Athearn Rotary Snowplow

Can anyone tell me about the Athearn Rotary Snowplow? Are they powered or do they need a loco to push them? I have seen a few with what appear to be oil tenders and without. So are they diesel or steam powered? They look like diesels to me. I even seen them it kit form. I know Athearn stopped making them. Are they any good? Can they pull anything?

 

Rotary snowplows, at least in North America, are not self-propelled as far as I know; I have seen some in Europe that are self-propelled. Depending on the era you model, the rotaries would be steam-powered or electrically driven. Steam may still be used on some to keep the blades clear of snow/ice buildup. No, rotaries don't pull anything. In current usage, one or more diesel locomotives will push the rotary and supply electric power to it; some railroads may use non-self-propelled dedicated rotary power units to provide the electrical power and such units would be between the rotary and the locomotives.

As far as the Athearn version of a rotary, I had an old one from 30 some years ago; as I recall, there was a rubberband drive from one axle to the blades, so that the blades would go around as the unit was pushed. I haven't seen newer versions of the Athearn, so can't address the question as to the drive for the blades. Hope this helps.

 

BNbob is correct. Rotaries in North America are not self-propelled. Steam locomotives and now diesels push them.

Initially, they had steam engines to drive the machinery, and thus had their own tender. Later, some were converted to electrical power, using traction motors to drive what used to be driven by steam, power being supplied by a diesel locomotive or a converted older diesel engine that is dedicated to supplying power (becoming a tender of sorts), like an old B-unit (example F7B or FB2).

Steam is still used to clear snow and ice off the blades, supplied by steam generators, either on-board or more often, in the "tender" unit or steam generator car like those used in passenger trains. It all depends what the railroad has on hand.

So for steam-era plowing, you can leave the stock tender attached, or if modeling in the diesel era, remove the tender, put a dummy F7B or something in that nature behind it.

 

I have an older Athearn rotary plow with the rubber-band from one front truck axle to the shaft of the fan. (It's essentially non-functional, by the way.. the wheelset will just slide on the rails rather than turn.) I think the Athearn plow of this vintage is a steam plow with an oil fired boiler. At the back end of the plow is a boiler front plate and on the top rear is a smokestack. Therefore - steam powered, and the firebox would be at the front end of the plow. The fireman would be in the crew cab with the plow operator. The fuel must be oil in order to get it to the firebox. So, a tender with an oil tank is appropriate.

Pictures of coal fired steam plows indicate the boiler is set up like a steam locomotive - firebox at the back so the coal can be fed to the fire, the stack is just behind the control cab. There appears to be a sheltered platform in the back for the fireman.

Can you imagine that job? "Here, sit in this little cab between a large hot boiler, pressurized to a couple of hundred PSI, and this giant whirling fan while we use a few locomotives to shove you into massive snowdrifts that may be just snow or could be full of fallen trees or rocks." Not me!

George V.

 

I'd rather do that than go bungee jumping, alligator wrestling, or for that matter, go cross some of the bridges around here...arghh:

 

Quick add on. Most Rotaries are still steam powered, even if only to provide steam to heat the blades.

 

Rotary Snowplows

All snow plows must be pushed by a locomotive or two.
The Athearn model is of a steam powered plow. A tender is also required so as to supply both fuel and water to the boiler in the plow. The boiler supplied steam to power the blade and to heat the plow.
Espee converted all of its rotaries to electric power during the late 1960's. A F7b supplied steam for heat and the steam engine that powered the blade was replaced by traction motors from scrapped locomotives. The F7b had no traction motors and only generated power for the rotary plow.
In the case of a steam powered plow a tender is required just as on a locomotive.
A electric powered plow must have a converted locomotive to power the blade .
In both cases a locomotive is required to push the plow.

 

I just picked up an Athearn HO UP Rotary Snowplow on ebay. I bought it because someone went to the trouble of highly detailing and converting it to a DC powered unit. None of the Athearn rotary snowplows I've seen are powered units, they're all dummies intended to be pushed around by other locos - which would make this unit great in a consist. The model is an accurate example of a steam-powered plow marketed by Lima in the late 1940s converted to diesel power. So it has elements of both steam and diesel power. I plan on converting this model to DCC with sound. The question is what did this thing sound like? Did it have a diesel horn or steam whistle and bell? Did it have the whooshing sounds of steam along with the rumble of a diesel engine? How would I go about setting this thing up sound wise.