Down where the old locomotive works met the river the ground lies flat and wide, and it takes weather straight on with nothing in the way. CK Companies LLC runs the midnight side of Schenectady winters across lots like that — a route worked in order, entrances opened first, aisles cut so the piles end up where they will not block a sightline in the morning. Walks and building approaches get shoveled and salted while the storm is still going, then checked again as it winds down. By the time the first shift arrives, the pavement is dark and the curbs are back where they belong. That is the whole ambition: a lot that behaves like it is August.