Hi, Folks.
Specifically for ctsnowfighter:













Enjoy.

Just my 0.02.

Just my 0.02.

Thank You Deas -Pictures of those unforgettable days gone by - and - I am glad they are behind me!
AW Pacer 300 -- 4-71 Detroit  (the workhorses of the fleet -- two or three in tandem - most of the time carried the bull plow for the weight on drivers, AWD-AW Steer.
"Modified" snow blower --- FWD Chassis, 6-53 Detroit for Truck Chassis - 12v71 Detroit powered the blower   (Picture was nice sunny day, just minor cleanup job)

That I can recall - we had one gen set for the maintenance facility - about same engine as 4R D6, One 4 yard Ford with 1155 Cat, and one loader mtd snow-blast with 3208 Cat powering the blower head. 
 
Twelve Years on Donner - I never was able to see the SP Rotary in Action - when it ran - we were busy with our own efforts -

Merry Christmas everyone!
CTS
 

Hi, cts.
I never got to run the 4X4X4 pacer. They were pretty popular with state and local government departments back home for road building and maintenance but Cats eventually edged them out.

I did get to operate an Aveling-Barford 6X6X6 with a British Leyland 6 -cylinder diesel which was a bit bigger and heavier than a Cat 12 and also a Clark which was basically the same machine but with a 4-71 'driptroit'. I also operated another Aveling-Barford which weighed around 48,000# and was powered by a 6-71 'driptroit', This one hadda nifty auxilliary arrangement for steering the front wheels with a small thumb lever on each blade lift control to hydraulically turn the front steering - great for working around pegs, etc., 'cos you didn't hafta take your hands off the blade controls.

Coincidentally, I was operating that one the day us Australians took the Americas Cup away from you people with the 'winged keel'.

I've walked on cold, wet snow once, driven through VERY light snow falling amongst rain along I80 in Wyoming once and watched a full grown Great Dane dog catching scattered falling snowflakes in the back yard and LOVING the expression on his face when he caught one and could not understand why he didn't 'have anything' - - - funny as all get out.

Just my 0.02.

CTS”Snowfighter”. Pretty cool. What a difference you guys made.

Great videos Deas!

CT, what were the temperatures on Donner Pass during the winter? Just love to watch those rotaries throw the snow. What kind of hourly shifts would you maintain during the heavy snows? .

D4Jim

Re: Temperatures - depending on storms, etc. Seldom 0-f in winter, teens quite common. Coldest I ever saw on the summit itself -22 f -- YES MINUS 22f
Floriston, E of Truckee was -35f same night. Once you crest the summit and head east - temperatures drop like the elevation.
There are times when Boca is the coldest place in the lower 48. (along with temperature variations, so were snow amounts and levels. Warmer temperatures delivered "Sierra Cement" that wet and heavy snow ball snow that packed as hard as steel when traffic ran on it. Seldom did we have that "talcum powder" that would fly like feathers when hit with a plow.

Shifts - depending on location or areas - On i-80 in those years - we ran three shifts in "winter months" 0730-1600, 1600-2400- 0000-0800 during "bluebird" weather. Storm shifts - Crew hours were typically 0000-1200 & 1200-2400, the supervision 0400-1600 and 1600-0400 (this was done to allow supervisors to get on board and be able to schedule crews for jobs as needed during the storms). More often than not - shifts would run to 13 -16 hours depending upon where one was relieved. Rotaries and graders were often relieved on the road, not coming in to the barn unless repairs or fuel as they made the rounds. Normally - crews had abnormal days off - (sun-mon or fri/sat) as example - during storms, there were no days off and that was for the duration of the storm(s). I could be a long spell between days off!

Kingvale and Whitmore were the two stations on I-80 that were fully self sufficient. Crew bunkhouse, full time cooks and cookhouse, Mechanics and shop facility, large barn and fuel. Diesel for equipment was in two tanks - 10k and 8k, Bunkhouse and Barn heated with Diesel - 12k tank for each, Gasoline was 10k & 8k, all underground. I believe those have all been upgraded to above ground tanks with secondary containment and LPG is now the heat for the barn and Dorm.

Deas -- AW --- awfully wobbly Those 300 Pacers had "tiller bars" for front steering and a lever in the middle of the bank for the rear steer. As they got worn - they would often tend to wiggle away on one and in snow or ice, with the full pressure down on a 13' moldboard, it could get real squirrely real fast! Turn around in own length or slide across a super elevated curve like a figure skater on the moldboard! All of us ran them as fast as they would pull the grade or push the load. The AW was a machine that demanded full attention at all times with instant reactions. They were unique in many ways, amazing machines for what we accomplished with them under some extreme conditions.

Point of information - Donner Summit is 7239' in elevation on I-80 West Bound. Expect any weather any time of year! Be Prepared!
EB from the summit to Donner Lake Interchange is all DOWNHILL - much of it 6% grade - WB has many sections that are 6% of much longer duration.
Many problems can be avoided by using good judgement - avoid travel in bad weather - have proper equipment and know how to use it

Merry Christmas everyone --- STAY SAFE -