What is that peice of metal just in front of the train it maybe a wheel guard and how high is it from the trac

Question

What is that peice of metal just in front of the train it maybe a wheel guard and how high is it from the trac

Answer 1

I like Wolf's answer.  "Cowcatcher" is an antiquated term.  There isn't much left of a cow that gets hit by a train nowadays.

Answer 2

It'll either be a pilot or a snowplow.  That flat little thing is a snowplow, believe it or not:

http://www.chris-grossman.com/UP-BNSF_fi...

It's a minimum of 2 1/2" above the top of rail, per the law: 49 CFR 229.71. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/o...

Answer 3

Good answers., pilot and pilot plow.

However, the term "Cow Catcher" could have come from either the public domain or as railroad jargon.  In the by-gone days of westward expansion, cattle were more valuable than train, crew or lading and were far more numerous across the open cattle ranges, those ranges still in existence today.

Consider this rule from timetable: Southern Pacific Company,

Oregon and Woodland Divisions, Time Table No. 7, effective Sunday, November 1, 1891.

Rule #52  "Killing Stock":

"Great care must be taken to prevent killing live stock.  BRING THE TRAIN TO A FULL STOP IF NECESSARY.  Should any be killed or struck, the engineers must report in writing, on blanks furnished for that purpose, to Division or Assistant Superintendent, giving number of engine or engines, number of train, names of Conductor and Firemen, and all other information that may be useful.  If stock is killed when  it is apparent that it may have been avoided, the value of the stock so killed will be deducted from the Engineers' pay."

1891 was a very late date in expansion but cattle were still kings.  The cow catcher had been around at least 30 years before that.

So, I'm gonna go out on a limb and speculate that it was probably a hogger who came up with the idea, as a good way to protect the old paycheck.

Rails have always been resourceful folks, ya know...  For example, did you know, in the good ol' days, if in a pinch, the old "flimsies" made dandy cigarette rolling papers?  You could even put tobacco in 'em...

Answer 4

It's called a cow catcher and it is pretty low.  It was originally used to push cows off the track as the train went on its way.  At least that's what I've always been told.

Answer 5

I don't know where "cowcatcher" comes from. I don't know if that's a railroad term or a Layman's term. The original device never caught cows. It was put on the first locomotives that passed through open range and where large grazing animals were, like cows and buffalo.  It lifted 'em up and off to one side, and was usually a fatal encounter for the animal. But better than getting an animal under the wheels. Now, trains are larger and heavier, and range animals aren't such a  problem because they are better contained and are no longer big enough to derail the bigger trains. Now, this device is called a "pilot plow."  It can push snow or a fallen tree out of the way. They are adjustable too. On the line I work for, they are lowered in the winter to about three inches above the top of the rails. In the summer, they are raised up to about seven inches.