Is it hot where you are? OObject celebrates Summer (and this SF heatwave) with a refreshing list of 20 different train-mounted railroad snowplows. Some look simply like giant plows, but the most gadgety look like giant snowblowing window fans.

A tiny research turns up that these powered variants were developed by a dentist in the late 1800s as a tool to get through passes blocked by snow drifts too deep for the others. They’re electric or diesel powered, and in Donner Pass near Tahoe, they were sometimes double-ended on trains so they could saw down the snow in both directions. The stills are inspiring but I found some videos of some in action (and getting stuck) below. [OObject]

Via [gizmodo]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pm and is filed under Super Gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.