On our way through Breckenridge we stopped to look at an old steam engine and rotary snowplow that used to serve on the Colorado and Southern Railroad when it ran along the spine of the Rockies.
The smokestack pipe was designed to send sparks and hot embers down to the track rather than allowing them to blow in the air and start forest fires.
When the snow wasn’t too deep, the snowplow on the front would be enough to batter through the drifts over the passes.
The rotary snowplow was used when the snow was too deep for normal plows. It had to be pushed by another engine because the engine aboard the plow was only used to turn the rotary blades.
The business end of the plow.
An old boxcar.