Some railroads equip loco units with small plows that can remove several inches of snow from the rails. But railroads still use Russell plows, when necessary -- typically on blown snow that has mounded in cuts or otherwise has piled up to a depth of several feet.Railroads also use Jordan spreaders -- which in the summer are used to plow ballast off the track -- as plows in the winter.
Western railroads all have rotary snowplows, which are basically very large, diesel- or steam-powered snow blowers. The rotaries are expensive to run and are only called out for very heavy snowfalls.
In some locations, such as long underpasses (CSX, formerly Conrail, has one in Buffalo under a highway that's two tracks wide, 22 feet high, and 200 feet long, under Interstate 90), there's nowhere to plow or blow the snow, so hand removal is the only option.
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