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The Alville & Captown Railroad
Snowplowing Adventures

One of the things I enjoy about living in west-central Wisconsin is the four distinct seasons. Each one has a beauty of its own. Winter has a special feel. Some would say that its "COLD!". I'd say that it is peaceful. A time for nature to rest and renew for the coming spring. There may be some nasty days but every season has some nasty days. 95F temperature and 95% humidity in summer is nasty too.

Plowing the garden railway is great winter fun. The Aristocraft wedge snowplow was one of my first large scale purchases. With an RS-3 to push it and a brick in it to help keep it on the rails, I'm all set. Later I acquired the CP Dual Flag SD-45 and after that the C&NW SD-45. I have run several combinations of motive power for plowing duty from a single RS-3 to 2 SD-45s with 2 RS-3s. Track power has been used thus far, controlled by a trackside 27 MHz Train Engineer. Apparently snow conducts little or no electricity. When double heading, an MU cable is used between the locomotives to improve power continuity.

Here are pictures from several snowplowing adventures.

The 1st Adventure
[The First Plowing Run]
The First Plowing Run

The 2nd Adventure
[Layout Moved to the Deck]
Layout Moved to the Deck		 [Working Hard]
Working Hard		 [Job Completed]
Job Completed		 [Up Close and Personal]
Up Close and Personal

The 3rd Adventure
[A Fresh Blanket of Snow]
A Fresh Blanket of Snow		 [Get the MOW Crew Going]
Get the MOW Crew Going		 [SD-45 Power Today]
SD-45 Power Today		 [Progress]
Progress
[Replacement Power]
Replacement Power		 [Returning to the Scene]
Returning to the Scene		 [More Progress]
More Progress		 [Keep up the Work]
Keep up the Work
[Triple Header]
Triple Header		 [Almost Done]
Almost Done		 [Just a few more inches]
Just a few more inches		 [The Next Day]
The Next Day
[About Half Done]
About Half Done		 [Brick in Plow]
Brick in Plow		 [Coming Down the Back Stretch]
Coming Down the Back Stretch		 [Finished at Last]
Finished at Last

The 4th Adventure
[Ready for Duty]
Ready for Duty		 [Heading out East Bound]
Heading out East Bound		 [Captown Junction Just Ahead]
Captown Junction Just Ahead		 [She'll Be Comin' 'round the Pond]
She'll Be Comin' 'round the Pond
[Approaching the Stoney Mountain Bridge]
Approaching the Stoney Mountain Bridge		 [Turning west]
Turning west		 [Through the Forest]
Through the Forest		 [About done]
About done
[A Few Days Later]
A Few Days Later		 [End of Shift]
End of Shift		 [More Snow Here, Too]
More Snow Here, Too		 [On to the Bridge]
On to the Bridge
[More Snow Overnight]
More Snow Overnight		 [Heading North]
Heading North		 [Beautiful]
Beautiful		 [It's Deep Here]
It's Deep Here
[There a Plow Out There Somewhere]
There a Plow Out There Somewhere		 [The Lost is Found]
The Lost is Found		 [Just Cruisin' Along]
Just Cruisin' Along		 [Heading Back to the Yard]
Heading Back to the Yard


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