Entering White Pass. Having just switched his passenger extra onto White Pass Siding, Brakeman Dave Dobbs lines the switch and signals for the Rotary Fleet to come out of the cut and into White Pass Station. This shot was taken on the second day of the 2011 spring plowing operation, when the main and siding in front of the station had been cleared, but everything north of that remained snowbound, with average snow depths over the next mile or so of track at about 10 feet and drifts roughly twice that depth. From this angle, the forward-looking windows in the rotary cab can clearly be seen. Although the crew has a commanding view of the track ahead now, their view will be severely restricted, once the big impeller begins to contact walls of snow that are nearly the same height as the rotary itself. In photos of the rotary in operation, you'll see crew members leaning out of both cab doors, because that will be the only prayer they'll have of seeing the track ahead.
