Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 168, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1915 — WHERE ICE COVERED TRACKS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WHERE ICE COVERED TRACKS

During a spring freshet and ice jam on the Deerfield river in Massachusetts, a solid embankment of ice was formed over the main-line tracks of the Fitchburg division of the Boston & Maine railroad, reports Popular Mechanics. The barrier was near Buckland where three tracks run parallel along one bank of the stream. The ice covered the roadbed for a distance of more than a quarter of a mile, and

in places it was piled to a height of approximately six feet. To clear the road so that trains could pass it was necessary to cut away the embankment with picks. It was formed by large cakes of ice which were pushed out of the river by the high water and frozen together, making an almost rocklike formation. Normally the level of the river is about 12 feet below the tracks at this point.

This Shows the East-Bound and Middle Track Cleared of the Ice. The Third Track is Hidden Beneath the Ice Embankment.