho most of tho centre between tracks, thowiiig this snow woll over on to the soutl. track, helping tho second hide plough to move it further south and by a wing ploui;h following to force hack tho bank on tho Houtii wide. (See wkelch, tig. '1').) Tho advantage of this plan is that this •' section " Ih entirely cleared at once, and Irallic can bo safely resumed on it. On arrival of all ploughs at the eiid i>f such Me( 'ion tho trains there may bo ci.)sscd or passed, und a second ''sc lion " of the " division "treated in the !-amo manner. If the storm is from the Soutli, the plough should start from the \Ve»t. but uilhough not unknown, southoily storms are not frequent. If it is tho practice to use the right hand '.rack to .'un m, the ploughs would start from the west end with a northerly storm. II the storm is duo I'last or WeM, and the road hiw not very much curvature it would be found thai not mach trouble would result, but still both tracks sliouUl bo cleared— .so to speak — at the same time, by the plough on the wrong track being run fifteen minutes ahead of tho other in all cases. In the case of four track railroiuls four nets of ploughs are reiiuired to be worked in a similar manner to the nbove, viz : one breaking i)lough thice siilc ploughs and four wing ploughs. After coii.-ideruble thought and experience, the author considers this to be the best, if not tho only ..way to promptly and efl'ect- ively rlear anything more than a single track railway of snow. With the following, whiih is not claimed as original nor as applicable only to the subject untlcr consideration, the author concludes: 'To keep a lailway clear of snow clernal vigilance is the price of safety." Without that all applianceti are useles.-