Can confirm, the term “cowcatcher” was not used by the railroads, and the purpose of the structure was not to toss cattle aside. My father worked as the fireman on several types of steam locos in Ohio in the '20s, and explained this to me long ago.
Yes and no. Railroad crews refer to them as pilots (or sometimes plow pilots) and while the device could indeed remove a cow from the tracks (or anything else really), the primary purpose was intended to prevent anything on the track from fouling the running gear, along with (in the case of the plow pilot) removing snow from the line.
You should look up some of the wacky ones they tried for people on cable cars and trolleys!
I had the misfortune (as did the cow) on our meeting in the dark on Hwy 50 with my old Ford F250. Not sure if it was Nevada or western Utah. This was long ago. My cowcatcher was a Marin brand aluminum frame mountain bike mounted to the front of the truck.
@pmarin I had no cow catcher and caught a young deer on a 2 lane highway. I couldn’t swerve as another car, coming the other way was right by me (had just missed it), there was only a ditch on each side of the road and no shoulder so I had no way to avoid it. That was sad.
@Kidsandliz@pmarin Way back when she was a teenager in Ohio my mom did not have a cowcatcher on her Alpine A110. The neighbor’s cow wandering in the road at night totaled that poor little car when she came upon it at speed.
Take me to the pilot?
Can confirm, the term “cowcatcher” was not used by the railroads, and the purpose of the structure was not to toss cattle aside. My father worked as the fireman on several types of steam locos in Ohio in the '20s, and explained this to me long ago.
I had not realized they used to be made of wood.
But I also haven’t met an actual one up close.
Yes and no. Railroad crews refer to them as pilots (or sometimes plow pilots) and while the device could indeed remove a cow from the tracks (or anything else really), the primary purpose was intended to prevent anything on the track from fouling the running gear, along with (in the case of the plow pilot) removing snow from the line.
You should look up some of the wacky ones they tried for people on cable cars and trolleys!
@PooltoyWolf
That sounds Qyute Mooooody & totally Uddley Awesome!
EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!
I had the misfortune (as did the cow) on our meeting in the dark on Hwy 50 with my old Ford F250. Not sure if it was Nevada or western Utah. This was long ago. My cowcatcher was a Marin brand aluminum frame mountain bike mounted to the front of the truck.
@pmarin I had no cow catcher and caught a young deer on a 2 lane highway. I couldn’t swerve as another car, coming the other way was right by me (had just missed it), there was only a ditch on each side of the road and no shoulder so I had no way to avoid it. That was sad.
@Kidsandliz @pmarin Way back when she was a teenager in Ohio my mom did not have a cowcatcher on her Alpine A110. The neighbor’s cow wandering in the road at night totaled that poor little car when she came upon it at speed.
Moooh!
@mehcuda67