Rare Sight of Snow Plough Test Train 10/12/2009

[Trainbuff2008]

Question is how does the driver see where he's going?

[robmasterman]

@Trainbuff2008 There are always two people on the footplate, and there are cut away sections in the snow plough to allow viewing. Don't forget these drivers know the lines like the back of their hands, and will see far less than this when driving in dense fog....Bob

[JmaesN]

A GIANT SNOW PLOW :D

[AtomicFFProductions]

Wow - great job capturing a great, rare sight! I bet they (or similar) have been busy on the GWR mainline this weekend. Truro has had no major snow but looking at the 43 HST sets coming in/going out, it was really heavy up there!

[robmasterman]

@AtomicFFProductions One day I might be lucky to get one of these ploughs actually clearing some snow....bow that would be something...Bob

[1998olie]

@robmasterman well u had a chance did u see one cearing some snow

[robmasterman]

@1998olie I wish I had, that's something that's eluded me all of my life so far...not too much time left now..so here's hoping...Bob

[robmasterman]

@guyswont1 The problem in the South East when it snows heavily is the third rail power system cannot provide the power safely to the trains, so even when these snow ploughs are used there is still a need for the third rail to be cleared.....Thanks very much for your comment...Bob

[MrStapletonRoad]

Very smart video, I am glad someone was out to film it. Thanks for sharing it with us all.

[robmasterman]

@MrStapletonRoad My pleasure, a few weeks after this we had heavy snow, but the snow plough was not needed unfortunately..that would be a great catch.....Bob

[MegaDavid1960]

wee can give u some snow if u want.....lol

[Peterminator15]

seen them many a time parked up but havent actually seen them working like that. wicked video

[robmasterman]

Thanks for watching, and I must say it's a rare thing to see out on the system...Bob

[sparkygl0s]

Did they know what was coming in January?

[robmasterman]

They probably had an inkling I imagine...Bob

[MrMedderzEa]

it looks like he/she is driving blind haha :P

well captured :) 5/5

[robmasterman]

If you look closely the driver has limited view, and has his traction inspector on the other side of the cab to watch that side....all clever stuff...remember that trains are driven in dense fog with nil visibility quite safely...Bob

[MrMedderzEa]

@robmasterman fair point well made :), thanks for clearing it up :), il agree with it being clever :P

[dave41184]

Very cool - love to see rare machinery like this

[robmasterman]

Thanks Dave, it would be great to see one of these actually clearing snow.....Bob

[Lost00track]

great video, ive seen pictures of steam snow ploughs, very similar design to. would love to see one driving through snow drifts

[robmasterman]

@Lost00track Me too, the trouble is, that if there is enough snow to get these ploughs out, it will be unlikely that anyone can get through the snow to film it...Bob

[HSTHoward]

i want to see the snowploughs back out at my place again!

[robmasterman]

Keep those eyes peeled Howard..LOL...Bob

[ADMIRALSCORNER]

Gosh! it looks like something from the film SPACEHUNTER! It would be interesting to see one getting to grips with snow one day!

[robmasterman]

One day Mike, perhaps one day.....Bob

[hydra1992009]

thats a rate piece of equipment lol

[robmasterman]

It certainly is and rare to see it out and about...Bob

[hydra1992009]

yeah ive never seen it in real life but id sure like to you just have to guess where to go and hope you come lucky lol yeah do they move them about alot or are they stored in certain places? cheers will

[robmasterman]

@hydra1992009 Most major diesel depots will have a snow plough strategically placed for snow clearance Will....Bob

[hydra1992009]

ok cheers bob

will

[balmesh]

Smashing Bob. Did they get out in the recent or were they snowed in?

BTW where have you been recently? Missed your regular postings and hope you are not ill.

Alan

[robmasterman]

Thanks Alan, been without internet connection for over six weeks apart from a few days..new router arrived today so hope all will be back to normal soon.....Bob

[balmesh]

Thanks for the reply Bob. I'm very glad you are not sick. You'll have some catching up to do - or have you been stealing some time on someone else's computer? BTW - we now have our house in Carmarthen but not moved in yet. Next week - and we shall be without internet for a couple of weeks.

Alan

[robmasterman]

Good luck with the house move Alan, it will indeed take a long time to catch up with everything....Bob

[balmesh]

Thanks Bob, let you know when we are in, and you come over with Mrs.M for that coffee!!

Alan

[robmasterman]

@balmesh We shall look forward to that...Many thanks...Bob

[besafer]

Thank you for an excellent video. I wonder how the plough fared in all the recent snow..?

[robmasterman]

My pleasure, they will do the job they're designed for very well, and this basic design hasn't changed much since the beginning of the last century....Bob

[DownGrand1967]

What an amazing sight, a great capture there, with ploughs both ends All that's needed is some snow... !

[robmasterman]

They knew before the rest of us what was coming...would have been nice to have seen this train in snowy conditions...Bob

[howarth004]

Certainly a good video camera @ camerman

[robmasterman]

That's very kind of you...Thanks...Bob

[TrainsTV]

Surprising! Excellent video Bob . 5* and Happy New Year 2010.

[robmasterman]

Thank you Philbru, and a Happy New Year to you as well......Bob

[myrnaloysboy]

I'm sure that was needed quite recently.

[robmasterman]

Now that would be a great catch..ha..ha...Bob

[21C123]

Excellent video Bob and a great catch too. Reminds me of when I saw a pair of 73s sandwiched between two snowploughs. 5*

[robmasterman]

Thanks Craig, next one will have to during a snow clearance duty....Bob

[TheMysticEgg]

Those things look incredible! What with the weather lately, these could be needed sometime. Excellent coverage Bob, would be great to see a pear of beastly 70s on this :D

5*

[robmasterman]

Thanks Greg, I'm, still waiting to see a 70 in daylight....one day maybe....Bob

[britishbeef102]

And so it seems that they DID know that something was coming! Haha! Good quality video and a good catch by the way. Cant beat 66's in my opinion.

[robmasterman]

Thanks very much for watching...Bob

[71cooper]

Great catch Bob 5* pitty there was no snow around. Just wondering Bob do you still have the option to watch videos in HD/HQ as i have been offline for a while and when i logged back in none of the videos on YouTube now have the option!

[robmasterman]

Thanks Justin, as far as HQ is concerned I converted all my old ones to come up as HQ automatically and they still do. Go into edit video, tags box, then type

yt:quality=high

and that will do it...give it a go...Bob

[71cooper]

Thanks Bob, problem solved, my laptop had been formated and the flash player needed to be updated thats why i could not view any videos in HD/HQ, downloaded the latest version and things are back to normal :-)

[robmasterman]

Great news Justin and Thanks for letting me know...Bob

[rangieowner]

Great vid Bob! lets hope we get enough of the winter goodness to see those babies in action eh? probably won't get to use them even then cos it will be the 'wrong type of snow' or there may be some 'leaves on the line' pmsl!! Global warming?? hurrmmph!! I'm bloody freezing!! Bah Humbug!! lol

Steve.

[robmasterman]

Ha ha...a man after my own heart...Thanks as always Steve...Bob

[connrail]

interesting video Bob. Are they expecting some of our New England weather from the States?

Tommy

[robmasterman]

They are forecasting some snow over the next week but from Russia...B-r-r-r-r-r !! Thanks very much Tommy...Bob

[puffernutterlou]

dont like the look of this, do they know somethin we dont. how much snow are they expectin. well caught cant say as ive seen one seen the normal small snow plough

[robmasterman]

Took Tommi down the Gwili today Lou, and Tommi had Di's camera to take some stills...they're brilliant for a 5 yesr old...Bob

[modemeyes]

Great catch!! And thanks for the explaination of how the driver see's out from behind the snow plough. 5*

[robmasterman]

My pleasure and thanks for your comment...Bob

[MrBooojangles]

Certainly an unusual sight!

Surely the drivers can't see that well past the cut out top corners of the plough. The drivers didn't like the class 20's much going forward. This combination must be worse unless they have cameras on the front of the ploughs to see where they are going.

[robmasterman]

A driver knows the route he's travelling along like the back of his hand, and has to travel in all conditions including dense fog, so limited visibility shouldn't be a problem..Thanks for the comment.....Bob

[scruffwood]

great vid my man

[robmasterman]

Thanks Owain, much appreciated...Bob

[kimbhut65]

Amazing rare sight ... you saw it for the first time in over 50 years? I am thrilled to see it ever! But I was wondering what were they testing without any snow on the tracks? 5*

-- Shoban

[robmasterman]

They may know something that we don't Shobhan....getting colder every day....Bob

[maddrummer08]

An exellent video Bob!. Its a shame i dont get anything like this down my way all i get is an mpv with a snowplough glued on

[VoxRail]

It's because Network Rail invest more money in the freight/ infrastructure industry around the Welsh/Northern region, whereas down south they invest more in the passenger industry and less in the freight, hense why so little freight runs on the Southern region rails. MPV's are just a cheap Southern region option to save on using class 66's. Network Rail invest more money in the Brighton Mainline and London lines than the whole of the freight industry in the South East. Now you know!

[VoxRail]

Passengers trains make Network Rail more money in the Southern region than anywhere else, as it is all London connected, freight makes them less, as fewer company's have rail freight haulage requirements. Also a lot of rail freight yards have been built on for housing developments or for EMU depots to cope with the 'overcrowded south'.

Track access charges are also cheaper in the Welsh/Northern region than any other rail territory which makes rail freight cheaper than road freight.

[robmasterman]

Thanks very much Rich for that comprehensive reply...Bob

[robmasterman]

Thanks Rob, it's very rare down here as well and these things can happen without you knowing....Bob

[Jonern67]

What a wonderful train (and catch!!!)! Wished we had trains like this in Norway. Sadly, the electric's are taking more and more over:(. But we still got some diesel's left:). Excellent photo, 5/5!!!!!

[robmasterman]

I expect the same will happen here over soon, Thanks once again for your comments...Plenty of snow in Norway I expect....Bob

[Jonern67]

@robmasterman Yes very much snow here, especially on the mountains (the highest level of our railway is nearly 2000 meter or 6500 feet).

[itfcsam]

Nice one! I've never actually seen one on the main line running 5*

[robmasterman]

Keep those eyes peeled Sam, you never know...Bob

[cuzinitr]

Holy moly Bob! That is sure going to clear the track's alright, of anything! What

a machine! Nice all time catch for you eh? 5*+ Rich

[robmasterman]

Thanks Rich, they've been designed this way since the turn of the century, I would love to catch one in the snow....Bob

[Bevoin1970]

That was a brilliant catch Bob, I don't think I have ever seen anything that looks like that before. That must be for major snow shifting like Avalanches.... ha ha. The authorities must be expecting some big stuff to fall... :-)

[robmasterman]

Thanks Paul, time to get the welder out and get yourself a snow plough on the front of the van...Bob

[EMuksteam]

Excellent video Bob. Was that a practice run for maybe what we could be in for this winter LOL.? 5*

[robmasterman]

It would appear that it's done when Snow is expected, so keep those thermals on....ha..ha...Bob

[acw71000]

What a rare sighting Bob, well captured as ever. let's hope for a bit of snow for the next steam special!!

[robmasterman]

Thanks Austin, apparently it's only done if snow is imminent...so fingers crossed....Bob

[RAVENSMAD16]

Great vid bob, there was also snow plough tests on.

21st january 2007 &

14th september 2008

They must do tests when there might be lots of snow on the way. Like next week like the weather says lol. 5*

[robmasterman]

Thanks Craig..Winter woolies on then LOL...Bob

[BristolCastle]

how can the drivers see with the snowplough in front of them?

[robmasterman]

They have a view along a cut away portion of the plough, you can see the driver looking through at 1:01....Bob

[TheGondorian]

very good video bob! over here they now need the snow plows, heavy snow has fallen. on the narrow gauge, they got a regular gauge engine with narrow gauge trucks! it looks very cool. but another question: how is the engineer able to see through the plow?

[robmasterman]

Thanks Thomas, they can see along the side of the Plough from the drivers cab...Bob

[balmesh]

Thanks again, Bob. Great stuff, beautifully captured. did wonder why TWO 66s were needed. In old days two steamers where required, but the HP involved was tiny compared to these 66s. The line they ran off at the end, was that the line to Llandeilo? See the Met. Office is predicting the warmest summer next year for some years - so stand by for snow!

Alan

[robmasterman]

It's always a standby in case one loco fails and it needs a lot of adhesion to plough into a snow drift...Thanks again Alan....Bob

[dutchtrainmanserie22]

Awesome video 5*****

[robmasterman]

Thanks very much...Bob

[ConrailSD70MAC]

does anyone ride in the plow or is it just a shell with ballast inside?

[robmasterman]

The ploughs are independent unmanned vehicles that can be used with any suitable locomotive. I'm not sure about ballast but their aerodynamics will allow them to cut through the snow quite easily...Bob,

[ervans]

Great catch Bob, superb video!

[robmasterman]

Thanks Ervan, always prepared for the worst...ha..ha...Bob

[pwalpar]

Awesome, it looks quite capable of moving a lot od snow, Are you expecting a blizzard? LOL

[robmasterman]

Who knows in this Country Walter, sunshine, fog, rain, snow all in one day is quite common...what a lovely place to live..ha..ha...Bob

[togreektown]

ya Bob lol that snow plow looks like somethiigh that we would use about 1000 miles north of Toronto!

Do you get that much snow in wales to nead a plow like that! just asking ok!

Wayne

[robmasterman]

No we don't Wayne, but this Country is always criticised for being unprepared for snow when it falls so I assume this is to check the equipment for when or if it's needed...Bob

[S2RUF]

Top catch Bob. Think the last time I saw a snowplough out and about was thru Wigan in 1995 - a pair of 31's the meat in the plough(mans?) sandwich!!! I have it on film, will upload it at some point. 5* Stu

[robmasterman]

You should Stu, as these are rare movements which are always of interest to the viewer...Bob

[imautuber444]

This is the first time ever that I've seen a snow plough on the move. Such a strange sight on such a day, The visibility must be a nightmare for the driver. Have these ploughs ever been used? I know we have to be prepared but I cant remember snow ever being that bad in my lifetime.

An exellent vid Bob, an unusual working well caught 5* did you know it was on the move or was it a surprize to you?............Martin

[robmasterman]

Thanks Martin he can see but with some restriction, but he can still move safely just as he can in sense fog, the Wonder of Railways, I knew it was on the way, had to leave my Weetabix to get there on time...Bob

[trainfart]

Thanks for wunderful moments I can spend here ;)

[robmasterman]

Thank you Bob for your comments...Bob

[mecrazy5]

That looks awesome, but how do the drivers see?

[robmasterman]

Thanks Marc, he can see over the cut away portion of the Snow Plough at 1:01...Bob

[Firrboxfryup]

Great video Bob, that realy is a rare sight, must be expecting snow this time! ;-)

5*

Jamie

[bronzeonion]

how does the driver see though?

[EWS60500]

Great vid, seems wee'r in for a hard winter this year and the start of next year, Its a great sight seeing a locomotive and the plough, ploughting the snow away, it gets balsted right up into the air.

[robmasterman]

Lets hope the next time I film this set up will be doing the job it's built for Llion...Thanks Bob

[peggey707]

superb video! very rare! 5*

[robmasterman]

Thanks very much Peggey, not seen very often that's for sure...Bob

[NN2Blue]

Brilliant video Bob, but I'm gobsmacked they bothered to do this! Do they have special trains for "Tsunami" conditions or possibly a "Plague of Locusts?" You know that in the event of heavy or even very light snow in South Wales the snow plough would end up stuck in a siding somewhere! This video has been most amusing! 5*

Your new camera REALLY performs in bright conditions; being well driven, of course! - Mike

[NN2Blue]

I also liked the "subliminal" climate change message of your opening shot - probably too cunning for many! LOL!

[robmasterman]

As the Scouts say Mike.."Be prepared" and with all those berries out recently I think we're in for a hard Winter, and trust you to spot the message in that sequence...on the ball as always...Bob

[NN2Blue]

I see.........everything! LOL! Mike

[berwickspotter]

excellent video nice catch that one bob

[robmasterman]

Thanks Gareth, an exciting sight to see ...Bob

[040train]

brill- how do the drivers see where their goin??

[robmasterman]

They can see along the side of the Snow plough...Bob

[ElseJon2]

Well done

[robmasterman]

Thanks very much for your comment...Bob

[salopia]

Well done Bob - Something ive never seen.

[robmasterman]

Me neither Roger, Russia must be sending snow our way....Bob

[Bobcatonline]

Formidable looking equipment here Bob, let's hope it's not needed. Nicely caught pictures - as usual!

[robmasterman]

Thanks Rob, never seen on on line all the years I've been interested in railways...Bob

[GreatWestern175]

Whoa a rail snow plough! A rare sight to see one around. I suspect there might be some snow on the way. I'm trying to get a 00 gauge model of the snow plough but havn't found it yet.

[peggey707]

try Flangeway

[robmasterman]

Thanks Ry, you'll have to scratch build one....Bob

[yorkshirerailvideos]

Awesome video bob great catch 5* & Fav

[robmasterman]

Thanks very much rare indeed...Bob

[PhilipGriffin1234]

That's brilliant! Top notch. Who knows, maybe they'll be used in anger one day! =P Well done =]

[robmasterman]

Thanks Phil, much appreciated...Bob

[johnwood57]

HA! HA! HA! Bob,you are not expecting some bad weather in west Wales are you?,i have not seen a snow plough for years,looks great though superb quality

5*.........John.

[robmasterman]

I was thinking the same John, what do they know that we don't ...ha..ha..Bob

[crazymanlargemarge]

Great Video 5*, how does the driver see? LOL

[robmasterman]

Thanks Michael, he can see along the snowplough, and knows what the signals are set at in the same way as if driving in thick fog, AWS as was...Bob