tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21638496.post4782875040187940214..comments2024-01-11T20:18:01.996-07:00Comments on Colorado Railroads: Cold Weather Can Cripple RailroadsStevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05707188504449041953noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21638496.post-29150439177960050212011-03-22T16:43:07.498-06:002011-03-22T16:43:07.498-06:00A couple years ago, I came back to Seattle from Ch...A couple years ago, I came back to Seattle from Chicago on the Empire Builder in mid-September. It started snowing east of Havre and by Marias, there was eight inches of accumulation alongside the rails.<br /><br />Your article on winter conditions prompted the following memory. I noticed the switches in Havre are kept clear with gas heaters. In Shelby, they're kept clear with brooms. Yup, hand-operated kitchen brooms.<br /><br />Dispatch rammed us through Havre in 25 minutes (Amtrak is alloted an hour) and as we pulled clear, I counted seven freights waiting for us (four westbound and three eastbound), plus an eighth we ran around as it slogged uphill just east of Browning.<br /><br />One other observation -- by the time we reached Isaac Walton, flowers were out and there wasn't any snow at all.Michael Heavenerhttp://www.heavenr.comnoreply@blogger.com