Last year in early March, I found this little unit in Henderson NC. I was back there this week and it's still there in the same spot. The only difference is the paint has faded a little more and the old IAMS logo is more exposed. I learned last year that this was originally built in August 1948 for the Greenville & Northern. It's gone through a couple of owners since then. Still looks pretty decent for almost 75 years old. So, with that, let's get going with this weekend's Proto Fun!
Wednesday Afternoon's Amtrak training and test train through the Pass (headed railroad north to Mobile, AL) was carrying this on the head end.
This diesel electric snow plow has worked hard all winter keeping the tracks clear around Akita, Japan. Now parked near Akita station waiting for it’s next assignment.
Nice catch on the Day One unit, but that snowblower/plow from Japan looks ferocious! Snow squall and a cut of hoppers on a spur from the Minot CP yard: An SD40-2 in CP paint at the CP yard:
It reminded me of a small article I read about a similar machine in the Head End department of winter 2022 edition of Classic Trains. In the winter of 1980-1981, at Montreal's Taschereau yard, CN tested its "Snow Fighter", an MLW S-13 switcher fitted with adjustable plow blades at the front (hood) end and a large two-stage snowblower on the cab end. It worked like city street snowblowers, blowing snow into a gondola on an adjacent track (in my home town, they have a large front-end loader fitted with a big snowblower in place of the bucket, with its own diesel engine). That would be a cool thing to model!
USMC switcher #248236 who's last duty was Yermo MCAS has since retired to California at the Western American Railroad Museum in Barstow.
Are these slugs drawing electrical power from the mother unit, and powers traction motors like normal? I noted the radiators have been plated over. I am guessing the unit has no prime mover but is ballasted. More importantly, it's a lot quieter than a normal unit, methinks!
They are, up to a certain speed (which is higher than that of yard slugs). They have no prime mover, but most if not all have a control cab. Crews like these because they are very much quieter! No longer with the Marines, but still a Marine. Hourrah!
Wednesday, March 1 started off frosty around here, but the sun shone as it turned into a beautiful day at Wyomissing JCT. NS 26X East and 25P West both had western visitors trailing.
That is a cool catch Sepp. The 4696 looks like it spent some time in Mexico with all those yellow window guards.
I was wondering what that was about. It reminded me of the windshield guards that Amtrak locos on the Northeast Corridor used to wear.
