Imagine the raw power and deafening roar of a 129-ton rotary snowplow as its circular blades carved through deep snow drifts often as high as 12 feet. The Cooke Rotary Snowplow, designated "No. 1" by railroad crewmen, often performed that task. Built in 1899, it was well suited to serve the early needs of the White Pass & Yukon Route in Skagway, Alaska, even during the harshest winter conditions. The boiler of No. 1 was used solely to turn the 10-foot rotary blades of the plow. The snowplow itself was pushed forward by two locomotives coupled behind the plow. Together, this dynamo was able to slice through nearly impenetrable snow drifts.

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