i got a rotary snow plow finally!!!!!!!!!

[HOplasserem80c]

i got my rotary snow plow check it out.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/932-1955

[Jim Banner]

Just the thing for those winter snows.  I have seen them listed, but Walthers does not say how fast the wheel spins.  How fast does yours run?  An easy way to tell is to stick a small piece of masking tape to the wheel and count how many times it goes around in a minute.  I would be very interested to hear what speed it is.

[martin_lumber]

The rotary blade moves like a light in a Athearn BB lights up. At small throtle, it goes slow. At full throtle, it moves scale fast. It would probably work like a dream on DCC, as you could have your engine going slow, and the rotary blade going fast.

Make sure not to take apart the connections too much. I broke mine a while back (The Rotarys have been long out of stock), but eventually got it fixed.

For you who do not know, the rotary was modeled after OSL 762, which is at Mid-Continent Railroad museum in North Freedom, WI.

It was built for the Oregon Short Line, and later became Union Pacific 051, and later 900051. It lost it's original tender upon UP acquisition, and they put a higher-capacity Vanderbelt tender on it.

It was on display at a Idaho resturant from 1971 to 1980, until it was finally donated to MCRWY.

When it was donated to MCRWY in 1980, they took the vanderbelt tender off it, scrapped it, and put a MP crane tender with it. That is why it looks a bit perculiar from other Rotarys with original tenders.

It ran last in 1989 durring Snow Train when something with the drive went out (My father has video he took at Snow Train, and he has footage at the crossing when the rotary last operated). They later discovered there was also boiler problems too.

Until this year, it sat in a faded, rusted, and chipping OSL paint that was nearly 23 years old. Now, it is being cosmetically restored to OSL paint. As of yeaterday, it's primer was nearly done, and the valves were painted red, and the brass parts were, I guess you could say, painted brass. She looks a lot better than I have ever seen her.

I know they are talking about some internal restoration, but WC&C 4-6-0 #1 is top priority, and with the S1 #7 taking a dump last year, they finally found USA RS4-TC #1256, now re-lettered MCRWY #1256. So, we can only cross our fingers.

Phil

[HOplasserem80c]

Nice defonition. (I might have spell that wrong) But anyway how long have they been out of stock.

[martin_lumber]

I'd say they have been out of stock at Walthers for at least 2-3 years. How much did you pay for yours?

The only other Rotary I know that looks like the Walthers model (except the one at Mid-Continent) is the Rotary at Hanna, WY. It's a nearly exact plow to the Mid-Continent plow, and still has it's UP vanderbelt tender (It's still in UP paint). Of course, there are probably many other Rotarys out there that have that as a prototype.

Phil

[kevin2083]

Does it really snow that much on your layout? maybe you should bring it inside or something.

[Stephen D. Richards]

Athearn is offiering a snow plow.  It is not quite the same as the Walthers.  I have one but it still turns like the above description while on DC.  However it does make a nice run on DCC! 

Jim, the blade, even on DCC, does not turn that fast.  Still looks good though.           Stephen

[HOplasserem80c]

50.00 dollars for mine. Brand new right out of the box.

[HOplasserem80c]

DO you have to push yours?

[Guilford Guy]

YES!!!
The motor is only to power the blades. You need a locomotive to shove from behind to move.

[Jim Banner]

Thanks, Stephen.  I modified an Athearns plow some years ago, using a gear motor originally used to drive the zoom lens in a movie camera.  It turned the wheel at a prototypical 180 rpm on a 9 volt battery.  I found that too fast.  The wheel was a blur and you had trouble seeing that it was actually turning.  Slowing it down to about 120 rpm helped and painting one blade white helped a whole lot more.

That was in the days pre DCC so I installed a trigger circuit to start and stop the wheel.  When you pushed the plow forward, like travelling from the yard to the snow area, the wheel did not turn.  When you got to the snow, you would stop the locomotive and switch to reverse, then forward again.  The polarity shift from reverse to forward would start the wheel turning and keep it turning for a couple of minutes.  Plenty long enough to plow out a small drift.  If the drift was longer, then from time to time the locomotive would have to reverse from time to time, and go forward again.  Not an unusual manoeuvre in heavy snow.  When the plowing was done, the plow would stop (after the couple of minutes.)  Then it could be pushed forward to the next town with the wheel stopped or it could be pulled back to the original yard with the wheel stopped.  Operated properly, it was a real hit, particularly with other model railroaders who could never figure out how I stopped and started the wheel.

(a note to my Canadian friends - sorry about the Americanized spelling of the word "plough" but here in Western Canada we too tend to use "plow.")   

[HOplasserem80c]

Cool. i like talking about snow plows. They seem like a vital part of a railroad.