Snowplow pilots are just that - pilots. Under FRA rules a pilot or snowplow on a locomotive must be at least 3 inches but not over 6 inches above the top of the rail. Any pilot snowplow on a locomotive now has to meet this requirement. This eventually can result in packing the snow between the rails and above the railhead, leading to possible derailment concerns.

To remove the snow out of the flangeway on open track, one of the metods is to use a "flanger". A flanger can be as small as a shovel sized blade that is lowered to clear the show and ice from the flangeway extending just below the rail head. Often you might find the langer as part of a larger blade, to clear more snow and ice urther from the track. SP found it advantages to remove all the snow from between the rails, so their flager blades are now full width and are designed to throw all the removed snow either to the left or right depending on which blade is lowered. DRGW had some (ng and sg) drag flangers that were modified to push the snow back wider than the regular pilot plows.

Small flanger blades can also be found on Rotary Snowplows (just behind the front truck), some steam locomotives had them and even a few shortline diesels (right behind the pilot or on the front truck). Some Canadian Russel type wedge snowplows had an extendable blade on the front edge of the plow that extended it below the railhead.

Ballast regulators (some converted with special bldes or plows, some not) can also be found as long as the snow isn't too deep. (CORP - SP @ Truckee - many others)

The front blade on a Jordan Spreader can be lowered so that it is plowing the snow (or mud, ballast, etc.) from between the rails below the railhead. If you plow it out with a Jordan Spreader, you don't need to use a flanger because it has done the same thing. (applies to the WP Highline). There are notches in the blades on ballast regulators and Jordan Spreaders to allow for the rail.

Regardless what kind you use, somehow the flanger or other blade has to be raised before you hit a switch, crossing, detector, or anything else mounted between the rails. If not, bad things can happen. Often there is a shear pin or spring mechanism to allow the blade to swing clear if it hits something too solid.

BN has some "Snow Dozers" (ex GN?) that are a home-built smaller version of a Jordan Spreader. Some of them have an odd blade on the rear. When they get too much snow packed against the high side of a bank, they pull the snow dozer and extend this blade into the bank. It cuts the banks back and blows the snow out acroos the tracks behind it. SP by using there flat blade Jordans with the entire front angled (instead of a V) accomplishes the same bank widening.