I've seen footage of what happens to a Jordan Spreader in heavy snow (with a greedy crew). If you use one, keep extra hydraulic piston rods on hand. They are made for grading and moving loose material like dirt and ballast, not snow drifts where there's no where for the snow to go laterally. That's why snow plows sweep up. If common sense is employed in easy snow, it should be okay to use one.

Ray

> The LIRR rotary was purchased after the
> "Blizzard of '88" which papralyzed
> the LIRR about as badly as it did the rest
> of the nation. This particular rotary has a
> Camelback boiler and tender, possibly left
> over the the great age of such engines. I
> was preserved through the efforts of Ron
> Ziel, amongst others, and is now at
> Steamtown. The Long Island decided to get
> rid of it in the late 1960's, figuring, I
> suppose, that snow would not dare interfere
> with the workings of the New York State
> Metropolitan Transit Authority! But in all
> sincerity, the LI wasn't interested in
> running this one steam boiler in the Diesel
> age. The railroad will employ a Jordan
> Spreader in the case of future snow
> disasters.


http://www.gsmr.com/great.htm