[citation needed] For sidewalks and narrow lanes small tractor plows (tracked or wheeled) are often used within Canada and the United States.
[citation needed] When snowfall accumulates above a certain height, snowplow operators may be seen clearing the main arteries first (designated as snow routes), in some cases for the exclusive use of emergency vehicles.
[citation needed] Newer technology has allowed the use of articulated plow systems which can clear multiple divided highway lanes simultaneously; jurisdictions adopting this technology include the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec in Canada,[1] along with 21 states (Colorado, Connecticut,[2] Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin) in the US.
[7]With the advent of rail travel and later, the automobile, a number of inventors set about to improve existing snow plows.
It was manufactured by Good Roads Machinery in Kennett Square, PA. and was designed to meet the exacting requirements outlined by engineers of the New York City Street Cleaning Bureau.
By the mid-1920s Good Roads was manufacturing snow plows of various shapes and sizes for use on a wide variety of motorized equipment.
[citation needed] Carl Frink of Clayton, New York, USA was also an early manufacturer of truck-mounted snowplows.
This proved to be the start of a tradition in snow-clearing equipment for roads, railways[14] and airports, as well as the foundation of the company Øveraasen Snow Removal Systems.
[citation needed] In many countries, railway locomotives have small snowplows permanently attached to their bogies, which also serve as pilots.
[15] Most of the Russell-type plows have been retired for smaller custom-built railplow or snow blades attached to hopper cars or locomotives.
Alternatively, a single locomotive with bogie plows can act as a self-propelled snowplow by running light engine.
[citation needed] Via Rail, among other railways, has integrated plow blades with the front pilots of their locomotive fleet to clear thinner accumulations of snow as trains run.
The Pettibone Speed Swing loader and similar machines, both with and without hyrail wheels, can be fitted with a large-capacity snow bucket or a wedge plow to clear the tracks.