ALL STEEL SNOWPLOW
Manufactuer: Lowe's Loco Works, 4752 Catalina Avenue, La Verne, CA 91750. Price: $34.95 each suggested list.
HERE'S A SNOWPLOW that will really plow snow. It consists entirely of 22 gauge sheet steel, spot welded and soldered together into a freelance design usable on many large scale models of steam locomotives.
The manufacturer, Dean Lowe, designed the plow especially for LGB's Moguls, and it fits all of them with the insertion of only three screws. With a little pilot modification, you also may use the plow on Delton's C-16 and Bachmann's Ten Wheeler.
To install it on a Mogul, remove the pilot by taking out the two screws holding it in place. Raise the boiler braces. Twist and pull out the small (and incorrect) wheel on the pilot deck. Center the plow on the pilot deck and drill three Number 46 holes in the deck. Put in the three self-tapping screws Lowe provides. Lower the boiler braces back into their sockets. And, if you want to, replace the wheel. That's all.
The plow comes with a coat of flat black paint. You may leave it that way, spray on a satin finish more closely to match the sheen of LGB's own black parts, or repaint it and weather it.
The dimensions are 4 7/8 actual inches extreme width over the top edge, 4 1/8 inches across the bottom edge, 3 3/4 inches extreme depth along the underside from the point of the blade to the rear of the deck, and 2 7/16 inches extreme height at the flared, rear edge of the blade. The plow is fairly heavy, too; it should help provide traction on snowy mornings.
The workmanship on our sample was excellent. All joints were neat and clean. It is a solid piece of gear.
A fastidious modeler may want to add reinforcement or rivet detail more closely to approximate a particular prototype. He or she may also want to modify it to mount a coupler (Dean conveniently explains how elsewhere in this issue). The "butterfly" appearance of the blades suggests a Colorado & Southern heritage and Dean says the resemblance is intentional.
Lowe's Loco Works plow is an excellent product. It is probably utilitarian as well. RR
