Roco Beilhack rotary snow blower Express locomotive model Preassembled HO (1:87)

Beilhack rotary snow blower of the Deutsche Bundesbahn.
WHAT IF...?
... the next winter is bound to come!
Since the beginning of the railway era, it has been necessary to clear the tracks in case of snowfall or drifts. The spectrum of railway service vehicles ranges from simple snow ploughs to large snow ploughs and high-performance snow blowers.
From the 1960s onwards, it became necessary for the Deutsche Bundesbahn to replace the outdated, still steam-driven snow blowers. Various small heavy-duty vehicles with Beilhack diesel snow blower aggregates were tested in the Alps, in the Allgäu region and abroad. One disadvantage of these vehicles was the necessity of an additional locomotive for the feed.
To make snow clearance even more efficient, a self-propelled high-performance snow blower was developed. With this, the DB could handle snow heights of up to 3 metres. This way the DB would have optimally been prepared to cope with any weather capriciousness. After extensive test runs, however, serial delivery to the Deutsche Bundesbahn was delayed until the early 1990s.