Distinctly Montana Magazine

54 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 6 Keeping the N EARLY TWO CENTURIES AGO, THE FIRST AMERICAN RAILROADS CREPT OFF THE EASTERN SEABOARD AND INTO THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. Just getting into the mountains proved challenging for the infant technology. The first railroad ever built was in England, but it mainly crossed open, rolling hills. American railroads had to deal with much tougher terrain, requiring deep rock cuts, tunnels, and tall bridges. The steep grades challenged even the most determined railroad builder and operator. And then winter came. Ice and deep snow challenged the early railroads, and the el- ements only grew more difficult the farther west the railroads built, especially as they reached the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains toward the end of the 19th century. While the loco- motives became more powerful each year, even those fire-breath- ing machines of iron and steel could be hampered by deep snow. During the early years, the simplest way to clear a railroad was to couple one or more locomotives together, put a plow on the front, and then ram the drifts. But it wasn't easy work—nor was it always effective, the Anaconda Standard reported in 1900. "It was a matter of sheer force; a mere question of forcing the big steel wedge that was attached to the front of the locomo- tive through the hard bank of snow that opposed progress," the newspaper reported. "One locomotive was not enough, and fre- quently a line of five or more would be coupled up to drive the wedge plow through the drifts. It was difficult and dangerous. Steaming ahead at full speed, the engine dashed at the wall of solid, icy snow before them. Engineers and firemen knew what would happen when that white wall was struck, and each braced the best he could to meet the force of the shock. Even then, they would probably be thrown to the floor of their cabs or perhaps tumbled forward through the windows. It was perilous work and by JUSTIN FRANZ HARSH WINTERS AND DEEP SNOW HAVE BEEN CHALLENGING MONTANA'S RAILROADS FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY.

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