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How much snow can a railroad locomotive move by itself...?
...without having to hook up the big plow blade or snow thrower? I'm mainly interested in North American equipment, but trainmen in other parts of the world can answer as well.
Also, if a locomotive is on plow duty, can it also pull freight or passenger cars at the same time?
1 Answer
- AndyLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
3 to 4 feet if it's freshly fallen snow and not too wet and heavy.I was following a friend on a train one night that got stuck in drifted snow. He was going about 15 mph and hit drifts that came up to the height of the cab windows.It drug him to a stop. I had to cut my power off and go pull him back out of the drifts.When we tied on the rear of his train I opened my window and the snow actually fell in it was so deep. My conductor couldn't even get off to lace the air hoses! I guess a locomotive could pull cars, but I've never seen it done. Maybe Samurai Hoghead will come along and answer. I know he has worked snow detail up in the Sierras.
Source(s): UPRR engineer
