Re: Union Pacific Rotary 101

The other UP rotary (the # I don't recall) is essentially all the mechanicals of a GP-9 inside a rotary snowplow. It has a 16 cyl. 567C engine, generator, and 4 traction motors plugged into an enormous gear box that spins the wheel. In the cab there's an old rotary style controller (probably from a GP or an F7 or 9) that controls the pusher locomotives and a controller out of an Alco locomotive that controls the wheel. Very impressive machine and amazing how it was pieced together from what was lying around. The gearbox itself is an amazing piece of engineering. I had the opportunity to work with this plow when it was called to clear the line to Walden, CO in 1988. The UP had sold off the branch to the Wyoming Colorado RR but assisted the shortline when the line became snowed in. There is a video of this run by WB Video Productions called "Assault on Snow". I beleive it is still available. If you watch this video you can see someone riding on the cupola of the caboose, watching the action. That would be me, camera in hand. I do have a lot of good pictures of this in a box somewhere in my basement. I'll try to dig them out a post a few.
Phil