# my snow blower obsession



## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

Ah, in thinking of snow on 19, July 2017





















Something to savor:
Beilhack HB1600S self propelled snow clearer
22,000 plus tons per hour
15 foot clearing width on first pass with snow moldboards fully extended 
13+ foot clearing height 
82 tons+ operating weight

"I told you I was sick"

-An actual quote from the tombstone of a disceased in the City of Ithaca Cemetery in Ithaca, New York


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

there are some great videos on you tube showing these bad boys in action.

can't wait till winter!!!!!!!!!!!


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

Whats really hilarious about these beautiful machines is that I was told I did not know what I was talking about and they would never work on Donner Pass as their snow is different; and I was stupid for even suggesting an improved method of snow clearing on the Union Pacific Rail Road that has been used in Europe since 1952.

According to the old heads the current rebuilt rotary plows are the only way it can be done along with flange way plow trains; hint, hint, hint, the HB900S, HB1000S, HB1200S and the HB1600S have integral flange way plows to clear the snow and ice from the flange way gauge distance between the rails to prevent locomotives and railcars from derailing.

OH and a rotary plow train will have up to five locomotives, two rotary plows 2 diesel power cars and two steam cars to provide steam to melt ice from the rotary plows frames and plow fans.

SO a snow plow work train will consume 400 plus gallons per hour of diesel fuel while clearing snow and requires a 3-4 man crew in each rotary plow and 2 engineers and conductors per 12 hour shift
and 2 or more mechanics on each train and when the snow is falling on the pass they will have two complete trains with complete crews burning 800 gallons per hour not including the flange plow trains with an engineer, conductor and a flange plow operator burning 120 gallons per hour in the two locomotives per 12 hour shift 

The railroads have told me that they do not get that much snow to justify buying the German machines.

The UPRR has spent enough money rebuilding the existing four units with old parts inventory to purchase at least 3 HB1600S units. 



OH and Caltrans said I did not need to submit the idea of using beilhack rotary plows on rubber tired plow trucks on the Donner Pass Highway as "they" know what "they" are doing when it comes to snow removal on Donner Pass.

Different snow Huh??? I just laughed and almost fellout of my chair again.

"it all comes down to the low bidder" a famous astronaut once said.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Well..considering the railroad has been fighting snow in the Rockies for 150 years, and Caltrans for nearly 100 years, im inclined to believe that they do actually know what they are doing.

Scot


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

*snow blowers in summer no less*

They have been fixated on the Leslie snow fan designs for their fleets of rotary plows and they do not want to spend more money on modern snow clearing equipment.

Caltrans has neither the desire or financial ability to purchase larger more powerful snow removal machinery from Germany for the Donner Pass highways. 

I have attached an image of the Conrail HB100S railway snow clearer with a chute and spout for clearing snow from areas with narrow clearances near buildings along the right of way and this attachment has seen plenty of use clearing snow from conrails rail yards in Buffalo, Utica and Albany, NewYork prior to the CONRAIL massacre where it was sold and split up. I am just glad that Norfolk Southern did not end up with them as they probably would have sold them or scrapped them.

Taking our glorious NYS thruway as an example when it was buried by the Lake Erie Snow storm a a tracked carrier using the three engine system with twin snow clearing heads using the hydraulic chute and spout would have had the thruway opened the day after the snow stopped making a fifteen foot cut in one pass rather than the piecemeal way it was cleaned where each lane and shoulder would have been cleared in one pass from the beginning of the closed section to the end in 24-48 hours and the remaining snow would be cleared by a road grader following the tracked snow clearer and pushed to the side. 
The exits would have been cleared by any machinery following the snow clearer making fast work of the job.


Clearing 22,000+tons per hour of snow is easy if you have the right machinery to do it 


Again its all about the money and our love of automobiles that have caused these issues.


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