Scale wedge plows - valuable or a curiosity?

[PRR5406]

For those of us living above the 40th parallel, squeezing the season for run time is an objective. My friends in Quebec City have so much snow, they've actually mounted a snowblower on flanged wheels and clear the track religiously. I'm a bit of a traditionalist and have my eyes on constructing an all steel wedge plow, or Canadian Pacific design (1.5" scale). These are classic in appearance and what the big guys use. My thinking says build it like the prototype but fill that plow with cement blocks or cast concrete so it has huge mass.

Now, that being said, are wedge plows really of value in the live steam hobby? Do they clear track well enough to allow regular trains to pass? Is it better to curl up with railroad magazines and stay warm while nature squelches the run season?

Your thoughts?

[chooch]

Well let`s put it this way. If you build a Wedge plow I would think for light to medium snow it would work. If not, It will at least be something to look at. If I remember right, a scale Blower and a Fnanger car were once shown for sale on discoverlivesteam.com .
A fellow in lower New Hampshire has built a snow blower car for his railroad.
Name Bill Gardei, some here might even know him. I hesitate to post email addresses or phone numbers in public--to much spam-- but can send you a PM if interested.
chooch

[chooch]

prr5406
Ha, Eastern Maine. You might already know Gardei.
Sent you a PM anyway.
chooch

[Ruger338]

There is a bit of science to them, blade is designed to throw snow in a certain way since there is no power involved other than brute force. Biggest obstacle I can see is a design that does not let the snow or ice under it or side load it and derail. Sounds like a pretty neat project and conversation piece.

[Harlock]

They work with a few inches of snow max. Ruger brought up the biggest problem that we have also experienced. I was thinking a brush under the plow before the pilot wheels would keep the snow from building up directly on the wheels, though it would build up in front of the brush and require periodic cleaning. If the plow touches the track on the other hand it could become snagged at joints and switches.

Here we are re-railing our 3" scale 9" gauge #268 on the MGW after snow built up on the pilot wheels and it hopped off. The gap between the track and the plow needs to be adjustable. It's kind of big and mostly for show.

Sure is a lot of fun though.

[FriscoJim]

I have a very crude wedge plow that I attach to a four wheel work car in the wintertime. I wasn't going for scale fidelity, I just wanted something quick to build that would plow the snow. One consideration is to have something under the plow to sweep the last little bit of snow off the rails - I use a couple of rubber strips from windshield squeegees screwed to a hinged block of wood. Any little bit of snow left on the railheads seems to be instantly packed to ice with the associated loss of traction.

Here is the crude plow in action on my 12" gauge railroad... sorry for the poor video, this is a few years ago before I had an HD camcorder:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b0S4dghG2o

[NcdodaveNpc#21]

I got plans for a Russel Plow and an working on it in 2 1/2" scale. The blade and flanger both independently raise and lower and each wing will also move in and out with manual adjustments. Im building the blade out of 3/16" thick steel plate and having a metal worker plasma cut and bend the compound curve for the throwing vee of the blade. I can't wait to have it finished to play in the snow at TM. The very bottom of the blade will have conveyer belt rubber as the flanger will be made from the same material to rocks, chunks of ice, etc will not interfere with operation. I have always loved wedge plows and the way they throw snow. I also built a small plow to fit on my transfer switcher with 8" pvc pipe that works well, especially when sprayed with WD40.

[PRR5406]

Frisco Jim, that little plow seems to be the ticket with a light snow to battle. Nice little concoction!

What I'm taking from the discussion is,
-Blade curvature is critical to getting the snow thrown away from the tracks;
-Blade height over the rail head is especially critical, in term s of removal and then dealing with what little ice needs to be brushed away to allow traction.
-Flanging is desirable, but also problematic. independent flanging blade should be liftable.
-Weight and mass are critical to momentum and keeping the wheel on the rail.
-You have to be a dedicated railroader to operate in the winter!

This has been an interesting discussion, point by point. Many "live Dieseler's" are adding plows to their locomotives, ala' prototypes. Are they as effective in clearing track?

[tomc]

Here is a pic of our plow. We put a rubber wiper under the plow to act as a flanger to get rid of the snow that goes under the plow lip. It is angled to push it to the side.

Tom C.