Flangers are called as the first line of defense when storms produce a depth of snow six inches or more above the rail. Hear stories, see the action, feel the chill.
The circular windows are spinning and are used to deflect the snow. The center piece/hub is the motor, which runs warm to melt the pounding snow. The idea for these windows came from large ships traveling over rough seas. The circular windows are also referred to "Japanese Windows" because it is believed the Japanese invented them years ago.
I have the Donner Combo DVD from Pentrex and one of the programs are "The Battle For Donner Pass" A few of these guys was on that program. Most notable was the"Bear" James C Mahon
John Kuehl was such a good conductor that I opted to not take a pilot with me when I was a freshly marked up engineer and caught John for a run up to Dunsmuir. He could tell you when all the undulations were coming as you're nearing Anderson. He could tell you how much air to set, where to stretch brake. That guy was a legend. Bill Toland was the GOAT as far as engineers go. Stiff competition though, with honorable mentions Greg "big brain" Milton, Teddy "rake the throttle notch 1 to 8 once the rear is movin, skin er back!" Parker, Harry.. aww man what was his last name. Lived in Elk Grove, retired around 2006 or so. Dude was golden, wish I could remember his last name... was it Graham? Harry Graham? Then of course we could never forget Danny Epps. Ay y'all remember Mike "just paintin murals with my own shit on the walls of my hotel room" Dennis? How about Jeff "Don't give him a can of Dinty Moore beef stew before a trip" Kuehl.. Man, I miss those days and also I don't. Life is so much better after leaving the RxR.
That was pretty! Pretty in sight! Pretty dangerous with poor visibility! Pretty exciting! Pretty tough conditions! And of course, pretty interesting! Thank you.
The plow on the front of a locomotive is to be from 6" - 9" above the rail, as to where a Flanger is between the rails and sits lower than the top of the rail.
Is Bill Toland still around and kickin? I can't imagine he's still working but I got to thinkin about him today and wondered if he's still alive. He was one of my favorite guys to get paired up with when I was a fireman.
