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Photos: MTA Itching To Deploy Some Serious "Snow-Fighting" Hardware
By
Miranda Katz
Published Jan 21, 2016
Modified Jan 21, 2016
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By
Miranda Katz
Published Jan 21, 2016
Modified Jan 21, 2016
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The MTA is locked and loaded for this weekend's anticipated blizzard, with an infantry of high-tech snow throwers, jet blowers, and de-icers at the ready. In an almost militaristic announcement today, the Authority assured New Yorkers that an "army of dedicated workers and a fleet of heavy equipment" are poised to bring this impending blizzard to its knees. Click through from some scenes from how the MTA made last February's blizzard regret it ever wandered into out the tri-state area.
The action heats up Friday night, when the MTA plans to activate its Incident Command Center to monitor the storm. 1,000 track workers and 800 station workers will be ready with 262,500 pounds of calcium chloride and 200,000 pounds of sand for whatever the blizzard throws their way (i.e. snow).
Meanwhile, an fleet of subway snow fighting equipment is on deck to keep the subway's outdoor tracks flake-free, with particular focus on the Rockaway A and S lines, the Sea Beach N line, the Flushing 7 line, the Brighton B and Q lines, and the Dyre Ave 5 line. The MTA expects to hold workers past their regular hours and bring on additional personnel to help man the super-powered snow throwers, jet-powered snow-blowers, and de-icing cars.
For those of you wondering what all this equipment does, the MTA has provided a helpful taxonomy:
Snow Throwers
- Precise directional snow-throwing equipment. Includes a two-stage impeller and side mounted rotating brushes to throw snow up to 200 feet; can remove 3,000 tons of snow an hour. This is similar to a household snow-blower, just a lot bigger.
Jet Blowers - This equipment uses a jet engine to remove accumulated snow from the roadbed and deposit it a distance from the tracks so that it cannot slide back. This piece of equipment is used primarily to keep the yards clear.
De-Icer Cars - Equipped with scraper shoes that scrape off ice and also uses pumping equipment to dispense a stream of nontoxic, biodegradable de-icing fluid to prevent ice buildup on the third rail. If ice is permitted to build up, subway car power pickup equipment will not be able to draw electric current from the third rail and the train will stop.
Work Cars - Heated/Insulated work cars that can be used to carry crews and equipment to snow removal work sites. These cars are equipped with ice-scraping equipment to help keep the third rail clear. These cars are also designated Storm Emergency Train (SET) Riders, which can be used to rescue passengers if stranded.
Diesel Locomotives - All Diesel Locomotives are equipped with a small snow plow at both ends to assist in scraping snow and ice off the road bed and transporting the other snow removal work cars. Additional diesel locomotives are also equipped with shoe beams that allow crews to mount scraper shoes for third-rail de-icing.
As the mayor said today, the subway system is expected to run through the weekend—that is, unless the governor dick slaps him again, snowmageddon-2015 style. Check the MTA's website for updates as the snowy blanket of doom settles in.
Tagged
blizzard 2016
MTA
snow
snowmageddon
subways
Miranda Katz
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