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Snow Plows on the Railroad

Colorado's mountains receive a lot of snow during most winters, so clearing snow off the tracks becomes an important and very expensive part of normal operations of our railroads.

There are stories of one main line railroad that spent over 40% of their annual operating costs fighting snow.  There are pictures of  a large snow plow being pushed by 7 large steam locomotives, in an attempt to clear the line of snow.

This was apparently the normal procedure in many cases, since snow drifts often reached 30 to 40 feet in height, sometimes requiring the use of dynamite to blast the drifts down into the spinning blades of the rotary snow plows.

It appears that those old steam powered, coal fired snow plows are still occasionally used by even the standard gauge railroads of today, often requiring 4 diesel locomotives to provide pushing power.

No, the diesels aren't necessarily that much more powerful, the fact is that most railroads now have either abandoned the extremely high altitudes formerly necessary to get over mountain passes by drilling tunnels through many mountains, and the installation of snow sheds has helped enormously in certain areas.

Sparky's Colorado Vacation, Page 5
by Sparky

Chama, New MexicoBranding Iron Motel where we spent 2 nights

August 16, 2003.  We arrived in Chama in late afternoon and checked into The Branding Iron Motel, and kicked back to relax until dinner time.  There is also a restaurant next door, also named the Branding Iron Restaurant, and the food was not extraordinary, but very good for a small town tourist restaurant.  Good prices, good service and friendly people.

After dinner we went to check out the rail yard, in case we might get lost getting there in the morning, cuz it was clear on the north end of town, about 2 miles away.  The train didn't run on that day, so the reil yard was quiet, except for a few guys working on things and some camera bugs milling around taking pictures, so Jim was able to take a bunch of pictures, as shown below.

Photos #1 & #2 show two views of the Chama train station and ticket office.

Photo #3 informs you not to drive your vehicle, especially one of those noisy, smoky, diesel pickups, up on the platform.

Photo #4 shows the world famous Chama coaling tower, which hoists coal from a dump alongside the tracks up to the top, so locomotives can be filled with coal quickly.  There was also a loader sitting next to the coal pile, so maybe they use that in cast the tower breaks down.

Photos #5 & #6 show one of the narrow gauge snow plows available for use in the winter, while #7 shows the "Economy" firebox door housing inside the cab.  Does this mean that the "Economy" door saved $2.00 per snowplow when they built it, or does it mean that that special door provides some supernatural power that insures better coal mileage when plowing snow?

Photo #8 shows a small gasoline powered yard locomotive, presumably used to shuttle cars around when making up a train.

Photo #9 shows an old locomotive much in need of repair, while #10 shows the repair crew hard at work.

Photo #11 would appear to be several cases of empty Chama-size beer cans.

Photo #12 reveals that this guy must be such a big rail fan that he takes his own putt-putt car along with him so he can "borrow" the tracks when the train isn't running.  What do you think?

Sparky's Chama, New Mexico Rail Yard Photo Album

Train station and ticket office in Chama, New Mexico
1. Chama, N. M. train station

back of Chama train station
2. Back of Chama train station

This sign includes even big, noisy pickup trucks
3. This means you, too

World famous Chama coaling tower
4. Chama coaling tower

Side view of narrow gauge snow plow
5. Side view of snow plow

Blades in snow plow wheel
6. Snow plow cutting blades

Snowplow "Economy" firebox door saves 2 bucks per snow plow
7. "Economy" firebox door

Little gas locomotive for moving things around the yard
8. Gas powered yard locomotive

Beatup locomotive undergoing repairs
9. Repairing old locomotive

Repair crew relaxing in comfort
10. Relaxing repair crew

Chama-sized beer cans
11. Chama-sized beer cans

Guy that brings his own little train car
12. Bring your own putt-putt

Cumbres Pass snow gauge, 12 feet tallIn case you're wondering why they have such a big snow plow, plus another one not shown above, you can look at the picture of  the Snow Gauge at right that sits atop Cumbres Pass, at the 10,000 foot elevation.  It measures up to 12 feet, and there are usually snow drifts that stack up much higher than that in certain valleys.

There are quite a few additional specialty railroad cars on the property, some of them quite unique, such as several other kinds of flanger plows which act similar to a simple tractor plow.  In some cases they used a flanger plow with a set of pneumatically operated wings that could be moved outward to further widen a cut that had been plowed earlier.

They also have a steam crane that would be used to lift heavy objects or to rescue a train car or locomotive that may have derailed or fallen down a cliff.

The railroad owns numerous additional locomotives and specialized cars that are currently undergoing repair or restoration.

You can find out more about the railroad and Chama by clicking on their website below:

Cumbres & Toltec Gorge Scenic Railroad

Chama, New Mexico

Main street looks a lot today as it did in the 1890's. When the Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG) railroad arrived in January of 1881, it brought with it a yard full of structures and an economy that would help support the town for the next hundred years or so.  The rail yard has been constantly evolving due to modifications created by fire and changes to the railroad equipment and operations.

In 1881 the Chama yard contained a 6-Stall wood-framed roundhouse, a section house, and depot.  A coal platform was used to fuel the engines in the beginning.  This was similar to ones used along other parts of the narrow gauge line.  The remains of one of the coal bins can still be seen at Osier, but the rest of the 1881 yard structures have been lost.

Fire destroyed much of Chama and most of the rail yard in 1899.  The stockpiles of coal for the steam locomotives caught fire, then it was just a matter of time before the ties beneath the rails burned and the rails warped.  After the 1899 fire, a 9-stall brick round house was constructed in the yard.  Two of those stalls are still standing at the current roundhouse.  A new depot replaced the original two-story building and remains today.

In 1908 fire again devastated Chama, followed by another in 1909.

In 1910 the yard was improved by the addition of some inner yard tracks, the rebuilt station, and a coaling trestle.  Sometime in the 1920's, the water tank was relocated to its current location.

In 1924 the large timber coal tower was built, and this beautiful structure remains today. 

In 1925, fire struck again.  Remote towns such as this were built mostly of wood and seldom had adequate fire fighting equipment or water, so when a fire started, it quickly spread.  The most recent fire occurred in 1988.

Chama Website

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