Real snowplowing in G Scale

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Hi all

My son Nick is a G Scaler as am I.  I am a proud Dad, because he is a member of the Denver Garden Railway Society and his railroad will be featured at the G Scale National  Convention next summer.  It will also be in the next issue of Garden Railways Magazine.

Here are some great snow plowing shots on his mainline:

Video one shows the actual plowing of the line with an Aristocraft plow and Four USA Trains diesels in order to clear the way for the California Zephyr. (link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Y5fJGrJ3k

Video two shows a USA Trains California Zephyr carving its way through the canyons of snow created by the plow.  It also makes the full loop, including straight through the house via the crawlspace. (link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlXkaGgs1cI

Video three shows a complete circuit of the line by the California Zephyr from the engineers perspective (on board). A nice wide angle lens keeps the rails in sight 100% of the time.  This in a little faster than I normally go, I was shooting for a scale 55 mph. (link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH62n2-Pumo

He is also heavily into Bachmann 1:20.3
Enjoy

[CNE Runner]

Absolutely fantastic video! I must have watch the first one at least 3 times...you certainly know you way around G-scale. Here in upstate NY (circa 1899) we use vast amounts of cheap labor to accomplish the same thing. I would love to see what your layout looks like in summer. Thank you for sharing.

[az2rail]

Ya, the first video is fantastic. It amazes me the the plow does not derail. Even thought the snow would force it towards the track, there must still be a lot of weight in it.

The third vidoe was nice also. I liked it when the train went through  the house. Just hope it never derails under there.

Thanks for sharing those.
Bruce

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Bill,

Wonderful.  Must be fun to operate.   

What power/control system and sound system are you using?  How many feet of track?

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[WoundedBear]

The first video is absolutely incredible. I'm amazed at how much snow that thing can clear through.

Sid

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Welcome all,

Bruce The plow is an Aristo Craft with ball bearing wheels, he loads it with rock to keep it on the track.  We have plowed snow deeper than this.  Once when there were some bad drifts we got stuck and had to back up and take a second run to bash thru.

The rails under the house are fully assessable from the crawlspace.  The crawl space is deep and you can almost stand up under there.  Nick is a stickler for tracklaying properly, He obsesses over having the best trackwork possible.  As a result he almost never has a derailment, and after two years has never had a derailment in the crawl space!!

Joe,  He uses Train Engineer track powered, and also battery powered trains via a trail car, also Train Engineer.   The plow train is track powered.  He uses both Phoenix sound and Sierra Soundtraxx sound,  any new sound units will be Phoenix.  I can't remember how many feet of mainline he has but it definitely takes awhile for the trains to get around it.  It is definitely fun to operate!!!

Sid, It will do even deeper, He has been able to get through up to 9 inches of snow without stalling.   Last year we got through some drifts that were about 13 inches tall but we stalled and had to back up for a second run to get through!!!

[WoundedBear]

but we stalled and had to back up for a second run to get through!!!

It doesn't get much more prototypical than that.

Sid

[Frisco]

Nice! The third video is specialy great.

[smcgill]

I've changed my Aristo plow somewhat 

[WGL]

 I marvel that you could mount a video camera on the locomotive.  I really enjoyed the ride!

                               Bill

[Santa Fe buff]

Incredible snowplowing! Your California Zephyr looks just as stunning. Splendid video series, thanks for sharing. I wish I could do G, but I don't own the backyard... My uncle has tons of G Gauge, and tons of land. But no time...

Thanks for sharing

WGL,
Many video camera are specially designed to fit inside even HO Scale trains. Inside a G Gauge train, those cameras can be easily inserted into the cab. Here's one of those special cameras:
Factory Direct Trains -- Wireless Train Camera

Josh

[Frisco]

I've changed my Aristo plow somewhat 

Nice. That looks really good.

[WGL]

 Thanks, Josh.  I had no idea that video cameras were made to be put into model trains!
        Bill

[Jhanecker2]

I am impressed by the amount of work and attention to detail that went into the construction . The snowplowing was outstanding . I noticed that on your third video that you had turnouts to sections that you had not plowed. I assume these are your yard and station tracks and that the plowed sections are your mainline. Do you have footage of your layout in Summer ? Once again kudos for first class work .   John II.

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Wow! I really liked what you did with that Aristo plow & what a great picture.

For the video my son actually used a new digital camera that also does film. 

Yes there are passing sidings and a yard & reverse loop. 

His layout will be in the next issue of Garden Railways Magizine, be sure to get a copy!!

I will pass on all your nice comments to my son.