Crossing signal
East Gwillimbury has two lines of railway tracks running through it:
1. GO (Government of Ontario) tracks that run from Toronto to Barrie
2. CN (Canadian National) tracks that run east and west from Halifax (Nova Scotia) to Prince Rupert (British Columbia) and north and south from New Orleans (Louisiana) to Toronto.
CN tracks
When it snows here, the tracks get snowed on too. (Imagine that!) But have you ever wondered how the snow is cleared after a heavy snowfall"
Machine that clears the tracks of snow on GO tracks
TaDa!
Closeup of the plow end
Closeup of the snow-blower end
More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.
45 comments:
A little bit of snow usually shuts down our railways; once they even told us that "it was the wrong sort of snow"!
I can see how really heavy snowfalls could cause problems in so many areas EG.. Sometimes I wish we had snow in winter but when I see how disrupted it can be.. maybe not :)
Ah... so that is how it is done!
Beautiful photos - we have had our tracks overheating this summer, but if you're a snow railway track technician you're going to be unemployed for ever here!! Thank you this was a really interesting post, keep warm!
Wren x
Might have been a little overkill on the sidewalk in front of my house.
Wow that is very cool. Hug B
I had no idea they took the snow off the tracks like that! Very cool! and Great shots!
I have never seen the tracks cleaned up after a heavy snow (because it has been eons since I lived in the north and it was always on a military base that did not have a railway through them!) but I have watched local ones replace the ties..which is fascinating to watch. They are really quite clever.
That is so neat. Glad you were able to capture it. That is some pretty heavy equipment.
Actually, no, I've never thought as to how snow was cleared from tracks...but in the foggy recesses of my mind it seems there is a photo of this happening many, many years ago in the western part of the U.S.
Nice shots of all this snowy activity!
Interesting. I've ridden the train through snow over the Cascade Mts. and wondered how they were managing it. Couldn't see in front of the engine so didn't know.
Darla
Their machines must be getting a good workout this winter.
How neat! I've never thought of how snow is cleared on the tracks.
Funny how we don't often think of these things that need to be done in winter to keep everything moving.
well i Never! to cool to see a railroad tracks snow blower... what will they think of next. makes me wonder what happened way back when they first built the railroads... i guess they just stopped until it melted. cool post
We could use more of those stateside! Whenever there's heavier snowfall, there's inevitably train delays that have nothing to do with downed wires or faulty signals (they always announce those)...I suspect it's uncleared tracks!
Those all sound like wonderful destinations for the train tracks. I think I supposed that the trains run so fast and frequently that snow never has a chance to build. :)
Pretty neat. Great job done.
totally cool! have never seen that before!
I think it would be an amazing trip to ride the train from Halifax to Prince Rupert! Something to dream about.
I've never seen a machine like that - that would be something to see.
As a kid I'd think it fun to stand by as the snow was blown out from that shute. Maybe not.
Even now, just as much as when I was little, I have to pause and watch this powerful moving of the snow! Great shots.
That is highly mechanized. Great captures.
A train that goes from Toronto to New Orleans? Didn't know you could do that! And I never thought about snow on railroad tracks; guess I just figured the heat from the heavy trains would melt it.
Cool! I've never seen the snow clearer before, EG!
That must be a lot of work in the winter. Do the trains stop nearby?
Intriquing post and photography about your railway system for OWT ~ thanks,
carol and artmusedog
www.acreativeharbor.com
Now THAT is a snow blower! Do the trains get held up because of snow sometimes?
That is a lot of snow to remove!
Wow! That's a huge snow blower!
That is quite a busy area for trains. NB used to be back in the day. Moncton was the big centre for CN then most of it closed. The tracks still run through the centre of the city. There's talk of closing the route through northern NB now. I've never seen the snowblower unit before, I guess because the trains don't go through Fredericton now. Interesting photos.
How cool! I never thought of how tracks are cleared of snow.
Wow ! A snow shot...
thanks
Love the colours in these shots. That first photo is a favourite!
With all the snow, keeping the tracks clean must be a huge chore.
No messing around, leaves on the tracks have been known to stop train services in the UK. Great shots!
Wow, that is a cool snow blower. What a neat process. I would think the Amtrak here would need the same snow remover. Thanks for sharing!
You guys up North can handle anything !
You bring back memories of track cleaning after a snow fall. I love trains, have travelled to Banff from Montreal and back a few times and from Banff to Vancouver. Love these captures.
Wow, that must be quite a task to blow off the tracks.
It is interesting to see how some southern cities don't even have snow plows, but up there, you have monster special purpose snow removal equipment.
The first photo looks like two red eyes with a crossed brow. That snow blower looks one powerful machine.
Lot's of work goes on behind the scenes to keep trains running through the winter.
Great photos!
That's something you don't really think much about, until you actually see if getting done.
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