There's a difference between commercial/industrial snow removal and consumer products. On the consumer front, the first snow blower designed for residential use that I am aware of was the Toro Snow Hound in 1951. Toro, a Minneapolis company founded to build tractor engines, had moved into mowers by the 1920s. After switching to armaments during WWII, they expanded their line rapidly in the 1950s as rising affluence and suburbanization drove demand for walk-behind mowers and ultimately snow blowers as well. The Snow Hound, Snow Boy, and Snow Pup were among the early consumer snow blowers of that era, and show up in magazine ads in snowbelt states quite frequently. Toro has a brief company history on its website (.pfd) that offers a bit more detail. There are photos of these and many other early residential snowblowers at this enthusiast's site. Technology for clearing railroads (and highways) developed much earlier.