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Meet LIRR's Monstrous Snow-Fighting Brigade!


By

Ben Yakas

Published Dec 22, 2010

Modified Dec 22, 2010


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Go ahead, make my snow day.

 

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By

Ben Yakas

Published Dec 22, 2010

Modified Dec 22, 2010


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We hadn't held out much hope for commuters stuck using the Long Island Railroad in the middle of a snow storm this winter, and figured everyone should just prepare themselves for those terrifying hours in limbo with some of that fine bar car booze. That was until we got a gander at the LIRR's insanely decked-out snow-fighting fleet. These oversized mechanical snow blowers look like extras from Transformers, but less racist. They include a rail-bound hot air jet that reaches 700 degrees Fahrenheit, and which kind of looks like a hairdryer for a giant. Not that everyone is convinced by the gadgetry—on reddit, user sergestorms wrote:

As someone that rides the LIRR every day...they never use this thing.

These asshats are caught by surprise every winter, every rainy day, every sunny day, every day that follows the last, every day that ends in Y, every day that the sun comes out, every day that there's a cloud in the sky, every day that time advances, every day the birds sing, every day that the world doesn't end.

Tagged

lirr

Long Island railroad

MTA

snow


Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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