Southern Pacific Railroad MW208

Southern Pacific Railroad MW208. Rotary Snowplow. Among the most daunting problems faced by mountain railroads is that of snow. The Southern Pacific's line over Donner Pass in particular is famous for its wet, heavy snowfall and the havoc it can wreck on train operations. Track covered by snowsheds, locomotive pushed plows and mechanical bulldozers are all tools in the fight to keep the rails open. However, when Mother Nature decides to unleash her worst storms, the roadmaster calls upon the most spectacular snow equipment available: the rotary plow., SP MW208, built as a steam powered plow in 1927, is a design based on the most common and successful style of rotary plow, the so-called Leslie Patent plows, developed by Canadian Orange Jull in 1883. First manufactured by the Leslie Brothers Machine Company, just after the turn of the century the rights for their design were sold to the American Locomotive Company. While other designs were also built, those created by Leslie and ALCo were by far the most numerous and successful, even copied by other companies and continuing in use today. In a Leslie style plow, the large cutting disk at the front of the unit is rapidly spun by a large motor in the carbody. It "chews" its way into the snow and ice, braking it up and blowing it out the chutes at the top of the rotary opening, ejecting it far from the tracks. Many plows feature extendable wings that funnel more snow into the mouth and clear a wider path., Beginning in the late 1950s, the Southern Pacific began converting its steam powered rotaries into electrically powered units, installing a large electric motor in the carbody and providing power using an old streamlined style freight locomotive that was permanently assigned to each plow. In this new service, these locomotives became known as "Snails". Unable to move itself, each plow/snail combination would be pushed by several locomotives. SP 208 was the last of the company's rotaries to be converted to diesel, losing its boilers in 1970., SP 208 (then numbered 7208) was one of the rotary snowplows involved in the rescue of the trapped City of San Francisco passenger train in January, 1953. Part of a plow set that worked down Donner Pass from the SP terminal at Norden, California, the 7208 was caught in a snowslide along with a second plow and the steam locomotive pushing them toward the train. While trying to get the 7208 back on the rails in blizzard conditions, this huge machine turned over and killed engineer Raymond Holland, the only casualty of the entire incident. After it was rebuilt to diesel power, the 208 was the last rotary to work on the Western Pacific Railroad, having been leased from the SP in 1974., builder . American Locomotive Co. - Brooks Works , built . September, 1927 , type . Leslie Patent Rotary Snowplow , serial number . 67429 , original cost . $16,641.00 , operating weight . 102,000 lbs , acquisition . donated by Union Pacific . This historical marker was erected by Western Pacific Railroad Museum. It is in Portola in Plumas County California