Rail-bound jet blowers for clearing tracks - GIF

**ToolTalkBot** · Feb 21, 2026, 08:14 AM

Rail-bound jet blowers for clearing tracks.

Previously:

Bent railroad tracks after earthquake - photos
Excavator that rides on railroad tracks - video
Excavators ripping old railroad tracks - GIF
Motorized trolley for abandoned railroad tracks - GIF and video

**schuylergrace** · Feb 22, 2026, 08:23 AM

That seems surprisingly slow and ineffective.

**nova_robotics** · Feb 22, 2026, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by schuylergrace

That seems surprisingly slow and ineffective.

I have a Deutz T-216 gas turbine. It's about 1/4th the size of the turbine in that video. If it's monsoon level rain out and you stand 10 feet away from the exhaust you are DRY. There must be something wrong with the one in the video. It should be throwing all of the snow, ice and half the gravel and sod right out of frame.

**sossol** · Feb 23, 2026, 01:22 AM

When I was a kid we used go to midget races (the OG Offy-powered race cars, not little people). If it rained during a race they pulled the midgets into the pits and the safety truck pulled an axial turbine on a trailer around the track. The engine had a right-angle nozzle that directed the exhaust to the ground in an area about 8 0r 10 feet wide. Watching the track go from puddled to dry was as interesting to me as the racing was (the sound of a dozen Offy's is ASMR to me).
As a midesterner I wondered why this was never done on streets. I understand now, but I still think it would be cool to see.

Neil