8 THE CALL BOARD

NEWSLETTER

OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER,

N.R.H.S.

January 1992
(

By Ken Haselton
One of the most important, though oft overlooked, pieces of traction equipment in this climate was the snow sweeper. These pieces of work equipment, together with plows and sand cars, were vital to winter operation on the United Traction Company as winter weather in the Capital District could be harsh. The snow sweeper was perhaps the most interesting of the nonrevenue equipment owned by the UTC. as well as other traction companies in the North America where severe snow conditions prevailed. While snow sweepers were produced in both single-truck and doubletruck models, the single-truck type was predominant. The most popular of the commerciallybuilt single-truck snow sweepers were those of McGuire-Cummings Manufacturing Co. According to their 1911 sales brochure, 1400 of the company's sweepers were operating on U.S. and Canadian properties at that time. The United Traction Company owned one sweeper of this manufacture.

United Traction Company Snow Sweepers

United Traction Company snow sweeper No. 40, a McGuire-Cummings model, working eastbound on Madison -Avenue near Knox Street on March 3, 1943. As can be seen, the snow sweepers provided quite a dramatic scene when throwing the snow off the tracks. (Photo by Fred B. Abele) .

January 1992

NEWSLETTER

OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER, N.R.H.S. broom beams and chain drives. They did not seem to move from one owner to another as the Russell sweepers did. Double-truck snow sweepers built by J.G. Brill were quite rare. That builder evidently produced only ten of the units, all of which were built for the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company. Several traction

THE CALL BOARD 9

The nextmostpopular models were those produced by the J.G. Brill Company. The Brill sweepers were essentially of two types: the "Standard Type" and the "Kuhlman Long Broom." The "Standard Type" had a short broom (brush) with round or hexagonal ends on the carbody. The "Kuhlman Long Broom," as its name indicates, had a long broom and rounded ends on the carbody. The UTC owned two Brill snow sweepers. Lewis & Fowler Manufacturing Company and the Russell Car & Snow Plow Company were the next most popular models. Cincinnati Car Company and Bemis Car Company were also known to have produced limited numbers of snow sweepers. Some traction companies either built their own snow sweepers "from scratch" or adapted existing passenger cars to the purpose of sweeping snow. Some of these "homemade" models were rather unusual. In addition, a few companies which had previously operated horse-drawn or cable cars converted them to electric operation. Parts were available from some of the manufacturers for these conversions, adaptations and new constructions undertaken by traction companies. Double-truck snow sweepers were the least common type and were produced commercially by three major car builders. The Russell Car & Snow Plow Company of Ridgway, Pennsylvania was the predominant builder and its snow sweepers were in service primarily in the northern and northeastern parts of the United States and Canada. The Russell sweepers had a fairly standard body design. Their beveled gear drive for the brooms provided dependable, trouble-free service under severe winter conditions. As a consequence, these sweepers often had several owners during their lives, being passed on from one company to another as owners went out of business. For example, New York State Railways, Syracuse Division No. 3016 became Philadelphia Suburban No.5 in 1941. This is believed to be the last double-truck Russell snow sweeper to operate on a U.S. property. McGuire-Cummings built relatively few double-truck snow sweepers, compared to Russell. McGuire-Cummings sweepers were in service primarily on western and mid-western traction systems in the United States and Canada. The one exception was die Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company. During the warm weather these sweepers were often used as freight motors or line cars after simply removing their

companies converted double-truck freight motors and passenger cars to snow sweeper operation. The United Traction Company equipment roster lists eleven snow sweepers, all of single truck design. Of these, five are listed as being built by the United Traction Company, the J.G. Brill Company is listed

This Interior view of No. 40 shows some of the motors, drive shafts, controlers and other equipment necessary In the operation of a snow sweeper. Fred Abele took this photo on March 16, 1941.

10 THE CALL BOARD

NEWSLETTER

OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER, N.R.H.S.

January 1992

Albany traction enthusiast John Dunn Murphy caught No. 40 working north on North Pearl Street near State. The date John took the photo Is unknown. (Fred B. Abele Collection)

as the manufacturer of two of these and three are listed as being built by McGuire. The fact that four of eleven (three United Traction and one Brill) have "old" numbers and "new" numbers might indicate that these sweepers were adapted or converted from passenger or freight units. More likely, they originally belonged to otherpredecessor companies, as all four were built before the consolidation of the companies into the United Traction Company in 1900. In addition to the eleven snow sweepers, the UTC roster lists 13 snow plows in its armory of snow fighting equipment. It is not possible to determine from the UTC roster when each of the snow sweepers was taken out of service and how many of them were in service at the close of street car operations in 1946. However, Nos. 37, 38,40,41 and 42 are the only ones which appear in photographs of the Fred Abele Collection. The single photo found of No. 37 is dated 1936, while Nos. 38,40,41 and 42 all appear in photos in the 1940's. Since the UTC scrapped a lot of cars in 1937 at the Quail Street carbarn to make room for new

Roster of United Traction Company Snow Sweepers

Old No.
9 25 28 29 37 39 59 67 40 41 42 43

New No.
34 35 38

Manufacturer

Date Bit.

Truck(s)

Body Length
21'6" 21'6" 21'6" 21'6" 23'4" 21'6" 21'4" 21'4" 24'3" 24'3" 24'3"

Overall . Length
28'8" 28'8" 28'8" 28'8" 28'4" 28'8" 28' 28' 28'3" 28'3" 28'3"

United Traction Co. United Traction Co. United Traction Co. United Traction Co. McGuire-Cummings United Traction Co. J.G. Brill Co. J.G. Brill Co. McGuire-Cummings McGuire-Cummings McGuire-Cummings

1896 1897 1897 1894 1903 1894 1894 1894 1915 1915 1915

Single Single Single Single Single Single Single Single Single Single Single

January 1992

NEWSLETTER

OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER, N.R.H.S.

THE CALL BOARD 11

buses, all snow sweepers except Nos. 38, 40,41 and 42 may have been scrapped at that time. Furthermore, there is no indication as to which part of the UTC system (Albany, Troy, Watervliet or Cohoes) they were assigned at a particular time. It is interesting to note that three of the snow sweepers, Nos. 25, 59 and 67, are all listed as having no traction motors even though broom motors are listed. It is possible that these three may have been pushed by another traction work vehicle. In addition, the roster lists only Nos. 37 and 39 as having electric heat. Even the newest of the models, the McGuireCummings sweepers built in 1915, are listed in the equipment roster as having no heat. Evidently the other cars had no heat, an unpleasant thought considering the severity of Albany winters. The United Traction Company provided virtually all of what snow removal there was in Albany at the time. The UTC equipment would sweep the streets clean, down to the bare stone paving. During a storm, the Traction Company would probably be sweeping the streets along the trolley routes throughout the night. The city's reliance on the Traction Company to perform this vital task may have been responsible for the repu tation Albany later acquired for exceptionally poor snow removal. Traction enthusiast John Murphy recalls that, when he was in grade school, he would alter his usual route when walking from home on Morris Street to the Cathedral Academy on Eagle Street so as to have the advantage of the streets cleaned by the UTC. Instead of his usual route, he would instead go by the way of Madison A venue,

Fred Abele found No. 42 at work on North Pearl Street near Van Tromp Street on a snowy February 20, 1946. Note the First Prize meat delivery truck in front of the Grand Cash Market, now the site of the Capital Repertory Theater. (Fred B. Abele Collection)
Lark Street and Hamilton Street to Eagle Street. John also recalls that when the sweepers were operating during a storm, the snow flew very dramatically with the high-speed rotation of the brooms. Unlike the United Traction passenger equipment the snow sweepers had a single pole, so the operator had to get off the equipment and turn the pole around when he was ready to reverse direction. The snow sweepers of the United Traction Company and other street railways were a vital, though often overlooked, piece of equipment. While they haven't received as much prominence among enthusiasts as passenger cars, they are perhaps the most interesting piece of traction work equipment and deserve to have their story told. They will be long remembered by those fortunate enough to have seen them operate. References: A. W. Maginnis, Work Cars, Part I, in Trolley Talk, No. 54, June 1965. Andrew W. Maginnis, Work Cars, Part III, in Trolley Talk, No. 57, February 1966. John Dunn Murphy, tion. personal conversa-

D&HNews
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