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March 1940. "Snow shed over Union Pacific tracks. Carbon County, Wyoming." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
The prairie to the north rises above the tracks which allows the wind to blow snow over the tracks.
On the right side of the picture looks like old snow drifts from earlier in the winter. I know in Arkansas January 1940 was in the top 5 coldest Januarys of record keeping.
Rather than to protect tracks from being swept away by avalanches, as in the mountains, this "Level Fall Shed" was built to protect tracks on the prairie in locations that are known to be particularly prone to heavy drifting of snow.
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