Rail roads and their tracks.

[ArlyA]

They have flangers and plows, they only problem is they are not everywhere at once, and they do not have enough of them.

The two Beilhack railway snow clearers models being the self propelled HB1000S and self propelled HB900S inherited from the CONRAIL Massacre are the primary snow clearing machines used by CSX as flangers and rotary snow plows over the entire CSX system as they have flange plows mounted on both of the snow clearers frames.

The HB1000S and the HB900S have the ability to elevate themselves using the integral hydraulic hoist system mounted in the center of each machine using a very large landing pad that is lowered to the rail ties and pushed the entire machine upward so that the internal turntable mechanism can rotate the machine and then the snow clearer is lowered to the rails and the landing pad is fully retracted into the frame of the railway snow clearer and the snow clearer can travel in the opposite direction without the need for switching to a siding track to reach a turntable, balloon track or WYE to change directions.

Both machines have 3 Mercedes Benz V 12 torbocharged and after cooled diesel engines to provide power to the VOITH hydrostatic transmissions used to power the twin snow clearing heads and the 4 axles in the two sets railway trucks under the snow clearers upper frame.

Both machines have to be towed from the rear for long distance travel by an MOW engine and then uncoupled to do snow clearing in order to reach the locations requiring snow clearing faster due to frieght traffic that may be on the lines as the MOW department is only allowed on the lines when repairs/snow clearing are needed.

They painted both of them that ghastly fluorescent CSX MOW lime color UGGGGLLLLYYY.

The HB1000S was a painted with a beautiful Beilhack yellow and the HB900 was painted with a gloss red from the Beilhack assembly shop in Germany in 1976.

I have pictures taken by others of the CONRAIL HB100S machine with a hydraulic powered chute attachment and a representative HB900S machine in use in Switzerland on one of the Bernina narrow gauge lines with an electric B power unit coupled to it.

I still cannot fathom how BNSF did not scrap the GN rotary plows they inherited and invested in 4 Beilhack machines to replace them or how Union Pacific rebuilt the rotary plows they have when they could have had a self propelled multipurpose machine that does not require 2-5-6 locomotives to power them to clear flangeways and also work as rotary plows at the same time; I just shake my head in disgust as the HB1600S machines can clear much over 22,000+ tons per hour of heavy snowpack on the first pass and then clear the right away on the second pass to a width of over 15 feet.

What a bazaar looking contraption!

 

[the old grind]

Video of when rotaries were fired up 10 yrs ago before flanging and spreading in the deepest snows. btw, I have a DVD that I can take a screenshot from to show how the snow sheds on the pass have 'shrunk' over the decades since modern equipment has replaced crews shoveling by hand.

 

[leonz]

What a bazaar looking contraption!

Hello Arly,

When MArtin Beilhack patented his first railway snow clearer in 1952
he accomplished a world changing method of snow removal on railroads.

As of today there are at least 53 of these Railway snow clearers used worldwide
most of them are in europe and have replaced almost all of the rotary snow plows
that have been in use. The few that are left are museum pieces that may be brought
out on occasion and a couple more rotary plows in the old eastern block countries.

In the first image the HB1600S model has the moldboards fully extended outward
and the discharge chutes pointed to the full left position and full right position.
The chutes can also discharge the snow forward with these chutes and spouts.

There are two gear driven snow and ice breaking propellers in front of the discharge chutes.
They spin to break up deep snowpack as the as the snow and ice breaking propellers mounted in front of the snow
clearing discs on extendable arms that rotate at the same high rate of speed breaking the snow and ice
into the smallest portion. This allows the 4 scoops on each snow clearing disc which are rotating in
opposite directions to scoop up the broken snow and ice and throw it up and out of the chute and spout
at high speed and volume as shown in image 11380. In images 68129 and 68126 you can see the snow
clearing heads have been moved outward with the double acting slide cylinders to clear the right of way to the full
fifteen foot width.







Here are few photo images to show you how the snow clearing heads work with them fully extended.

 

[bcp]

Bruce

 

[Hay Dude]

Lol, guy just keeps plowin.

 

[LouNY]

Nothing he could do,so back to work.

 

[Hay Dude]

I’d probably be in a bit of a state of shock and take a break if that happened right next to me.
Ahahahahahaha

 

[bcp]

Cleanup of the derailment above.

Bruce

 

[the old grind]

(Followers, notice at 14:00 in the long video how side-boom cranes have a c'wt that extends out according to load.)

Near the end of the short video you can see wind blowing snow in front of the camera. It appears the center-beam cars caught more wind than their empty weight could keep on the rails.

This also appears to be on a slight downgrade, and if so would add to the momentum of following cars and reduce tension on the couplers at this speed. Less chance of 'holding them down' by that.

btw, re: 'tension' .. this is a familiar scenario to RR modelers/players like myself. And conversely, with heavy rolling stock and tight track radii one learns to put heavy cars in the front of a consist. With them in the back coupler tension can cause light cars (IE: empty, flat) in the middle to fall inward on a curve. Banking from the rear or middle of any consist vs engines all up front considers this. (you knew that )

 

[MossRoad]

Lol, guy just keeps plowin.

hahahaha yeah he does! Wonder if he even noticed it?