Maine Central Snowplow 70

Number: 70
Railroad: Maine Central
Predecessor Railroad: Green Mountain Railroad X105
Type: Single Track Snowplow
Year: 1936

Number 70 was built in 1936 by the Russell Snow Plow Company of Ridgely, Pennsylvania, for the Maine Central Railroad.  It was sold to the Green Mountain Railroad in Vermont, in 1981, and acquired by RMNE in 1996.  It was restored to its late 1940s appearance in 2024. 

In use, the snowplow was pushed by a locomotive, and threw snow to each side of a single track. Compressed air and electricity was supplied by the locomotive to the plow.  The air was used to operate the side wings (which pushed snow away from the track) and the flanger blade (mounted under the car body and used to clear snow from between the rails).  The electrical power supplied the lights inside the plow, and the headlight above the front blades.

Three crewmembers operated the plow from their perch in the roof-mounted cupola, where the wing and flanger controls are located.

This equipment usually may be viewed on the Thomaston Station display track.   However, the plow has occasionally been called into duty to clear the Naugatuck Railroad main line during severe winter weather.