1. Poltergeist

    Poltergeist E-Mail Bounces

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    Ok heres a stupid question I know, but will G Scale Snowplow really work in real snow? I'm building my Garden railroad layout in a climate where it has at least a foot of snow. The highest is 3 feet. So my question is, will G Scale snow plow clear off the snow of my tracks?
     
  2. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    What type of plow are you wanting to use? I am guessing more than just the loco pilot plow? Some sort of push plow?

    I would say that you might be able to push some small accumulation of very light powdery stuff. But heavy wet snow, what we call "cement," no.

    In order to stay on the tracks, you'd need to add all kinds of weight. And if you slammed into a bank of snow like the real thing, you would likely do damage to the loco.

    :eek:

    Boxcab E50
     
  3. Benny

    Benny TrainBoard Member

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    I'm guessing you want a rotary snow plow, which will work except: The blades will have to be made to a shape the will remove the dense material and keep it from building up.

    basically, there is the original design...yours would have to look more like a propellor.

    I have never built one of these, but I think this is right.
     
  4. pjb

    pjb E-Mail Bounces

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    If you are not relying on track delivered electrical power, but IC or steam engines , to propel it you will move snow. Keeping ice out of the flanges will become a problem (at switches within a couple of hours after you start operating).

    Probably, the screw like design of the first rotaries that failed to do the job would be the best backyard rotary. Their failure caused Orange Jull to perfect the different design we have today ,that is composed of movable pitch vanes, flat movable side shutters, and variable direction exit chute. A very busy piece of equipment , that won't scale down well.

    I ken, that the first design is simple enough to work on your garden railway, and all the moving parts on a copy of the later ones would get made immovable and iced up there.

    The weight thing is a real issue here. If you can get it to fifty pounds or so , any kind of winged plow will do the job. I don't think you can make a successful flanger , no matter what you do ; - short of a slow moving blow torch, but that isn't going to be kind to brass and plastic trackage.
     

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