I had built a second locomotive to prevent burning out traction motors, but it was out of service.

The Shady Pines 10 needed the 70 to push it.

Sounds like a good idea for a video.

I'm in the Connecticut River Valley. The weather can be totally different this side of the mountains.

The one with the plow has the same motor as the 70 and 71. It needs taller gears. Its top speed is 2 miles per hour. As for weight: I get this suggestion a lot. The problem is that when your solution to every reduced traction event is to add weight, then you quickly end up with a locomotive that is too heavy. This was the case with the little red engine. It had been loaded up so much with extra weight that the springs and the wheel bearings were broken. It was also geared down so low that it was a menace on club tracks. The springs and bearings were fixed, but the gearing is being left for the next owner.

Please keep in mind that this was in late March. I fixed the chain with a new tool that allows me to have a chain without a master link. Something I'm actually excited about!

@@MillBrookRailroad So Roy Stevens' suggestion worked. I'll have to get one of those tools too.

@@MillBrookRailroad do you use a ball peen hammer to secure it? it is so much better not to have that weak link in the chain. master links seem to fall apart at the worst times! the rounding it like a hand rivet, it is best to try up grading to eliminate weak points.

When the snow is that heavy, the snow blower either digs in and grabs the rail or clogs up with ice.

10 isn't staying. I was only using it for the snow plow mount.

They don't M-U. I was running both throttles with one hand and the camera with the other.

@@MillBrookRailroad very cool I like that red engine on the front of number 70 is that at loaned engine of some sort?

That would only make things worse as the water melts back into ice.

Normally, I would have started by plowing with 70 and 71 together, and I wouldn't have lost the plow or overheated any traction motors. If it was pure ice, there would have been one short video and a loco and plow left under a tarp at the end.

They are expensive, hard to rerail, and hard to move between railways. Shady Pines number 10 (the red one that didn't smoke a traction motor) was on loan.

Ok mate

When the snow gets that heavy, the snow blower tends to bog down and/or grab the rail, so either way, there's a risk of damaging something. At least traction motors still run after they've been overheated. After looking at it later, it was more of a medium toast than a complete burn up. I'll run this motor until it burns up completely, then I'll put another one in. Of all the locomotives I've ever worked on with this model traction motor, the 70 is the only one that I've ever had to change a traction motor on. I think this is the 4th or 5th one since it was new in 2010. Plowing snow gets them every time. This is why I built 71. Unfortunately, it wasn't here for this storm.