Buried in the Snow.....

 We came across this old snow plough half buried in the snow, during a little Winter excursion around Marten River Provincial Park, a long time ago. What year it was, I have not a clue. The thing that struck me about this old rotting piece of wood and steel, was that when I was a lad of about 4 to 6 years old, I remember vividly hearing and seeing one identical to this one, lumbering along the street in front of our old house. It used to pile the snow up to about 3 feet from the telephone wires, and we used to climb up there with our piece of cardboard and slide down the slope onto a vacant lot across from our house. Yes, I said cardboard sheets cut from an old box, because, plastic sheets hadn't been invented yet. Yup, I'm that old! If I remember correctly, it was a steam driven old tractor, with the steel tracks on both sides, and the front bucket/blade was lifted via a steel cable pulley system, all the way up to the top of the twin columns in front. You could hear that thing coming for a half a mile away, and it usually came around in the evening after supper. I believe it was made by Caterpillar, and I just spent at least 2 to 3 hours scouring the internet for more information or pictures on the thing, but no luck. Since this one was located in the woods of Northern Ontario, my guess is that it was used on the roads that passed for a highway back then, as well as on some of the logging roads in the area, North of North Bay. Anyway, the one from my childhood, was eventually replaced by the old Dodge Power Wagon, 4 wheel drive, with a blade on front. It did not pile the snow so high, so there went our sliding hill. After that, they attached a huge snowblower to the front of the Power Wagon, and the snow was blown up high again, so we were delighted. Winter was so much fun! This image was shot on 35mm Kodak Plus X, and developed in the darkroom, many many moons ago. Tonight I scanned the negative on my Epson scanner, so that I could share it, and some pleasant memories with everyone......hope you enjoyed. Cheers!