300th Posting - More Snow!

Canadian National Railways 55401, Bucker Plow, Prince Rupert September 8, 1958. While Prince Rupert had both a rotary and this bucker plow assigned to the Skeena Subdivision, it was this plow that saw most winter action.

This type of plow seems to have a number of names; wedge plow, pusher plow, bucker plow, but the principle remains the same. Use it early on to keep the line open. The big rotary, CNR 55361, was called out whenever snow slides occurred.

There were two Jordan Ditchers assigned to this subdivision, but I don’t recall them being used to clear snow. But then, it’s been a few years (50+) and there are times when I forget what I went to the kitchen to get!

I found an interesting engineers view of the track ahead when working a push plow! Talk about flying blind! And this in daylight! And there are dozens of videos of rotary plows in action, but I especially liked this one for two reasons:

1. A tripod was used for most of the shooting, and
2. some interesting evening shots – absolutely beautiful!

Prowling the web in search of “plough” information, I tripped over this page, which I think you will find most interesting, concerning the development of the “snow plough!”

Railroad Stuff: I have no information about this plow. It was such a fixture behind the Engine Facility, that I paid it little attention. As I recall, the only reason I shot it was that I had just taken delivery of my 2¼” by 2¼” Zeiss-Ikon twin lens reflex camera, and was fascinated by the large square focusing glass. I could count the rivets on the plow had I needed to!

Seems as though we’ve hit another landmark with our blog! And I’ve still got a pile of negatives, slides and photographs to share! Thank you for your continued interest and support! We appreciate your input and comments.