Re: Welcome To Chama!

SR_Krause Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've always wondered.....
>
> If there's going to be a plow run, why not run it
> when the snow is more managable, and hopefully
> putting less wear and tear on OY? (Or OM for that
> matter, since it's got the 'snow blades' rather
> than the 'ice blades' on OY)
>
> Yes, there's the practical matter of travel in the
> wintertime, interruption of the winter maintenance
> cycle on the locomotives, cost and a bunch of
> other stuff.

I think OY would handle it just fine. I was at White Pass in 2011 when they ran their rotary with two steam engines pushing. In 4 days of operation, they ran that unit as hard as it ever ran back in the day and never broke anything. Of course, they had 15-20 feet of "Canadian Concrete" in White Pass, and they had cats working with the rotary to shave it down to a manageable depth.

The cat and the rotary

Cat leading the rotary

Of course, once we got past White Pass, the fight was a little more conventional.

A good day for plowin'

Interestingly, as much interest as there seems to be in a rotary run, only 17 of us made the journey to see this operation. It was far and away the coolest charter I have ever done.

/Kevin Madore