White Pass & Yukon Route railway - Rotary Snow Plow at Work #3

[PereMarquette1223]

Wait, the rotary plow is also its own locomotive too?

[marianxtreme]

wtf chemical bomb on wheels

[leather064]

At what point on the WPYR was this shot?

[explorenorth]

@leather064 - this is right at Fraser, British Columbia.

[id4deepak]

One form of water

(steam) pushing its another form(snow) :-)

[Strangeworries]

mmm a lot of smoke! :D

[YoungJim409]

Some guys have all the luck.

[69v96]

1:03 > ||

[Rainmanxxl1967]

If the engineer knows how to maintain a fire , most stuff blown out of the stacks is pure H2O in form of steam . When a steam engine works hard like the snowplow it can happen that the draft pulls little anthracite coal pieces from the firebox and the exhaust steam gets dark.

[explorenorth]

@Rainmanxxl1967 - nice guess, but these steamers are fired with oil, not coal.

[PonyTails55]

@explorenorth Can't see how this is possible, a oil burning Steam Locomotive!!!

[explorenorth]

@PonyTails55 - steam can be produced by any fire/heat source, wood, coal or oil fuelled.

[BudmanPackfan]

@PonyTails55 maybe do some research. there is a wealth of information available online and in libraries about steam locomotive development. the first test steam engines (not locomotive) were fired by alcohol. read, it does a mind wonders!

[CharlesTrains99]

A correction , the rotary is not sell propelled.It is using the two locomotives to push it through the snow. The rotating blade is powered by a 2 cylinder engine inside geared to turn the rotary wheel . It is running at a speed of 50 to 80 revolutions per minute depending on the snow conditions. The engine is producing a very strong draft up the smokestack , hence the darker color of the smoke.

[origionalwinja]

first engine is under massive load due to the deep snow, causing darker color. 

[juneshopper]

Awesome video and I love the triple header steam. I also noticed the first engine smoke being dark and the other two were not.

[explorenorth]

That's funny, baldeagle - what does a steam locomotive have to do with "today's technology"??? It's tough to make "railfans" and "treehuggers" work in the same sentence.

[baldeagle1195]

With todays technology why all that crap into the atmosphere ?

[sentineldg8]

Hi the snow blower is self propelled but just for manoveriing purposes if the snow is hard packed it would take two engines to push this oil fired beast through the deeper drifts.I lived in beamish in county durham right next to the consett/tyne dock line and watched the 9fs pounding up the line to consett with iron orr an unforgetable sight and sound

[justforever96]

Sigh. Makes me wish that I had been born when they still used steam engines. My father grew up while they still were common sights, and he's described how amazing and powerful they were to watch, like a giant black beast pounding over the ground. Well, that's how he described them, anyway! I rode in a steam train once when I was very young, but I hardly remember it. Diesels are impressive it their own way, but nothing like the power of a steam locomotive.

[ranchersam69]

use a less rich fuel mixture next time.

[NorCalExplorer]

Awesome! What a sight.

[Ranger0024]

That's clag

[MathScuderia]

Dont get in front of this.

[Engineerrick]

The 2 locomotives are pushing the plow, which is not self-propelled, and it may be easier for the 2 of them to keep a light fire. It could be argued that the fireman of the plow is using too much oil, but only he knows how much he needs for the work being done and what lies ahead. The boiler and engine inside the plow only power the rotary snow blower.

Thanks for posting the video, I could watch these things all day long.

[Engineerrick]

Sure looks to me that all of the locomotives are oil fired. The fuel is carried in the front part of the tender and it appears to be a flat steel top indicating an oil tank. The water is carried in the rear part of the tender. The reason that the snowplow's smoke is darker is because the fireman has increased the amount of oil to the burner to gain back the steam that the plow will be using as it works harder into the deeper snow.

[allenra530]

The WP&Y rotary is coal fired steam, just like the locomotives. The darker stack exhaust is because it is pulling a lot of cinders out of the firebox as it works harder to cut through that drift. The steam exhaust goes up the stack just like on the locomotives to increase the draft on the fire and make it burn hotter.

[sentineldg8]

I must have watched this clip about 20 times now i also tell my friend to watch it its absolutley FANTASTIC well done explorenorth (ps cant beleive someone said it was diesel powerd)

[kgogis]

Incretible

[sentineldg8]

the snow blower is steam driven and is self propelled it just needs assistance in realy deep snow fantastic vid many thanks

[justforever96]

@sentineldg8 The blower is self propelled? I never knew that. I always assumed they were just engines mounted on cars. Maybe they could move from place to place, but they needed all their steam to power the blade, so they used a locomotive to push while it was working. I wonder, considering how lightly they are working, whether having two locomotives is more for traction than for brute power?

[glennarmstrong9]

it has a coal car attached so must be steam



[peteracz]

The smoke difference is because the Rotary Blower is diesel powered and running about a 2000-2500HP engine judging by the smaller size of it compared to another one i have seen on here. The locos are running on steam.

[justforever96]

They actually still use the steam-powered set-up? Is that just for tourist attraction, or what? I'm glad they do, but still...can't be very cost-effective in the long run! And why is the smoke from the plow so much darker? Is it a diesel engine, or is it just because they don't inject steam into the stack? Doesn't seem as if that could explain such a difference.

[explorenorth]

@justforever96 - it's just used once a year, and not even every year because maintenance is too difficult. Bulldozers do most of the work now. I don't know what makes the smoke color so different.

[darkhound891]

@explorenorth it because the plow is working hard cleaning the snow off the tracks

[lukeriderpolaris]

@explorenorth the plow train is probably a diesel engine the pushers are most likely steam powered.

[matthewpeter]

@explorenorth its probably because they'd thrown some coal on the fire to bank it up just prior to starting ploughing. This would take time to burn through.

[southparkline1]

@justforever96 If the blade is working harder it is black, if it is not working as hard the steam is white.

[justforever96]

@southparkline1 Thanks, that makes sense. Seems obvious now that you said so! So, the plow is working hard and burning a hot fire to make steam, and the draft is so great that it's pulling a lot of smoke and cinders through. Like a diesel under WOT, it blows a lot of soot and unburned fuel out as black smoke? The white "smoke" is mostly vapor, and steam from the blastpipe? I grew up burning coal, and when it was cold, steam came from the chimney. The smoke itself was hard to see.

[NonSilentKiller]

@justforever96 for the answer to "why is the smoke so dark", do you have any idea what a steam engine is? they burn coal or wood to make the steam.

[justforever96]

@NonSilentKiller Yeah, actually I know quite a bit about steam engines. I was asking why if they are both steam engines, they have different colored smoke. Seems like a reasonable question to me. And apparently is was answered by a few people who actually try to be helpful. The plow is working hard to cut through the snow, while the trains are just idling along. Simple answer to a simple question. But thanks for informing me that steam engines burn coal or wood, very helpful.

[PonyTails55]

@justforever96 The first Locomotive with the plow, is doing the hardest amount of work! Has the smoke is darker, than the other 2 Locomotives. This explains that the fire, needs to be fuelled up more, then the rest of the team! Lovely set up, all the same! :)

[noooreally]

If I could only get him to come do my driveway

[justforever96]

@noooreally You have train tracks in your driveway? Pretty cool! =)

[FarMech22]

What a sight! Thanks for sharing.

[pumpkinhead4449]

rotary snow plows are just awesome

dear santa.....

[VolvoSwed]

Gotta love the environment haha :D

[justforever96]

@VolvoSwed I bet that a steam train burning wood or even coal is better for the environment than a diesel, even if the smoke is much easier to see. Just a guess, I don't know that for a fact, and it would depend on which pollutants you were worried about. I think wood smoke is worse as far as respiratory health, but I don't think it makes as much CO2 as coal or diesel. Of course, steam trains can be pretty inefficient, depending on how they're being worked.

[malcolmmidgley]

This is a superb video, well done and thanks for sharing. Must have been brilliant to be there.....

[explorenorth]

LOL - that's what I think, beasthunter!

[beasthunter2609]

screw the ozone hole...

[Caloogoo]

White Pass & Yukon Route Rotary Snow Plow #1 was built in 1901.

[slougage]

This is great! After seeing lots of pictures of these, it's nice to HEAR them. The noise is tremendous. Do you know when the snowplow was built?

[darrellwack]

so cool

[sambear0]

Great to see steamers back in action!

[arturroo9]

COŚ PIEKNEGO.....

[844jim]

Awesome video, thanks for taking the time to capture and post it.