About the Author J. D. Santucci (a.k.a. "Tuch") began his railroading career in 1978 as a trainman on the Missouri Pacific. After a round of lay-offs in 1985, Tuch embarked on a railroad odyssey, working in many different situations for different roads. This column tries to explain some of the nuts and bolts of the job and also demonstrates what we have to deal with on a regular basis within and without the industry. Tuch currently works through freights out of Chicago for Canadian National/Illinois Central. ©1999, 2003-2007 JD Santucci. Logo ©2002 The Railroad Network. By J.D. Santucci

February 19, 2004
Greetings all, as you can see I'm a little behind on getting this one out. I took several vacation days and made off for Grand Rapids, MI. My cousin Tony and I headed up there to participate in the festivities of the American Hockey League's All Star Classic weekend. We attended the skills competition on Sunday night and of course, the game on Monday night. We also took part in some of the other activities as well. Some of which included the consumption of fermented, yeasty, malted beverages and also the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the players. We even managed to get ourselves on television there. Oh yes, a good time was had. How could I not have fun? It involved hockey and one of the five basic food groups for railroaders, alcohol.

But now we're back and ready, well just about required to get back into the swing of things so here we go.

In our last exciting episode I discussed the bitter cold weather and how it wreaks havoc on the rail industry. This time we are going to deal with a little snow. Well actually, were going to deal with a lot of snow. Let's make that tons of snow. While a little bit of snow usually doesn't pose much of a threat to railroading, when we begin to get significant accumulation of that powdery white stuff, it can make the most fluid operation go straight down the toilet. And for today's lesson we are going to go back in time to my days on the MoPac. It seems that back then, winter was still hitting us each year with great vengeance.

In the winter of 1978-79, this also happened to be my first winter on the railroad; it started to snow one afternoon. This was no particularly big deal as we had already had several snowfalls this season. As it happened, I was called to work an afternoon extra job at Yard Center at 1500. Actually, I got called very late, like about 1420 to work it. One guy that had already taken the call to work it phoned in informing them he had been arrested and tossed in the slammer, so he would not be able to attend the festivities. I got the very late call and eventually headed to work. The snow began to fall as I was on my way to work and the system producing it seemed to be gaining steam as the afternoon wore into evening.

We have this big pond here around Chicago and Northwest Indiana called Lake Michigan. On occasion, the big pond becomes the massive snow factory and we get dumped upon big time. When the winds are right and there is a weather system producing snow, the "Lake Effect" takes control and we get blasted. In 1967 we got over 23 inches of snow in one felled swoop. Ye ha! I was in grade school then and we wound up getting several days off over that one.

By the winter of 1978-79 I had grown into a big kid and a little, or a lot of snow was not supposed to matter. As an alleged grown up, I was not supposed to let snow interfere with the vital necessities like going to work. Little did I know that this storm would be the beginning of the one of the worst winter seasons in the history of this region, or perhaps the nation as many parts of the country seemed to get blasted with a serious dose of winter?

The snow began to fall with much more vigor and it was really starting to pile up. A fair amount of snow causes a great deal of problems with railroading as I was quickly learning in my new career. The snow was plugging up the switches in the yard. We would take switch brooms, made with metal instead of straw and sweep the snow out of the switch points (the moveable rail of the switch). One move made over that switch would quickly fill it right back in with more snow. This meant that every time we rolled any locomotive or cars over it, they would push snow right back into the switch. And this meant we had to sweep it out again and again.

Back to the switch brooms for a moment; these brooms have metal instead of straw as I mentioned. Each strand of metal on the broom head is much thicker than straw and far more rigid. Straw will not hold up against snow and also will not push it around as well. The metal does a much better job. The opposite end of the switch broom has a scraper made of metal, looking sort of like an ice scraper you would use on your cars windows. This scraper end is used to scrape packed in snow and ice out of the switch.

In cleaning out the switch when there are significant amounts of snow, you need to thoroughly clear the snow out of the switch points and also the tie plates and area around the opposite side of each point. In addition, you also need to clear the snow from around the base of the switch stand, the switch rod that connects the switch stand to the switch itself and also the bridle bar which connects the switch points themselves. Snow builds up under, on top of and around all of this apparatus and when it packs in there can make the switch next to, if not completely impossible to operate.

Now some guys will try to operate a switch when there is some accumulation in the points without cleaning the snow or ice out first. And more often than not, their only success is in creating more work. In trying the points to fit up snug against the stock rail, they will pack that snow or ice in there. This snow pack usually prevents the switch from being able to line all the way over. Usually either the handle will not go all the way into the fully lined position or, it will go over with a huge fight but then leave a gap in the switch points.

When a switch is gapped, there is just that, a gap between the points and the stock rail in which they fit against. If allowed to proceed over this gap, a derailment could occur. The flange of the wheel can easily fit in between the gapped switch points literally separating the points from the stock rail. This is often referred to as "splitting the switch." The wheels will then attempt to follow the path of least resistance until they run out of rail and then drop off onto the ground.

If you try to line the switch with snow in it and cannot succeed, you have to restore it back to the route it was lined before you began this operation and then get the broom and clean it out. Of course now you have all that stuff packed in there good and tight and you'll have to work your butt off to get it cleared out. And sometimes that broom is not good enough. Sometimes you have to get some heat into the thing to help melt and clear out the ice and really hard packed snow. This usually requires the use of fusees (flares). You have to light a fusee or two and use them like a torch back and forth in the areas where the snow has packed in there to melt it out.

Ah yes, there's nothing like the fragrant aroma of sulfur burning at extremely high temperatures to clean out the sinuses. And of course being that this is actually now a stick of molten sulfur you have in your hand, it certainly has an incredible effect when the drippings from it splash onto you gloves, clothing or boots. This burning stick of chemistry set is also extremely bright as it burns. So after carefully watching what you are doing so as to not burn or incinerate yourself, you now have case of "fusee" blindness as it were. You really cannot see very well, if at all for a few moments, particularly if it is dark out.

So after using high temperatures and back breaking labor to clear out the switch, you get it to line over for your route. Now just imagine having to put forth this effort every time you need to operate a switch. As I'm certain you have already surmised, this additional activity begins to slow the pace of the operation to a crawl.

As I mentioned, sometimes you will get a gap in the switch points even after clearing all of the snow out. This tends to occur quite often under such weather conditions. If a section man (Track Department worker) is handy, he can usually lend some assistance in getting the gap cleared up. Usually a few whacks with a spike maul against the stubborn point will move it over enough to close the gap. Should that fail, it may require "excavation" of the snow from the switch which may take some time.

If no section man is available and the gap is not too great, you can attempt to use the flange of the wheels to force the stubborn point into submission. In this case you very slowly move your engine or cut of cars up against the switch points. I mean very, very slowly. What you are trying to do is have the flange catch the switch point and then shove it against the stock rail to close the gap. To put this move into perspective, this can be akin to using a 32 oz ball peen hammer to make a precision adjustment to the remote control on your television. When it works, you'll usually take the first entire car over the switch point very slowly to make certain you have that point pushed up snug against that stock rail. If you don't and you pick up speed too quick, the cars, they go kerplunk.

In years past whenever the weather went to hell, the railroad would usually bring in a supply of section men and their foremen to be on hand to assist you in clearing out switches. Oftentimes they would assign a guy to your job and he stayed with you all day or all night to lend a hand in clearing out the switches and making any adjustments as necessary. Of course in the present time we are providing for all of those widows and orphans that own all the stock instead of taking care of the operation. The industry tends to have far less people during the worst part of the winter to assist than in my early years on the job.

It used to be that once a gang of section men would clear out all of the switches on the lead, they used to place smudge pots filled with fuel oil under the switch points and then light them. These smudge pots created heat which helped melt the snow and ice that was getting forced into the switch points by train movements or that was still falling from the heavens above. Unfortunately, this was not one of the safest methods available of snow fighting available. Back in the days they were still being used, I witnessed several of them actually blow up from overheating. Fortunately though, in all of the times I observed such an explosion, nobody ever got injured or killed. Today, the use of smudge pots in this manner is against the rules. I have not seen them being used since the early 80's, so I'm guessing the rules were changed back then.

The snow was continuing to fall at a rapid rate and quickly accumulating. Switches were filling up and walking areas were becoming treacherous. The operation was slowly grinding down to a crawl. Not only our assignment but all the other assignments were also facing this weather problem. We worked twelve hours and went dead.

The snow let up some giving the maintenance of way crews a chance to catch up. That following evening was a Friday and the snow was coming down full force for quite some time already when I took my call to work the 1130 lead job in 8 Yard. It was an adventure getting to work as the roads were in terrible shape. In those days I had a four wheel drive truck as I used to off road as a hobby. This truck was the reason I was able to get to work that winter. I made it when most others couldn't.

Upon my arrival at work that evening, there was already chaos. This latest blast of winter was now piled up on top of the significant snowfall we received the previous evening. Bill Adams, the Chicago Division Roadmaster had his gang of section men working like ants trying to battle the effects of the storm. An attempt was made to use intense heat to clear the snow away. The decision was made to fire up the old weed burner and the Maintenance of Way forces were using this machine in the attempt to burn the snow away.

For those of you unfamiliar with this machine, the weed burner did just that, burned weeds. This piece of on track machinery would roll along the right of way with burners using superheated air to literally scorch the weeds, brush and other growth along the right of way into oblivion. As a kid living along side the old New York Central, I vividly recall seeing one of these machines in action every summer. This machine would roll along the main track which ran along side our house. Actually it wasn't right along side; it was about one hundred feet or so from the house. Anyway, we would be in the backyard as the weed burner rolled by doing its thing. From the hundred feet or so away that we were located from this machine, we could easily feel the heat being generated.

Generally there were not actual balls of fire coming out of the tubes at the rear of the weed burner, but the heat being created was doing quite the number on everything it encountered. I've heard stories from old machine operators of starting all kinds of fires along the right of way, including a few ties here and there. I'd be willing to bet a few employees also received some burns. These reasons were probably enough to get the weed burners banned over twenty years ago. While the initial effects were readily apparent after the passing of the weed burner, several days later you could really observe the final objective of the operation. The area along the right of way would turn brown as everything was thoroughly burned out. This was not your typical brush fire; intense searing heat had been applied literally scorching everything in its path. The weeds did not grow back for the most of the entire summer and early fall.

Talk about a scorched earth policy.

So the weed burner was being used in the attempt to blast the snow out the switches. They did have some success in using it, but this was the weed burner's last hurrah as it was dismantled the following summer.

Back in those days, the hurricane jet blower that so many railroads operate today was a relatively new tool in battling snow. MoPac did not have one assigned to Chicago. I'm not certain they even owned one at all in 1979. The Louisville & Nashville did have one and it was located in Evansville, IN. Being that Yard Center was a joint agency with the L&N the jet blower was summoned for assistance. The snow problem in Chicago would also create problems for the L&N so it was in their best interest to lend their jet blower to the MoPac.

The jet blower uses a jet engine, hence the name. The engine is mounted on the front of the machine with the back of the engine or exhaust end facing out. On the back end of the engine is a moveable hatch. This hatch may be raised and lowered and also pivoted from side to side as well to adjust the direction of the exhaust and heat generated from the revving jet engine. An incredible amount of exhaust gas and heat is generated. I was told something like 10,000 cubic feet of air per minute came blasting out of the chute. Herein lies one of the drawbacks of the jet blower. It will send loose objects lying along the right of way hurtling through the air be it ballast, spikes, tie plates and even old brake shoes. One guy I worked with had the windshield on his car broken when the jet blower threw an old brake shoe lying on the ground into the air. When the brake shoe landed, it did so with a direct hit on this guy's front windshield.

We affectionately dubbed this machine the 747. Whether it was idling or being used at high speed rpm's for the service in which it was designed, it sounded exactly like what it was; a jet engine. If you closed your eyes and listened, you'd think you were at the airport listening to planes taking off. And then there was that familiar smell of jet fuel and exhaust.

The exhaust of the jet blower will both blast snow and ice away and also melt what remains behind. Nobody is allowed to be in front of or near the sides of the blower for this reason. Unfortunately though, when melting everything in its path, the now liquefied snow and ice does not all blow completely clear of the switches. Some of that liquid will drain back into the switch area and as it is exposed to the cold temperatures will begin to freeze. When this occurs, the switches will then freeze up solid requiring yet more assistance from the section crews.

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Or maybe better yet, "One step forward, two steps back."

Some railroads have employed the use of "mini" blowers as it were. This a length of hose with a glad hand on one end to allow it to be connected to one of the multiple unit main reservoir lines on the end of a locomotive, The other end is connected to a length of pipe with a valve affixed. By adjusting this valve allows for the employee using it to regulate the air flow or stop it all together. The use of main reservoir air from a locomotive, usually in the 130 to 140 psi range, through this hose and pipe provides for pretty constant supply of air to blow snow out of switches. Such an arrangement is often used in remote or outlying locations where section men are not readily available. While not always as effective as the jet blower, these blowers do lend quite a hand when clearing out switches.

Some switches, normally remotely controlled power switches or main track spring switches will employ the use of permanent heating devices. There are several different types of heaters used. Some employ the use of heated forced air. A heater fired by natural or LP gas uses a high velocity fan to push this heated air through duct work that aims it at the switch points and other hardware to melt snow and ice allowing for continued operation of the switches even in the most adverse of weather conditions.

Another type of weather beater is the switch burner. This method uses gas fired heaters mounted along side the rails. A series of gas jets along the length of the heater cabinets ignite and provide a steady flame which then heats up the stock rails and switch points melting the snow and ice away from the moveable parts of the switch.

There is also an electric heater that uses electrical energy to operate it. This heater uses elements mounted on the rails that will glow when electricity is applied which, like the burners, heats up the rails to melt away the snow and ice.

These switch heaters or burners can be operated either manually or automatically. In most cases they are operated by a Control Operator, Dispatcher or even a train crew. The manually operated ones are usually done so by a Control Operator or Dispatcher operated by entering a code into their computerized control system, or by turning a switch on a control panel. In some instances a train crew using the keypad on the locomotive radio may enter a code number which will send a command message to the control system at a specific location to start or stop the switch heaters. While I am certain they are out there, the only automatically operated type of heaters I've ever observed were used on the South Shore. There were sensor units at the sight of certain spring switches that would activate the electric heaters when they detected an accumulation of snow. Now with all this snow piling up and covering the switches, what about everything else you may ask? Nothing is immune from the forces of winter. The snow also begins to build up on the switching leads and all areas where employees must walk as well as all roadways used by motorized vehicles, cars and trucks. The snow also piles up on the catwalks of locomotives and cars. The accumulation of large amounts of snow in these locations can also interfere with the operation. Walking through knee high or even waist high snow can be time consuming or virtually impossible at times.

When the snow becomes too deep to walk through, a little creativity is required to make things work. I had to couple up tracks in this snow storm and needed to advance my way down the track in snow that was quickly becoming high enough to make walking extremely difficult. Even somebody over six feet tall or more will to tread through this kind of accumulation. What you have to do is have the Engineer pull the cut out of the track up until the last car coupled to reaches you. The cut is brought to a stop you climb aboard directing the Engineer to begin shoving the cut towards the cars left behind in that track. This process is repeated until you have the entire track coupled. Now in order to work your way back up to the engine you have the Engineer pull the cut all the way out, or as far as they can anyway. This method takes longer but you do what you have to do. And of course, this only makes for slowing the operations even more.

What had now become early Saturday morning saw no let up in the snow. This weather system was indeed a bona fide blizzard. Roads were closed; automobiles were stuck everywhere and some employees were unable to make it to work. The operation at Yard Center was down to a crawl. As a result, train crews were going dead as there was no room to get their trains into the yard. We were getting very little accomplished to clear out any tracks. We were not alone in our plight. The Trainmaster had made calls to several other area railroads and many of them had already gone into a shutdown mode. We remained open for business, but things were dreadfully slow.

Being that it was virtually impossible to walk anywhere or get anything switched. We wound up just getting tracks together with the long division method I've described, pulled the cuts of cars out on the lead and had the Car Inspectors work the cars in this method. They coupled road power and cabooses to these cuts and just ran them south without being classified. This method is known as mine running. They were trying to get cars out of the yard to clear out space for inbound trains. The cars being sent out were going to other yards where they weren't getting buried by snow. With no snow at these locations, they figured somebody somewhere else could get the cars classified and then dispatch them to the proper stations and connections.

We wound up with about twenty inches of snow with this blizzard by the time it let up in the morning. Then, the sun came out. Snow as far as the eye could see. Many of the daylight brothers had called off as they couldn't even get out of their driveways. All of the night jobs were held over and worked twelve hours. And this snowfall was merely the kickoff of what would be the wildest winter I have ever worked on the railroad.

For years the normal total winter snowfall in the Chicago area was about thirty-four inches. This winter we would wind up with about ninety total inches of snow. And behind every snowstorm usually follows a high pressure system laced with bitter cold temperatures and severe wind chill factors. While we didn't set any records for single coldest days, I believe we did set records for the most consecutive days of below zero temperatures and also days below the freezing mark of 320 F. Couple all the snow with all the cold weather that came along with it and you have the perfect mix for absolutely dreadful working conditions.

I worked at lead job switching cars one on the coldest nights of the winter. It was something like -200 F that evening with a wind chill factor of nearly -800 F. I was dressed for success that evening as every other that winter. I wore a set of long underwear, jeans and a flannel shirt. I had a hooded sweatshirt on over the flannel shirt. I wore a snowmobile suit over all of that. Insulated socks with plastic bags over them were covered by insulated work boots. I wore insulated choppers, a type of deerskin mitten. On the super cold nights I wore a pair of glove liners on my hands and the choppers over them.

To shield my head from the cold I wore a winter weight baseball cap. I pulled the hood from my sweatshirt up over that. The collar of my snowmobile suit was pulled up to provide a little more insulation around my neck, but was not buttoned in the front. I cannot tolerate having anything tight around my neck, so the front was open. Not once did I freeze out there in the elements. However, my beard and mustache could not make that claim.

Some of you might recall the late Gilda Radner's "Saturday Night Live" character Rosanne Rosannadanna. In one particular skit Rosanne discusses having film critic Gene Shallot join her for lunch on a brutally cold day. She complained of Gene's beard and mustache thawing out and dripping all over the table and her food. This is about what happened to me. The moisture in my breath would accumulate and freeze in my beard and mustache giving me the appearance of the abominable snowman. Whenever I went indoors into a heated area, my frozen face would begin to melt and drip all over.

People have commented for years about my facial hair. In the winter for many years I tended to let it all grow a bit longer and thicker calling it my "winter coat." But it worked, I can't wear scarves or face masks and all that hair does help keep my face warm.

The entire Midwest was being held under siege by this incredible winter. Much of the rest of the country was also under the grips of this bizarre weather as well. Places like Alabama and Georgia were getting snow and unusually cold weather. All of the Chicago area railroads were battling the weather. As a result of the gridlock created by the weather, traffic was affected nationwide.

The Belt Railway of Chicago and the Indiana Harbor Belt were getting record volumes of traffic dumped onto them for classification and forwarding. The Belt was so buried at Clearing Yard that they placed a restriction of sixty-fives cars per inbound train. An additional requirement provided that any crew bringing in a train from any railroad would also be required to pull an outbound train as well. While the intent of these requirements was good, little was working for quite awhile.

There were still thousands of cars to be moved in and out of Chicago with many of them to be handled through Clearing Yard. Being that only sixty-five car trains could be handled into Clearing, MoPac came up with an alternate plan. They would operate two complete sixty-five car trains as one single train. A caboose was placed in between the two trains and operated with a single crew and set of power. One of the trains would be set out anywhere short of the Chicago Terminal they could get it to fit and the other sixty-five car train would be handled through. Although on occasion when there was an open spot, one of those train sets would be set out on the terminal, often on #3 freight track of the Chicago & Western Indiana. Another crew with another set of power would then come and get that train and attempt to move to its final destination later. Sometimes though, it was much later. In some cases, the train sat so long waiting for power and a crew that the caboose fuel tank ran out of fuel and the fire in the stove went out causing everything inside (including the overhead water tank) to freeze up.

Every train that operated into Clearing Yard was waiting for hours, sometimes well in excess of twenty-four or more to get their landing spot. As a result, both MoPac and L&N trains were going dead on the hours; lots of trains were going dead every day. I've heard from others about the same problem with the Burlington Northern, CNW, Soo Line, Milwaukee Road and Illinois Central Gulf to name a few. I got into a cycle where I was routinely being called as a dog catch crew to replace a crew that was dead on the hours. In many cases we were the second or third crew to man that train. Clearing Yard was so jammed up that we would sit at one signal for hours on end without moving. We might move up a few miles then sit and wait for a few hours, then move a few more miles and wait. I can recall sitting at 81st Street on the C&WI one trip for eight solid hours without moving.

We took charge of the train at Yard Center going from that point to 81st Street in the first two hours. We parked at 81st Street and sat and waited. Actually, the parking turned out to be more like camping out. After some eight hours of sitting we finally got a signal and worked our way to Clearing Yard. We barely got the train into the yard and then went dead on the hours of service. Another crew had been ordered to relieve us and they took over from there.

Every single trip was twelve hours, moving few miles and going dead. In some cases we made it all the way into Clearing Yard and managed to get a train out, but then died short of making it back into Yard Center. There were days that we died before departing Clearing Yard.

While I never had it happen to me, I know of many who recrewed a train they had been aboard their previous trip. The crew relieving them did not achieve their prime objective either.

We were being used to recrew both MoPac and L&N trains that had gone dead on the hours. Yard transfer crews were getting sent out well beyond the territorial limits as designated in our collective bargaining agreements to catch the dead trains. Sometimes the drive to these trains or ride back from them as the crew that had gone dead was a big adventure. Roads were in terrible shape and at times impassible. We got stuck one night and all four of us on the crew were out there working the carryall sent to fetch us out of a snowdrift. We were successful although it did take quite some time to accomplish the task.

One evening virtually all of the roads were closed. We had a crew dead on the hours at Clearing Yard with no way to get to them. When all was said and done, they wound up being on duty in excess of twenty-four hours before they finally got tied up. They spent most of that time stuck, sitting on their train.

Walking in all this snow was nothing less than an adventure. It was at least waist deep in many locations much of the winter. In the areas where a fair amount of people had walked, like along side tracks in the yards, it was packed down somewhat so you were walking above it. But at outlying points where hardly anybody was walking, like say out in the middle of nowhere, you were trudging through it. Having to inspect your train in the attempt to find a problem or perform an air test was a terrific cardio-vascular workout.

The switching leads at Yard Center and the outlying yards like 37th Street and 26th Street were plowed and salted down to provide a safer working environment for the employees, but they could not plow in between each track in the yard, so that took foot power to pack it down.

Another problem that developed was with the sixty-five car trains that were being set out all over the place. Some of these trains sat undisturbed for several days on end. As they sat, more snow fell. The wind played its games as well and blew more snow in between and underneath the parked cars. The snow piled up all around these cuts of cars and froze. As the temperatures were already bitter cold, everything on these trains froze up solid. When it came time to finally move these trains, they were literally stuck in the snow and frozen to the rail.

In more than one instance we had to pull them out in multiple pieces as opposed to all at once. You'd have to walk back say ten or so cars, make a cut and have the Engineer pull them a head a few car lengths to clear the snow out. You'd then shove back, couple up, walk back another ten or so and repeat. In some cases the snow was packed in so tightly that you could only take cuts of five cars at a time. Factoring in the time it takes to couple and uncouple in normal weather, adding that to performing the task under the adverse conditions of the severe cold and butt deep snow, you could easily take hours just getting the train pulled out of the siding. Did I mention having to pump up the air in all of these moves?

The cars were frozen to the rail, stuck in the snow and in some cases, had frozen control valves that control the brake system on each car. You would have to address all of these problems in trying to get the train freed from its storage space. And of course, you were trudging through the snow to accomplish this feat. And being that the snow was piled up so high, it was an adventure to make the hoses up after uncoupling part of the train.

The main line was not exempt from the problems of snow either. Cuts where the track passed through often filled up with snow. In some locations it was piled up so deep that a passing freight train could not plow through it. This was when various types of snowplows were summoned to service. Most of the MoPac's locomotives had snowplows attached to the front pilot, but not all of them. While these plows helped tremendously, when the snow became too deep, they could not dig through.

A Russell plow was assigned to Yard Center for just the occasions. A Russell plow is a large snowplow blade, probably fifteen feet or so high mounted on a rail car. This car features a cab for the plow operator. The car itself is also heavily ballasted to help keep it on the rail. The ice and snow that pack in can actually cause the wheels of a plow to climb off the rail. One, two or more locomotives would be coupled to the plow to shove it along the main track. It often took a great deal of horsepower and tractive effort to shove the plow through the deep snow.

The first time I was ever aboard a train that plowed snow just using the locomotives and train, I was astonished. As you are rolling along at 40 MPH or more and blast through those drifts, it all comes right back in your face. The snow will hurtle right over the nose and against the windows and doors on the cab of the engine. You see nothing but white; this is a manmade whiteout.

Oftentimes when plowing this much snow, it will pile up against the front cab door and you cannot open it. Sometimes some of it will also pile up against the rear cab door blocking it closed as well. While this phenomenon has never happened to me, I know many a crew that had to be "dug out" of the cab after a run. In order to keep the whistle on the locomotive from filling up with snow and freezing while plowing snow, the Engineer will sound that whistle continuously. The 100 psi or so of air being pushed through the flutes of the whistle will usually, but not always blow some of the snow right back out. Sometimes that snow packs in there though and you have to light a fusee or two and shove them into the flutes to melt the snow.

Some railroads use a plastic cover with an elastic band around it that fits snuggly over each flute of the whistle to help keep snow from getting in there in the first place. Other roads mounted the whistles towards the rear of the unit, usually right above the radiator to keep the snow from packing in.

As you are plowing the snow with your entire train in tow, the snow creates resistance. It will start to slow you down. Of course the rest of the train is still trying to maintain the same speed you were going when you began to plow. The slack will begin to run in against the engines. The boys in the back would get banged around a bit. When I became an Engineer I learned to alert the tail end crew when we were beginning to plow through significant snow.

A casualty of plowing snow is often the traction motors of the locomotive. As the snow is flying over the cab, some of that snow is sucked in by the air intakes. Enough of the snow may get through the filters intact getting sucked into the traction motor cooling air ductwork. As most of you are likely aware, moisture and electricity tend not to get along well. The result of this mixture is oftentimes a high voltage ground. The ground relay on the locomotive is kicked and you can get it to reset three times. After the fourth time, you lose. MoPac did not subscribe to the use of traction motor cut outs, so if you suffered a high voltage ground in of the traction motors, that engine was out of commission.

In that brutal winter of 78-79, the Burlington Northern brought in rotary plows from their regions of the railroad were huge snowfall was commonplace. BN wanted to use the rotaries to clear up the main line and the yards. A rotary plow is awesome to observe in action. The rotary plow is essentially a giant snow blower. There is a slight difference though aside from the massive size. Instead of the augers rotating from front to rear, a rotary plow will rotate from left to right or right to left. A locomotive is coupled to the plow to provide power to make the augers rotate. This locomotive is used for no other purpose in the plow train other than to provide power for the rotary plow. It takes a great deal of energy to make that auger spin and cut through heavy and deep snow and then to throw it off to the sides.

Several other locomotives will be coupled behind the power locomotive to shove the plow forward. When shoving the rotary plow, you are not moving at much speed. Too much pressure can cause the auger or the shaft it is mounted on to break. And like with a Russell plow, you can derail a rotary plow as well.

In my twenty-five plus years of railroading, I have never once worked a dedicated snowplow train. The way winters have carried on (or perhaps not carried on might be a more appropriate choice of words) in recent years here in the Midwest, I'm not certain the opportunity will present itself to me before I retire.

A normal winter in the Chicago area in years past usually produced about 30 inches of snow. During that winter of 78-79 the Chicago area received nearly 90 inches. Yes, nearly 90 inches. It was said that at almost anytime after that first big snowfall there was at least 30 inches of snow standing on the ground at any given time. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that the rail industry in Chicago had to make Herculean efforts just to accomplish routine tasks. Nothing was simple.

Now with all that snow all over the place, there is only so many places you can plow it off to before you run out of piling spots. We had snow piled up fifteen or twenty feet in spots next to parking lots. There was so much snow that it needed to be removed completely from the premises, not just shoved off to a corner of a parking lot. A decision was made to load up snow into empty gondolas routed to points in the South and Southwest U.S. While it was cold seemingly everywhere in the country that winter, it was still warmer in those locations than the Midwest. The snow would begin melting and the water from the melted snow would drain out of those cars as they rolled through the warmer climate. It became commonplace to observe ten or more gons fully loaded with snow heading south on both MoPac and L&N trains.

I always wondered though, suppose that snow did not melt and that very car was directed by car control to a shipper requesting an empty gon for loading. What happened when that car arrived full of or mostly full of snow? I'll bet some shipper in some warmer climate was rather surprised. I suppose we could refer to that as "sharing the wealth."

Somehow, I managed to survive this brutal winter. It did not discourage me from continuing on with my railroad career. Even though I had absolutely no life for several months other than work, I decided to continue on with railroading as my career choice. I think it probably pushed my decision to get into engine service as soon as I could though. I believe it only required one harsh winter to make me want to come in from out of the cold.

And so it goes.

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