How do they clean the railway tracks when a large winter blizzard/ storm passes by the track?

Question

How do they maintain such a vast disatnce of railways with all these bad weather conditions?

Answer 1

In the UK we have 'de-icing' trains for winter use. What these actually do is go out at night when other trains aren't running on electric lines with a 3rd rail and coat this rail with grease, so the ice won't stick to it (water when frozen won't conduct electricity). Another way to prevent the 3rd rail icing is to 'short' it out for a time. It heats up, thus melting the ice.

Most railway points in the UK have built-in heating to stop them icing-up in winter.

Snow is rarely a problem in the UK for most of the time because it doesn't usually get deep enough, but snowploughs are available for use in extreme conditions.

Railways in Europe, where there tends to be more snow in winter, especially in moutainous regions like the Alps, have heavy-duty rotary snow-clearing machines similar to those used in the US and Canada.

Answer 2

u want to know. theres this big thing that has a big blade on the front like a snow blower that goes on the tracks and a diesel train pushes it it has a big rotary blade on the front

Answer 3

They have rail snow blowers/plows, and a lot of the time if it isn't too deep, the train pushes through it since they all have a "cow-catcher" on the front of them.

Answer 4

'Hoghead' forgot something.  During early railroading when plows & track sheds failed to keep the route clear several hundred

men would ride flats up to the choke point & spade the snow

clear.  They were usually either Chinese or Irish.  Hundreds are thought to have died from snow related causes.  These laborers

dimished over time as many Chinese were deported, the Irish found safer occupations, & snow clearing techniques improved.

Answer 5

In the mountains of California and Oregon, including the Sierras, Siskiyous and Cascade mountain ranges the UP, and its predecessor, the Southern Pacific, used various pieces of snow removal in a three pronged attack.

Snow fall is quite heavy in these areas, and trains with locomotives equipped with “pilot plows” are overwhelmed in relatively short order.

First to head into snow country is the “flanger.”  These are single pieces of equipment easily recognizable by the two large plows, resembling what you see on the front of trucks plowing snow on the nation’s highways, pulled along by a couple of locomotives.  On the bottom there is a “blade” that, with the plow lowered, extends below the top of the rail to clear snow and ice from between the tracks, ensuring the “flange ways” for the cars are kept clear of ice buildup that can derail a train.  The blades throw the material either to the left or to the right, depending on which blade is used, always with the intent of throwing the ice and snow to the downhill side of the tracks being worked on.  The blades are pneumatically controlled by a switch at the engineer’s disposal.  They are usually kept in a “locked” position inside the flanger with a crewman locking or unlocking the blades at the engineer’s request.  The flangers are absent of any suspension so they don’t bounce while under way, which could damage roadbed or blades if allowed to “bottom out.”  As a result, the rough ride beats you to death, and the seats are equipped with seat belts.  No one has to be told to buckle-up.  Devices normally found between the rails, such as flange lubricators, switch components such as points, stock rail and frog, grade crossings, etc., are identified by “flanger boards” which mark their location as they are covered with snow.

But the flangers have their limitations.  As they clear the snow from between and adjacent to the rails, eventually a “core” builds up on both sides of the track.  If too high, it can come into contact with the “cutting levers” on each car, which is the mechanism used to uncouple the cars, causing the train to separate.  When this happens, the call goes out for the “Jordan spreaders,” pushed along by a couple of locomotives.  This piece of equipment is equipped with hydraulically operated “wings,” that can extend as far as twenty feet to the side of the spreader, with control of angle and elevation included.  In this instance, the wings are usually controlled by the Roadmaster or other maintenance of way employee who has a very good understanding of the clearances with signal masts, signal bridges, structure with hand rails, etc., so no damage is done to them by the wings.  The snow is either pushed over an embankment or, when absolutely necessary, pushed against the side of a hill.  When this too presents with limiting factors, running out of room, the call goes out for the big guns, the Rotary Snow Plows.

Enter the “wide wing rotary.”  The rotary is a very large and cumbersome beast.  Expensive to operate they see service infrequently, and as a result, usually draw a crowd when out and about.  Some are self contained for mobility, but most require a locomotive consist to push them around, typically 4 SD-45s in between two of the critters.  The rotary blades are run by locomotive traction motors mounted in the unit behind the cab, powered by old F7 units converted to the purpose of supplying electricity to the traction motors.  I don't know for sure, but it would seem logical that the traction motors came off of these units.  Also behind the cab is found four “steam generators.”  The wings and deflector are operated by steam, and steam is applied to the blades of the rotary to keep them free of ice and snow build-up when idling.  The blade is kept rotating continually to prevent build-up as well.  When one is working hard, rooster tails up to 200 feet are common.  Truly an awesome sight.

There are a couple snow related stories on my 360 blog you may find interesting.

A very good question, by the way.  Thanks for asking.

Answer 6

There are several ways the tracks are kept passable in adverse winter weather.

Most locomotives are equipped with a plow on one or both ends, and can plow their way through some of the snow drifts encountered.  Where the snow is especially bad, the railway may use a rail-mounted plow or snow throwing machine of some sorts to clear the way.  On busy main lines, many times the high volume of trains keep the tracks reasonably clear before the snow builds up too much.

In yards, there are a variety of snow clearing contraptions.  In smaller yards, it's often up to the individual train crews to sweep out switches; in larger yards, large jet blowers throw heated jet exhaust at the tracks and switches, which melts away whatever isn't instantly blown out.

In industrial sidings, the responsibility of clearing the tracks is the customer's.  Often, where there's large snowdrifts, excessive ice buildup, or other hazardous conditions, we won't pull or spot cars at that customer's siding.  Many customers, however, either own or contract large equipment (front end loaders, backhoes, graders), so clearing the tracks isn't too difficult a task.