BNSF Snow Blower after SnowStorm

[@Natethanastysnake666]

That is a mountain of hard , compact snow. The roost that blower throws is amazing. Very awesome footage. Thanks!

[@jimthiel478]

Lived by them tracks and was snowed in for 5 days during that blizzard. Watched that machine come thru town .. amazing

[@MYTOYMAKERZ]

I tired as a mechanic working the snow trains after having been an engineer for 35 years. The snow removing years were very boring and fricking cold while maintaining or repairing these old beast. The rotor is like a huge flywheel designed to run an average 2,000 rpm max about 3,200 or less. Any faster you run the risk of bending the rotor shafts in heavy dense snow other wise you can maintain a more constant speed in light snow but snow drifts are compacted this is why you can walk on it.Cheers

[@yofatmom7732]

Damn 3000 rpm that realy fast

[@xChromerSatanasx]

I think you are exaggerating a lot. Do you realize how fast 3200 rpm s is? N ok way on earth big flywheel spins that fast. You might want to research that

[@xChromerSatanasx]

This video explains 90 revolutions on the fan blade. Maybe iij misunderstood your 3000 rpm comment. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaa7ZXppr9Ojeqc

[@bobpaulino4714]

The old SP rotaries were never designed to run at that speed.

[@jamesb120]

Just a guess here, but the cutter head and rotor/thrower are turning at different speeds. The rotor might be what the OP is talking about spinning 2000rpm.

[@rickprusak9326]

That snow buster makes such a scenic display in the air, with a bright blue sky as it's canvas. Nature's beauty at it's finest.

[@consanna]

The plow is driven electrically from the B Covered Wagon. The Plow has steam to de-ice the blade, windows, et al. The entire unit is pushed by 2 GP 60's.

[@beeble2003]

"The entire unit is pushed by 2 GP 60's." No it's not. It's an ES44AC (BNSF 6185) and a AC4400CW (CEFX 1019).

[@Cnw8701]

Former CBQ rotary snowplow! Nice! Hard to believe seeing how many of these well-maintained units still remain on BNSF's roster!

[@LTVoyager]

Watching the direction they are blowing (trying anyway) the snow reminds me of the old adage about not pissing into the wind.

[@Rdrake1413]

You would think they would have a chute that can rotate to blow the snow with the wind.

[@BENTandTWISTED]

I don't like to brag, but, that's what it looked like when I shoveled driveways as a kid!! 🤣😂

[@petercrawford3370]

Lol...of course you did. 😂

[@andrewanderson5297]

I have the same thoughts

[@joeyoungs8426]

Stud.

[@BENTandTWISTED]

@joeyoungs8426 🤣😂👍😎✌️

[@BENTandTWISTED]

This is one of many potentially positive attributes of any given social platform! Crack jokes, learn positive things, share positive experiences, etc...etc... all the negative crap on (anti)social media can "kiss my grits" 🤪 I can't believe my comment is 2+ years old! It's too bad they don't add, at least, the amount of months to the earmarks. 🤔

[@katslat8410]

This is so COOL! I LOVE trains and NEVER knew that a train has a snowblower. The sound, the snow shooting in the air, the whole thing is cool, thanks for posting!!

[@MrDD40AX]

Sounds intense. I always loved rotary snow plows. There is so much power. It is amazing how far the snow goes.

[@armagonarmagon3980]

These are obviously the best snow-fighting equipment the railroads have; they are rather impressive to watch too!

[@espeescotty]

This is one of the best scenes I've ever seen of a rotary plow in action. It's amazing how badly the snow drifts there. I wish I could've been there and seen that for my self. Also, thanks for using the high quality setting on your camera! Great video!

[@prowlamongus]

This is great! Thanks for all the effort you put into it. Glad to see we are not the only area that gets buried in the winter.

[@wolfen216]

the engine is an old F7B unit with an old 567 or 645 in it from EMD. It pulsate's as you have to keep the blade at a certain speed, when it slows down, you throttle up, when it gets to the speed, you throttle down.

[@Rubberkater]

Es sind halt alt bewehrte Diesel Motoren die Zuverlässigkeit haben und weniger Probleme machen wie neuere Motoren.

[@mmciau]

Thanks very much Chad Carlson for taking the time and energy to log this great video of the BNSF Rotary Snow Plow operators. It's fascinating watching what these men do in adverse conditions. Mike

[@urosvlahovic9279]

Just felt an urge to reply to your 10 year old comment 😳

[@dirtfarmer7472]

@@urosvlahovic9279 Just adding my 2 cents worth in 2024, & comment about the level of intelligence for the people who were standing down wind.

[@urosvlahovic9279]

@@dirtfarmer7472 Honestly i believe it would feel amazing getting all that snow blown onto you. Btw I have no memory of posting this three years ago, but time flies by, i got nostalgic

[@KWY007]

What an incredible amount of snow! It seems to be rather fluffy and not frozen and hard as I have seen other machines struggling to move only a few feet.

[@PierceyeG]

I grew up in Colorado and it's still tough to wrap my head around the notion that this machine exists because they get that much snow repeatedly. Every winter.

[@phantomrailproductions]

The snowplow actually does a beautiful job for heavy snow, no joke. Amazing stuff.

[@thekrunkymonkey]

Best toy EVER! Thanks for sharing AND for explaining why the fields were clear of snow.

[@earlhollar1906]

Was it because the cuts we're between two shelterbelt so it would be soft fluffy snow filling up the cuts instead of hard crusted over and with the wind in that area and the fields bear the snow ended up in the cuts between the shelterbelts.

[@josephtravaldo1295]

Wow that is so awesome to see. Also the beautiful blue sky. A good day in Nebraska thanks

[@Lasselkv28]

Now this is what i call an awsome recording. NICE

[@KraziIvan]

@9910steve its the direction the rotor goes.. these are not 2 stage snow blowers. :-)

[@erichaight2009]

THAT FOOTAGE IS AWESOME !!!!!!!

[@K31TH3R]

That engine sounded amazing on my sound system, shook my whole room and I could feel it in my chest. Bet that sounded great in person.

[@rocketdude1979]

the "Power Units" are basically mechanically and internally Identical to the B-units they were converted from except for the fact that they no longer have Traction motors to drive the wheels and thus the B-unit can no longer move itself. The B-unit also has heavy duty cables to provide power to the plow it is attatched to. The plow is electically driven from the power unit, the plow geared to locomotive traction motors.

[@Hail2Pitt412]

WOW! That is amazing to such high amounts of snow.. Really makes that rotary plow work!

[@earlhollar1906]

This plow keeps moving forward at a steady Pace whereas when they close the Carlyle Branch from Beach North Dakota to Carlyle Montana, the engineer had the back up and take a run at it and go forward because the snow was as high as the top of the light on the plow. Rest of the story is with the commenter below!

[@moomoo3031]

they need some big snow fences to pile up all those drifts somewhere else. I remember in VA they took down some snow fence and ended up with a 20' drift on the road. it was amazing1

[@Wonkabar007]

That is a beast of a machine.

[@MrAIRSHOWFAN100]

yep

[@eccentric363]

Sounds awsome

[@Altair9678]

Wonkabar007, talk about old school...it sounds & looks like it took all winter

[@thaddeusciszczon7111]

@@MrAIRSHOWFAN100 0000000000000

[@reginaconnelly1806]

increase engine strength and it would be better

[@gmanchurch]

That’s one awesome piece of machinery! I would imagine that it uses a lot of fuel! Thanks so very much for sharing that with us! Great footage!

[@consanna]

I think this was shot after a Christmas Holiday, and a period of snow and 40 mph winds. The wind drifting builds walls and mounds. It can happen in a day. The snow can compact and form ice that needs to be cut through. The operation of the plow involves the direction of the rotatory, the speed of the rotary, and the forward speed. When you hear him letting off its probably the throttle as you cannot rush this. Too fast and you can derail the rotatory. Slow an careful is best.

[@davidmarshall1259]

+consanna true. I was truck driving in Europe in the mid 90's when I got caught in a serious snow storm with driving winds. ( central france, coming back from Italy.) it came on very suddenly. I was on a driving break of 45minutes. lovely when it started. then the driving winds came and that's a game changer. it created utter chaos. wind driven snow can cover houses in minutes. very scary.

[@kensmith6708]

Awesome video I wish I could have been there to see but thanks to you I was and didn't have to freeze. The engines that was pushing that beast sounded so cool I loved this video. Thanks again for your sharing!!

[@Aikaramba12]

BMW 801 radial snow blower, that's awesome!!

[@ToreDL87]

Wait they used 801's in these?

[@earlhollar1906]

@@ToreDL87 I'm pretty sure it was General Motors engines, and general electric generators and motors. Henceforth ergo electro-motive division of GM

[@Train2589]

@shoppy168046 then the power units sound really sick. the blower has control over how much power they need so it could be the old f7 motor reving

[@sucapizda]

I wonder if they sell this snowblower attachment at Home Depot.

[@BM22TechReview]

No, but they have it at Lowe's :)

[@deannelson9565]

No only at Train Depot!

[@bigdaddydiesel5520]

@@deannelson9565 Literally AT a Train Depot!

[@sentradynamics8889]

Yeah I saw it for $49

[@darrellbedford4857]

Interesting snow blower, bigger than my 8hp one at home. Love the action. I also noticed the fields have no snow on them yet there is 6to 10 on the tracks.

[@R.U.1.2.]

Wow! Really fast and efficient!

[@michaeldougfir9807]

I believe this video has been around awhile. I really like it. THANKS for putting time and location on it. I too would be interested to know why the blowers' engine surges, and the answer to some other questions people wrote in.

[@InclusionHarp]

VERY well done! Good video and beautiful snow plume shots.

[@earlhollar1906]

You should see the snow plume, when they plow the line between Essex Montana and Kalispell. Between the snow sheds, once in a while there will be an avalanche that happens at the end of the snow sheds, if there are Bighorn Sheep trapped inside it's a beautiful red snowy plume that shoots out of there every once in awhile between snow sheds and then a big one at the end!

[@DerangedDragon99]

Not any worse than the blizzard of 77-78, or the one of 78-79. I-70 was closed from Oakley to Limon during the snow of 77-78; and then, in the 78-79 snow, I-70 was closed from Wakeeny to Limon. The UP, which runs through Wakeeny, to Limon, had 2 plows get stuck, during both winters. Took six diesels, and four front end loaders to dig those plows out, so the UP brought down their rotary plow to do the job. Only it got stuck just west of Sharon Springs.

[@CristiNeagu]

That is probably the best sounding engine i've ever heard.

[@brianstraight9333]

+Cristi Neagu Go watch "The battle for donner pass" there are some really good prime mover sounds in there, up in the pass plus some in the concrete sheds.

[@maxm2317]

Yeah, the EMD 567 is one of the most iconic diesel engines out there.

[@kevinberniebarron7548]

That is totally cool! Love the video! Blessings to you and your family

[@gabeitch7400]

Glad KZbin recommended this, anyone else?

[@AS768]

Imagine what a pain it would be to do that by yourself with a shovel? Man, that snow blower... I can't believe what it's capable of. Pretty awesome power! It's also pretty cool to see one of the brand new ES44C4s on the job too. Great video!

[@clearcreek69]

It would take weeks to clear all that snow with a shovel even if you shovelled with another person at the same time.

[@leamacedo2691]

Realmente muito lindo a beleza da neve. Bem difícil a remoção. E incrível o trabalho de limpeza e liberacao da via férrea. Amei o vídeo.

[@NWPhotographyDirect]

Now that's what I call winter railroading at its best. That video is something to remember with. Great video.

[@rob-v1y]

"Hey...whats that noise?" - Snow burrowing squirrel nest

[@Rubberkater]

Da ich ein "alter" Diesel Motoren Fan bin und damit aufgewachsen bin gefällt mit besonders der Sound vom Diesel der die Lok antreibt ! Einfach Mega !! 😊😊

[@consanna]

In this depth of snow 1mph is making good time.

[@caroleroseburgh1344]

I love this 😍❤️👍🏽. This is just AWESOME AMAZING BEAUTIFUL ❤️

[@iamloudmusic]

With that much torque I wonder if they had to engineer something to keep it from twisting itself off the rails. Cool video! Thanks for sharing :)

[@daledozer]

Wow, that was awesome! Not only the machine, but the amount of snow. You would think they would keep a steady amount of force on the blower instead of stalling it out and letting it catch up and repeating.

[@whydoyouwanttoknow4464]

I live in Buffalo New York, I can use this in my driveway

[@JesseH]

I can totally relate. I was there when you got 7 1/2 feet

[@tomhare5110]

Jesse H yeh same, I live in England and we got about an inch last winter and it as so bad it was gone by lunchtime

[@rogerdudra178]

Greetings from the BIG SKY. That's a big snow drift you got there.

[@davidmarshall1259]

that certainly is an impressive piece of kit. nice job, well done fella's.

[@danquinnell3502]

Thank you very much for posting this. Very good quality and content.

[@chewbaca1979]

sounds a lot like my 85 Dodge pickup....so thats where it went that weekend, i was wonderin.... thatd also explain the slowness....

[@dahsuerk]

I don't know about Aurora, but Lincoln, NE had a all-time record for snow in December and on Christmas day. We had more snow here, but not as much wind I guess. My daughter spend the night in Aurora because the interstate east to Lincoln was closed over night.

[@canadiantimberwolf1]

Now that is so very impressive.It tightened my guts when you were close too the thing,but it was really impressive.

[@earlhollar1906]

If you think that tightens your gut. When the Section Crew was ordered to knock a 2-foot overhang off in front of the plow with shovels. And one shovel accidentally-on-purpose happened to fall in front of the plow when the Engineer had backed up and was headed forward to hit It again and the shovel came out in 3 pieces the Roadmaster said, "I don't think we'll do that anymore". You think!

[@sentradynamics8889]

@@earlhollar1906 if you think that tightens your gut you should see my toro 6 horsepower gasoline powered 4 stroke single stage snow blower in action

[@enidradiotesters]

Scenes like these make me glad to spend the winter months in Mexico.

[@mrbluenun]

WOW! Impressive stuff, even though the train is hardly moving!

[@stevelasorte1233]

Retired Montana Division railroad worked in the Rocky mountains 20winters did a lot of snow removal plowed snow clean switches went to derailments drove men to job sites my whole family work for them and retired from them love that railroad

[@lindagraff2484]

That stuff is packed so hard, no wonder that have to go slowly, yikes

[@wolfen216]

yeah you can, ice on rails, spinning. That's why locomotives have sand on board. The reason it's at intervals is so you don't go full throttle, and to keep it at a set speed.

[@TomsChevelle]

Did they finish this before spring?

[@ILIK3HATERZ]

Very funny ass hole!

[@tommytmt]

@swollenrhino… asshole is one word

[@dad5650]

Toms Chevelle Ass is one word, Hole is one word, Asshole is a compound word...lol.

[@TomsChevelle]

That is super... Thank you for the spelling lesson!

[@dad5650]

Toms Chevelle Glad to help!😊

[@valeriebassett3107]

Great video. Wow that's a lot of snow! Thanks for sharing.

[@irelandbloke]

Great video

[@atticusrallye702]

Wow this comment was made when I was 7 holy crap

[@irelandbloke]

@@atticusrallye702 👍

[@imaybegod4506]

Ur old.

[@loves2smock2]

This is an awesome video! My kids and I were just looking at this bad boy sitting in the Hobson Yard. They will LOVE seeing the video of it in action. Thanks for posting!

[@dwtrksvc]

looks like the kind of snow my dad would make me shovel in NH "to build character" when I was younger..

[@chiefguns1980]

Guy H. in July!

[@todddooley793]

G. H. With no shoes hehe

[@timschrieber7379]

No shoes and a spoon and you had to eat it all

[@cleverusername6233]

uphill, both ways!

[@stephensafraniii3396]

Big character.

[@chrisvesy7245]

That is amazing!! Had to watch it twice and it still is friggen cool!!

[@Syclone0044]

Athearn model trains makes a nice powered HO scale model of this snow plow & tender BN972559.

[@nkproad777]

Wow nice catch! Never seen a pair of GEVO's and a B unit and a diesel snowplow in one catch! Great job

[@raymondj8768]

i love this video so much ive seen it like 10 times lol get some more footage if you can this winter dude !!!

[@shawn1432]

My career was with the Union Pacific Railroad in the mechanical department I was a traveling insp worked with my partner for 25 of those years till he got killed standing next to me while rerailing a locomotive at the Trentwood depot. We got called out a lot in the winter to assist the rotary blower it’s very impressive to see up close and working…it gobbles snow like a monster…..but no fun rerailing it.

[@IEISWOLF]

the engine sound is amazing

[@billpotokar360]

...THE BEST rotary action camera angles , EVER...👍👍👍👍👍

[@usnva5638]

It sounds a little like an Alco. It's a real workhorse!

[@GnonplussedGnome]

Smokes like an Alco too!

[@rearspeaker6364]

@@GnonplussedGnome 16-567 EMD diesel.

[@robsan52]

I didn't realize the BN has rotery's? I worked 5 and 6 over the Sierra's a couple years and got to see the U.P. rotery's which was neat. I like the sort of tiger purr the rotery motor makes.

[@seanyboy107]

That thing's like an avalanche in a box!

[@mikaelabowen5781]

Superb! Worth watching for the sound alone. Magic.

[@RobiniusH]

that thing sounds scary and looks amazing!

[@craigpalmer5693]

That's deep snow out there very cold locomotives dig it out of the track awesome video friend bless you stay warm inside Nebraska

[@55chh]

Judging by the wind shouldn't they be blowing it the other way?

[@JackReacheround]

These big ones i think only blow one way

[@wyatt2920]

ben dunn You can’t change the direction on those ones it’s only shoots one word

[@johnchalleen3278]

@@wyatt2920 Which word?

[@phillydog677]

@@johnchalleen3278 Snow!

[@kishascape]

@@JackReacheround you actually can

[@KevinBenecke]

I just love listening to the engine working hard to move that snow.

[@ToreDL87]

Thats the train moving, theres a separate motor for the blower.

[@andersarre7723]

Beautiful, great filming!

[@bruceflaws3213]

Notice the field to the right is bare/brown. In the midwest, the wind drifts every road cut full.

[@smcwall]

I think there needs to be a redesign on the outlet chute, its blowing the snow too high into the air, and the wind is blowing the snow back onto the rails again

[@slrs3908]

I am sure all that is adjustable. These guys just don't seem to know any better. Maybe they are new.?

[@fcguy7]

@shoppy168046 The video contradicts this. The unit moves forward ... and as the load increases on the blower portion the engine struggles against it. The pause indicates that the engine noise and diesel smoke are actually related to the blower section ... not the traction drive.

[@Tecnobingo]

Nice video. Never seen such a snowblower in real life. Just 2 little questions: where is Aurora? and: how many times happens to see such a huge amount of snow along the winter?

[@sentradynamics8889]

Happens every day. This is in Antarctica

[@strobx1]

Very Interesting. I love those GE's for the sound. Here in Michigan we use Russel Snowplows.

[@petercrawford3370]

I used to work for Burlington Northern Express here in NZ during the late eighties, when they expanded in a global freighting company. They gad a fleet of planes as well.

[@Twobeers1]

When they are done there, they can come on over and do my driveway.

[@noobdestroyerxx7227]

Two Beers lol

[@carlsnow3425]

I just stopped in Aurora Ne for fuel. Summer is bliss, winter is fury. I won't be coming down i80 if trains have to plow.😦 Great train vid.

[@Saltrainrailfanning]

yeah, that was pretty darn cool.

[@rocketdude1979]

@nkproad777 The snowplow is not diesel, it is electric. The B-Unit is not a B-unit locomotive anymore but basically a "mobile generator" to provide electricity to to the Rotary snowplow. SP called thier plow power units "Snails" because unlike "slugs" they still had thier "shells."

[@Mrtermite11]

They must know the road pretty good.

[@raymondj8768]

back again this thing blows my mind ! try to get more this year if u can Dude !

[@parileebijou6099]

what happened to those two men walking toward the train? the snow blinded me from seeing where they went...@ 4:45

[@BeatTLFEntertainment]

Was that a joke, or was that REALLY what happened?

[@pvtimberfaller]

didn't you hear them talking about climbing on board?

[@WayneRandall]

Legend has it, they're still trying to figure out how tall it was, because there was only one way.

[@icebox829]

the ultimate Zombie train.

[@brewskisdodge]

I'm jealous that had to be awesome to see in person what an opportunity........ 5 stars all around