That’s funny, baldeagle – what does a steam locomotive have to do with “today’s technology”??? It’s tough to make “railfans” and “treehuggers” work in the same sentence.

Hi the snow blower is self propelled but just for manoveriing purposes if the snow is hard packed it would take two engines to push this oil fired beast through the deeper drifts.I lived in beamish in county durham right next to the consett/tyne dock line and watched the 9fs pounding up the line to consett with iron orr an unforgetable sight and sound

@sentineldg8 The blower is self propelled? I never knew that. I always assumed they were just engines mounted on cars. Maybe they could move from place to place, but they needed all their steam to power the blade, so they used a locomotive to push while it was working. I wonder, considering how lightly they are working, whether having two locomotives is more for traction than for brute power?

@VolvoSwed I bet that a steam train burning wood or even coal is better for the environment than a diesel, even if the smoke is much easier to see. Just a guess, I don’t know that for a fact, and it would depend on which pollutants you were worried about. I think wood smoke is worse as far as respiratory health, but I don’t think it makes as much CO2 as coal or diesel. Of course, steam trains can be pretty inefficient, depending on how they’re being worked.

@NonSilentKiller Yeah, actually I know quite a bit about steam engines. I was asking why if they are both steam engines, they have different colored smoke. Seems like a reasonable question to me. And apparently is was answered by a few people who actually try to be helpful. The plow is working hard to cut through the snow, while the trains are just idling along. Simple answer to a simple question. But thanks for informing me that steam engines burn coal or wood, very helpful.

@justforever96 If the blade is working harder it is black, if it is not working as hard the steam is white.

Awesome! What a sight.

@explorenorth the plow train is probably a diesel engine the pushers are most likely steam powered.

The 2 locomotives are pushing the plow, which is not self-propelled, and it may be easier for the 2 of them to keep a light fire. It could be argued that the fireman of the plow is using too much oil, but only he knows how much he needs for the work being done and what lies ahead. The boiler and engine inside the plow only power the rotary snow blower.
Thanks for posting the video, I could watch these things all day long.

The WP&Y rotary is coal fired steam, just like the locomotives. The darker stack exhaust is because it is pulling a lot of cinders out of the firebox as it works harder to cut through that drift. The steam exhaust goes up the stack just like on the locomotives to increase the draft on the fire and make it burn hotter.

Incretible

it has a coal car attached so must be steam

@explorenorth it because the plow is working hard cleaning the snow off the tracks