Winter, Snow and Railroads

Winter, Snow and Railroads
All about how railroads deal with Winter and snow.
(Photo clipped from an old 1946 New York Central Headlight)

Welcome to the Snow and Railroads WebSite

Here's a preview of some of the exciting projects we have put together for you:

Our feature article is "Railroads and Snow: Especially the Adirondacks"

See some historic photographs of the railroads in snow.

We have pictures of jet snowblowers on the "J" and snow jets on the New York Central. We also cover rotary plows and have a picture of a NY Central rotary snowplow. We also have a picture of a NY Central tunnel ice breaker.

Some bad Winters we cover are the Winter of 1998 and the snow of 2006. 1888 was bad. We have a picture of Engine #100 in the snow 1888 and Main Street in Matteawan in the “blizzard of 88"

See the Snow Belt in New York State

All about the BIG STORM of 2007 that hit New York State and Pennsylvania

Read about the Syracuse storm in 1966 that hit Dewitt Yard

Even the Penn Central endured blizzards of snow in 1969

We cover some of the railroads most impacted by Winter. Find out about the New York Central's Snow Book and how Metro-North gears up for wrath of winter. Read about Winter on the Long Island Railroad and snow on NY City Subways See Budd RDC's running in the snow

We have snow and plows at some "Wintery" places like the Adirondacks and Saint-Jerome, Quebec.
See information about the Battenkill Railroad Snow Flanger
See a train at Silvernails, New York covered by snow and another train snowed in on Winchell Mountain.

Another type of train used to fight natural disasters is the fire train.

Late/Cancelled Trains in the Snow on the New Haven.

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This rotary is from somewhere in Western US. From a post card I got in 1960s. Gee! Wish I had some pictures from early 1960s. Was in Canton, NY between Watertown and Massena. Saw a rotary in action several times. Was it based in Watertown???

Budd RDCs and snow plow at Susquehanna yard in Utica, NY
(From BirdsEye View in Bing Maps)

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Just Around the Corner by Bertrande H. Snell

Bertrande H. Snell, author of the following article, a native of Parish, Oswego County, N.Y., was a telegrapher all his working life. For many years he was employed by the New York Central Railroad, and for 33 years was a telegrapher for Western Union in Syracuse.

Bertrande Snell commenced his writing career with the Syracuse Syracuse Post-Standard in 1945 and continued it until shortly before his death in 1949. His columns were primarily of a reminiscent or historical nature, which included railroad stories.

If you like his column, we have more.

Syracuse Post-Standard, Nov. 14, 1948

Just Around the Corner
By Bertrande

The old-time train dispatcher was a man who deserved no one's envy. Nevertheless, he was looked upon by station telegraphers as a favored individual, lolling in the lap of luxury, working "short" hours, and blessed as the friend and companion of countless bartenders.

On a single-track railroad, before the introduction of the telephone as a means of running trains, the dispatcher had need to be a man of many qualities. He must be a first-class telegrapher, a strategist, a diplomat, a man of quick and accurate decisions, and a past master in the science of railroading. He must be able to hold his liquor with little visible effect, and his patience and understanding must be almost boundless.

In the days of which I write - the early years of the century - the train dispatcher on a single-track division held the train movements in the palm of his hand and the reflexes of his brain. There were no manual or automatic block signals to protect rail movements; no intricate system of safety devices; and no means of communication except the Morse code.

Memory reaches back and brings to showy view a sturdy band of Hojack dispatchers at Oswego, around 1903.

Here you would find the veterans of that era - Charlie Brown, Johnny Ashe, McClosky, Snyder ad Hartney. And back of these stalwarts stood the "younger set" - Walrath, Nixon, Nutting, McNeal and a number of other bright young men whose names escape me at the moment. Of the above mentioned, only two now survive - Matt Sampson, retired and living in Oswego; and Loval McNeal, who is still "in the harness" at Watertown and still going strong. May his shadow never grow thin.

In those days there were two sets of dispatchers at the Oswego office; one for the Syracuse-Watertown-Rome area, and the other for the "west end" - from Pulaski to oswego and on to Suspension Bridge along the shore of Lake Ontario.

The dispatchers office was always in a state of feverish activity, and an uninitiated observer would be prone to wonder how order would ever emerge from such chaos. Here were a dozen clicking telegraph sounders, each speaking in a different tone and each carrying a different message to the listening ear beside it. Here sat the dispatcher, clutching at his eye-shade as he studied the train sheet before him.

Across from him sat the "copier," a telegrapher whose function it was to copy all train orders as the dispatcher clicked them off. These orders must be repeated from both stations to which they were sent, and each word and figure carefully checked by the copier as the repeat came in. This was the job, next to that of dispatcher, most coveted by every telegrapher on the division.

In one corner, by a window, sat the chief dispatcher at his desk, busy with voluminous reports of delays, accidents and train tonnage. At his right was the door of the Grand Beetler's office. In my time, the division trainmaster was always known by his title - and the incumbent who figures in this story always and ever lived up to his title.

This was James G. Halleran, an imposing gent with a red face, a hoarse voice, and a piercing eye. Every inch a superb railroad man, he ran he division with an iron hand and an unfailing perspicuity which sometimes approached the miraculous. Honored and respected by his superiors, he was, of course, cordially disliked by his inferiors - who were greatly in the majority! I can readily vouch for his discernment, since he fire me thrice within a space of two years!

About 7:30 of a stormy evening in December, 1901, i sat at the telegraph desk in Parish depot and copied some instructions ticked off by dispatcher Nixon.

"Extra 2321 just leaving Pulaski - coming west - a double-header snowplow - there's a big drift on tracks between Union Square and Parish - must be cleared before No. 8 can leave Pulaski - I'll hold 8 there until plow reports clear at Parish - watch it, now, and report him clear just as soon as you can - No. 8 will be delayed, but they couldn't get thru that drift until it's plowed. The extra has orders to take siding at Parish to let No. 8 by - give me a quick clearance, now."

I gave him my "ok" and waited. If the plow met with no bad obstacles, she should clear the drift and get into my siding in about an hour; but Dispatcher Nixon was a nervous guy and he kept asking me every 10 minutes if there were any signs of 'em.

After the full hour had elapsed, he became still more impatient and kept the sounder clicking at still shorter intervals.

I went outside and listened. I found the snowfall had started again, but then i heard the faint snort of a locomotive and saw the west end switch-light turn red. The plow entered the siding and puffed toward the office. As the switch-light turned back to white - (that was before they had begun to use green as a safety signal), I ran into the office and reported the train "in the clear."

Nixon immediately called Pulaski and gave the waiting passenger train the signal to go ahead.

In a few moments, the brakeman burst into my office and shouted:

"Hold No. 8 at Pulaski; our pusher engine broke a flange an' she's back there by Red Mill bridge with two trucks on the ground!"

I reached for my key and gave Nixon the bad news - but the passenger train was already on her way. She was nearly a half hour late and would be trying to make up some of the lost time. There were no scheduled stops for her between Pulaski and Parish, since the two intermediate stations, Fernwood and Union Square, were closed at night with no one on duty. A crash seemed imminent, for at this very moment there was not more than seven or eight miles intervening between the rushing passenger train and the stalled engine.

Suddenly, I remembered something! The agent at Union Square had an office student, who was becoming fairly proficient as a telegrapher; and this man just loved to hang around the close office at night and practice. Agent Fred Nicholson had given him a door-key so he could get in any time he wished; and he and I frequently had long talks over the wire.

I ignored the chattering sounder of the dispatcher's wire; cut in on the Western Union circuit and frantically called "N-N-N." After what seemed like countless centuries -actually less than a full minute - the circuit opened and the young squirt at "N" queried:

"What the hell do you want now? I'm just going home!"

My fingers trembled as I spelled out:

"Hold No. 8. Put your red board on 'em. Don't let 'em get by you!"

He didn't get it the first time, nor yet the second; but, finally, he understood...And he later told me that the oncoming train was less than 300 feet from the station when he flipped the red board down!

Well, that was that. The passenger train was held up at Union Square for hours until a crane came out of Salina yards and put the crippled engine on the track. Dispatcher Nixon had complimented me on my quick thinking an quicker action - and by morning, my head had become twice its normal size and I basked in a veritable halo of glory - for was I not a hero? The answer to that question was definitely no - as Trainmaster Halleran explained to me in harrowing detail the next day.

"In the first place," declaimed The Beetler, "you shouldn't have reported that plow clear until a member of its crew had so informed you - don't you ever read the rule-book? In the second place, you tried to play it smart by not telling the dispatcher about the student at Union Square. In the third place, you're supposed to know that when a train stops for any reason, on the main track, a flagman must go back with lantern, torpedoes and fusees to stop all trains - remaining there until recalled by the engine whistle."

(Holy mackeral! I had never thought of that!)

"In the fourth and last place," resumed J.G. H., "quick thinking is a necessary part of every true railroader's equipment; but he must not only be quick - he must also be right. You guessed wrong, three times last night, in as many minutes, and it's only by the mercy of God that a bad accident was avoided.

"As of now, I am tying a can to you, Bertrande. Go your too-quick-thinking way in peace, and may the good Lord watch over you. I think you'll need a lot of it!"

Thus fell one hero from the shaky heights of his self-built pedestal!

Late/Cancelled Trains in the Snow

In blizzard conditions the trains may have ran slower, but they ran. The New Haven Railroad, with antiquated equipment, didn't have a "Winter" schedule - they had a schedule.

It was amazing that back in New Haven days, the trains ran "weather or not." Metro-North had suspended service due to snow and they are now implementing a "Winter Schedule". Trains may have been delayed due to weather conditions on the NH, but shut down the RR? The only time I know of when the NH ceased operations was after the 1938 hurricane when the right-of-way was in Long Island Sound, after the '55 floods affecting certain areas of the NH and temporarily after the Federal derailment. Can't run trains where there's no track. The Washboards didn't have microprocessors, computers and electronic "wizardry" and they worked, as did the older MUs. The new M-8s are sitting idle in New Haven. . . "idle cold weather testing??" Perhaps the older lack of technology by todays standards was better! Something to ponder.

Heard about a trip when it had snowed, heavily in spots. Couldn't see the tracks, or where they were supposed to be. The train ran, on schedule. Snow went flying everywhere when the engine hit a drift, but the train ran ran. The thought that a passenger train might not be able to get through would not have occurred to railroaders in those days.

Has the ability to run a winter railroad been lost? Look how often Amtrak or commuter rail operations now shut down in snow.

Top picture: derailment at New Canaan when train could not stop and ran through the bumper

Bottom Picture: snow blower truck at Stamford

Metro-North New Haven Winter 2010-2011

Story about metro-north new haven line old catenary and other infrastructure difficulties.

Once upon a time, milk trains were important
New York Central Milk Business
Creamery in South Columbia, New York
There were two basic types of milk trains – the very slow all-stops local that picked up milk cans from rural platforms and delivered them to a local creamery, and those that moved consolidated carloads from these creameries to big city bottling plants. Individual cars sometimes moved on lesser trains. These were dedicated trains of purpose-built cars carrying milk. Early on, all milk was shipped in cans, which lead to specialized "can cars" with larger side doors to facilitate loading and unloading (some roads just used baggage cars). In later years, bulk carriers with glass-lined tanks were used. Speed was the key to preventing spoilage, so milk cars were set up for high speed service, featuring the same types of trucks, brakes, communication & steam lines as found on passenger cars.

1961 Buffalo Snow Storm on the New York Central Railroad

1961 Buffalo Snow Storm on the New York Central Railroad
(Photo clipped from an old New York Central Headlight)


Interested in Penn Central? New York Central? Pennsylvania Railroad? New Haven Railroad? or in the smaller Eastern US railroads? Then you will be interested in "What if the Penn Central Merger Did Not Happen". You will also enjoy "Could George Alpert have saved the New Haven?" as well as "What if the New Haven never merged with Penn Central?"

NYC rotary snowplow.

Beacon Historical Society collection

When clearing the Hudson Line the plows could conveniently throw the snow in the river in many places.

New York City Subway Snow Equipment

Eastbound arriving at Silvernails from Rhinecliff.

Nimke Volume 2, Page 65

Central New England (New Haven RR) Yard in 1948

Maybrook yard in January 1948 a few months after diesels had taken over the freight runs.
George Bailey collection.

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It might seem that the 110-ton cars of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road, riding snugly between steel rails, could zip through snow where a 1.5-ton automobile could not. But sometimes the rails themselves, and the third-rail power system, succumb. What keeps the trains running in weather like this is not their weight; it is workers on the ground called maintainers, who use special tools with a broom on one end and an ice pick on the other, shovels, and, believe it or not, ordinary leaf blowers.

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Even the Penn Central endured blizzards of snow, especially in 1969
(from the Penn Central employee newspaper)


Railroads and Snow See some historic photographs of the railroads in snow. Rotary plows in snow! Great stories of railroad action in Winter!

These cars were used to break ice off the top of the tunnels along the Hudson River. This one still lettered for NY Central in 1983!
(Photo from the Central New England Railway Historical Group, so probably somewhere on ex-NH tracks)

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Railways/Trains Of The World	by kcjones
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2-8-0 #116 snowed in at Winchells 16 March 1916.

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J. W. Swanberg collection.

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Winter, Snow and Railroads
All about how railroads deal with Winter and snow.

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