Strasburg Railroad: Plowing the Line


trailrider said:
Great video. Why is the locomotive running backwards?
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Good question!

According to their website, the railroad is only 4.5 miles long.
They don't have the ability to turn the locomotive, so it runs in reverse for the first part of the trip.
Uncoupled and recoupled for the return trip.
Been that way since 1832.
 
trailrider said:
Makes sense. What about the plow? If they can't turn it, what do they do?
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That's the funny thing.
I'm guessing it gets stored at the end of the line, in the direction they want to push
and pulled back for the next big storm.
In the summer, stick it on a siding. :)
 
Yeah, I guess they'd just pull it back over the plowed line with the engine leading. Of course, that might get a little dicey if snow drifted back over the already plowed section. In which case, you do what we had to on a missile site in Montana back in the '60's when the diesel-powered frontend loaders wouldn't run because of the cold gelling the fuel...got a bunch of troops out with shovels!
 
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