Rotary action on Donner Pass 

I have literally never watched a train video in my life but somehow, at midnight, I find myself watching all 38 mins of this

I was a train operator for 20 years. I hauled everything through bagger pass. Where steel meets the tracks as they say. I was my own hero

There's something so satisfying in watching a machine cut a clean, sharp passage through the snow. Feels like it's making a road out of snow, just like making a castle out of sand. To get straight, sharp lines out of something so diffused and inherently unstable, bringing order into disorder. :)

Mike, this was just awesome. Thank you so much for braving the weather and the snow to bring us this. Great Job!!!!

Great job Mike. Watching your video made me feel like a ten year old boy! Wide eyed & slack jawed. Thanks!

Thank you for sharing this video which shows a very different side of railroading as compared to what I witness here in central Massachusetts. This brings back memories of traveling on these tracks back in August 1968 on the City of San Francisco.

I don't know what happened to me when I started watching this. I just sat spell bound and enchanted until it finished. Thanks and congratulation from Bangladesh.

To me this is ASMR train edition! All the sounds are so relaxing! Love this, thank you.

I’m proud to call this area home. I will never not live in the mountains. I travel Donner Pass weekly, sometimes multiple times a week, and I always look at the trains with the delight I had as a 12 year old model railroader. We should all pay our respects to the amazing work of a young engineer by the name of Theodore Judah, who first envisioned and pushed for the Donner Pass Route as the first Transcontinental Railroad.

You have no clue how satisfied i am that the work coming out is so sharp and perfect!!!

LOL! This video popped up while I was watching videos for garden and live steam railroading. At first I thought that this was the most realistic and beautiful G-scale layout I had ever seen, probably because of the HD camera used...then I saw the people walking around and read the video description and comments and realized this was the real deal. I'm a life long model railroader and love trains. The scenery filmed there and units at work made this a very fun and satisfying video to watch. THUMBS UP!!!

Simply outstanding! Thank you for the effort and for posting.

Great video!!!!! Thanks for sharing so us flatlanders can see what life in the mountains is like in winter!!

It's absolutely amazing the amount of power generated by today's locomotives Breathtaking scenery!

Born and raised in So Cal I love watching this stuff but I’m also thankful that I don’t have to work or commute to work in the snow.

Look at those perfect precision lines... That's just incredible...

This is really awesome this is the first time I've watched a rotary plow in action so happy you guys took the time to make this video

Impeccable work. Stunning scenery. Totally loved this video

Great shots, beautiful composition , no fluff, no music, no nonsense. Excellent. Subscribed and 👍

Beautiful. After shoveling the driveway, those blowers are asmr therapy to my ears.

In Sparks, Nevada, there was a very long train waiting to leave. It was after dark. I sat down a few feet from the track and waited for the train to leave. Sitting there by the humongo chest rumbling engines was impressive. Then the train left, starting out very slowly and gradually increasing in speed. By the time the last cars went by, they were sailing past me at full speed. The whole experience was awesome.

Out standing, loved every minute.well done, one of the best I have seen.

I lived in Roseville a few years back and would see the Rotary units in the yard, but never in operation. Thank-you!

I have been watching this in awk. While Australia’s fires still burning since Sept and it is now January. How I envy your snow ! I feel cooler already,but 43deg will soon become a reality again. Thanks for sharing this.

Beautiful video. The quality is spectacular! Well done.

Pretty sweet video...thanks for sharing. Just in time for winter to start upon us once again.

Nice work, documenting history for future generations!

This is awesome!!!! Just amazing, great video!!! I only see it from hey 80 going up and down the mountain! Thank you👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Great Video....Thanks!! From a city boy....Wow am I missing how beautiful the country is!

Just beautiful! A still shot of this scene would make a great Christmas card bc it's timelessness! Thanks!

Finally we get enough snow for rotary action. Thanks for making the effort to get up there and finding a great vantage point. And for getting clobbered that first time. Bet that was fun!

Great video fantastic shots! These locomotives are truly equipped to match this job. Really amazing footage.

I used to nordic ski in that area and was always fascinated by the blowers. Many of my relatives were railroaders out of Dunsmere up that the north end of the state, below Mount Shasta. I lived in the mountains south of Donner. The snow was always nicer in that area, and deeper. I lived a short time in Blue Canyon that regularly got 10-25 feet of snow so entering the home was on the second or 3rd level in the winter, and the leaving the vehicle far away on a plowed country road, resulting a couple mile snowshoe or ski trip to the 4x4 to shop. Most of my free time was in the winter so stocking up with wood all fall and food storage was a welcome relaxing adventure for most of the winter. A nice thing about the mountains in the central Sierra was it never really got that cold, years later I moved to a country where I got down to -57C ....that is cold!

Amazing progress....150 yrs ago men with shovels did this back breaking work.....amazing!!!

Holy sheet. Great camera work. What a great location. Mountain railroading is so awesome.

My mom lived up in the California mountains. She had a 2' x 3' photo of a train snow plow plowing through deep snow. You could tell it was traveling fast because of how high and wide the snow was being shown. The photo was taken on a clear blue sky day after a big snow storm. Remarkable photo.

I remember Donner Pass from my truck driving days. Winter was always particularly fun to drive truck over Donner Pass. :)

these things are amazing and will be forever the kings of snow removal. I finally found one in HO scale that I'm gonna do some detailing on and get working nicely.

Riding the Amtrak thru the Rocky Mountains in the middle of winter has to be a beautiful adventure. That would be one trip I would love to take.

I simply Love! Watching this kind of Action! And I wish the younger generations could understand how! this is! I am an “O” gauge modeler and Love this Scenery.

Hi! I'm Hungarian engine driver and this video is very good! Respect! :)

That was terrific!!! I hope no one got pneumonia. Nothing better than trains in snow. But then, I never stood out all day waiting for them. Congratulations, job well done.

It's 3:00 o'clock in the morning, AND I'm watching Snow plowing train 🚂 videos. AND I'M loving it ‼️👍🏽🤩❤️❤️🤩❤️.

Best therapy there is watching these videos

Beautiful video view. I like trains alot and mountains full of snow. Wish I had a place up in the mountains somewhere so I could go up there at weekends especially in the winter

I just happened to come accross this video. Now that is one snow blower. I am tryiing to figure out where the snow is going with the rotary brush. Thumbs up to you for being out there in the cold so long filming this. Thanks for posting an educational - and 'entertaining' clip.

The scenery is absolutely beautiful.

Trains are the best. Also those absolutely PERFECT lines 🤩🤩

Briliant rail movie! Good work, master! Thumbs Up Greetings from Romania Respects - Andrew

More people need to see this ,, it's wonderful video .

It’s pretty cool I watched that train get refurbished across the street from my job. In Sacramento.

What beautiful countryside. I love the Pine tree with all the snow in their branches.

Really excellent video... well shot, great editing. Nicely done.

Very nice video. Beautiful landscape. Reminds me of Norway.

Thanks for the great video from 2022!

Magical landscape. Great video!

Amazing video, great job and thanks for sharing!

If this was the u.k the rail network would grind to a halt...great vid...

What a beautiful winter! And a happy train!!!

🌸 I've always loved steam trains, having a beautiful one near me, but we have heat and not snow where we live, so seeing a train clearing snow is amazing. Thanks

Why is watching trains so fun? I could do it all day.

I’ve taken this on Amtrak in similar conditions. Amazing!!!!!!

An absolute masterpiece. Thank you for this video!!!

I'm hooked this is magnificently powerful !!!

Who needs their own train set? Live action right here!!

Incredible views in the video, thanks for sharing!

Mesmerizing! Like visiting another world! Reminds me why I moved south 60 years ago.

My hats off to the men and women who brave this weather every year that have a job to do and do it so well!!

Simply stunning!!!!!!

Props to you for being out in the middle of nowhere in that weather!

Watching from Queens 👸 NY. The engines are heavy & powerful. The heavy snow ⛄️ ❄️ is easily removed. Love watching those trains moving through the snow. The trains appears like toys. Love ❤️ your video Mike. Thank you 🙏 for uploading. I’ve subscribe.

Okay, a short history. Rotaries were originally developed in the steam era, with steam providing power to the rotary blade. In the US, traction (movement) power was supplied by separate engines coupled to the rear. Once diesels arrived, most rotaries were converted, usually by permanently attaching a "snail" to the rear of the plow. The snail is an old engine the retains it's prime mover (diesel engine) to provide electricity, but has no traction motors. The electric power from the snail is used to turn the rotary blade. A small(er) steam generator was retained to provide steam to keep linkages/moving parts from getting frozen in position. Originally there were engineers in both the plow and the attached traction engines, but most railways have added controls to the plows so the traction engines can be controlled remotely. Most rotaries have been replaced by simple wedge plows and front-end loaders for reliability/financial reasons. Even after upgrades, rotaries are much more expensive to run than a wedge that is just a big hunk of metal. The rotaries are kept in reserve as a last line of defense in areas that receive massive amounts of snow, usually mountainous passages. Union Pacific is the most well known user, but BNSF also has some. I would be surprised if CP and CN also don't have a couple stashed away. Japan has an active fleet for use in it's mountainous regions. I'm sure the exist in other locations, but do your own research. In 2012, after getting over 17 meters of snow in Donner pass the previous year, UP completely rebuilt #207 to modern specs. 207 is the lead plow in this video. Compare it to #209 on the other end of the train, and you can see the differences. To my knowledge, they really haven't *needed* the rotary since the rebuild, but they bring it out every year for practice and training. Of interest is the equipment that UP uses to keep the pass clear. In addition to the rotaries, wedges, and loaders, they also have flangers (clean between and around the rail) and spreaders (clean above the rails and several feet to the side). ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-08PTkFwRoU8.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Qx5jmtnekCQ.html

good to see the Rotaries on Donner Pass once again. if you got 16 feet of snow on Donner Pass this is who you call.

lover that shot of your buddy getting swamped in blown snow (23:00)

They just had one of these on display at the California state railroad museum in Sacramento. I was there in January 2020. Although with the museum, we explored Lake Tahoe, Muir woods, Alcatraz island and Yosemite national park. This was a present for my mom for her 70th birthday.

Cool video. I like the snow blowing through the pass. Thanks for sharing bro!

hallo mike ein wunderschönes video und danke fürs zeigen ☺☺☺ Hi Mike a beautiful video and thanks for pointing ☺☺☺

Now this rotary snow plow is what we need in Minnesota right now

Super cool vid, thanks for capturing it!

love all the little horn taps you got!

Great video. I really enjoyed it!!!

British rail fan fast becoming a American rail fan that was amazing also most of the UK hasnt seen proper snow for years and years its snow a inch for a day or two and the UK grinds to a halt

Thanks for braving the elements so that I may watch from the comfort of the apartment...!

good work nice to watch this mid summer

That snow arc is a direct result of massive torque being applied.

I would like to thank you for this video. I was very interested to see a rotary snow plow in action. I appreciate your work well done

Soda springs and Sugar bowl, those were our stomping grounds during the fifties and sixties and sometimes in the seventies. We used to visit a cabin just north of Immigrant gap before it was reset to the south side of what was then Hwy-40. The state took out the cabin to build Hi-Way 80. In the summers we would climb to the top of the gravel ridge and watch the trains go by. If you look at the site of Sugar bowl you will see those sheds which were built to keep snow off the tracks on either side of the tunnel. Those were some great times.....

That's my project. Rebuilding the spmw207. Been working on the snow equipment since 2008. It's an awesome ride.

This is incredible.

As long as I can remember, I have loved trains. And I lived in the Sierras. But I never heard of a rotary until one day I found a rotary and other plows being stored in Westwood, in northeastern California. How fascinating! I have since found several videos in which the notaries and their history were explained. But I never will forget that personal visit, and I took lots of pictures. Then I took my fiancee to see them. Except for the language, I place this video at the top of snow clearing videos. Now I would suggest that you have a number of legitimate questions to go through and answer, and a couple of very brief places to censor the background conversation. But thanks. Good job!

It is not your fault. These are Caltrans Railroad workers who are just being themselves. However, the problem would be if that they knew they were going to be filmed with the possibility of public viewing. Otherwise, it is a great compilation of videos that bring back many memories to me. I'm a retired over the driver and have been across Donner Summit many times, they clear the highway just like that when snows. Thank you. I believe the public deserves to know how the men and women of our infrastructure work hard to keep them open in times like that.

wow...beautiful video!

Odd that I sat and watched whole video as if a trance or hypnotized. Awesome video, kudos to the dedication to sit out all day and film that. Also cool to see they are still using a F-7 B unit.

That’s an incredible view!

I've hitched Donner before. Beautiful up there. Beautiful.

Lol wow! I've never seen Donner before, so I had no idea that the other track was even there until they went over it! XD Way to take that onslaught as well lmao.

Awesome! This is just TO COOOL!

Pretty awesome....As an "Original Transcon RR" fan, have been to Summit Tunnel, etc., along with much of the original construction artifact-areas. Winter of course, gives a whole new meaning to the enterprise. Thanks. PS: subscribed!

Im from Ohio and it amazes me to see that "sunny" California gets more snow than we do!

Glad to see you still get some real snow out there. We really don't get shit compared to what we got 10-20 years ago, seems like.