First let's define terminology re weed control. There seems to be some confusion as to what machine does what..Here's what we have.
There is: The WEED BURNER....This is a machine described by some as a rail mounted "Flame Thrower"..It is usually fueled by diesel fuel and/or gasoline. It's operated as a piece of MOW equipment looking like a couple of push cars carrying piping carrying
burners at their ends directed downward toward the track. The machine was pushed by a motorized machine like a Motor Car. The pressurized fuel is directed through the down directed burners and burns with a great heat and intensity insinerating everything
on the track over which it passes...this includes ties and, hopefullly all vegetation. Various photos of this kind of equipment has have appeared on this forum over the years...I don't think this kind of equipment is used much, if any, today.
Then there is the WEED MOWER. which, also, is a track mounted push car like device with cutter sickle bars which extend out 4 or 5 feet on each side of the track. The sickle bars are usually powered by small "lawnmower" type engines which operate the
cutter arms. This equipment is pulled by a track motor car...Probably mostly used on branch lines where the vegetation grows right up the the tie ends on each side. We used this kind of equipment on the Rock Port Langdon & Northern..It was borrowed from
the CB&Q when it was needed.
Next is the WEED SPRAY TRAIN. That's what we are talking about here. It's a boxcar like "spray car" with a window like opening on the "business end" and equipped with gasoline engine powered mixing a pressurizing equipment to mix the "chemical" with
water and force it through the sprayer bars which run crosswise of the car about coupler height on the front and below the window. The spray train consists from the front... the spray car and related equipment followed by a number of tank cars carrying the
chemical and water. This whole string is SHOVED by an engine and usually a WAYCAR is behind the engine. A relatively short time ago a picture of a train made up exactly like this was displayed on this forum..It was in front of the depot in some town in
Illinois IIRC and was an EXACT DUPLICATE of the train I worked on Summer 1958. I wish someone would dig this one up and display it here.
I do agree with Leo that the train and equipment in the extant photo is not a weed spray train..It's an oiler. I'm also familiar with why this was done. Leo speaks about the brine "Drippings" from reefer cars creating rust and corrosion on the eastbound
track on railroads over which they traveled. We had the same situation on the Rock Island between Silvis and Blue Island. Also, it was a big problem on the Government Bridge over the Mississippi River at Rock Island. There a tar like substance was applied
to the eastbound main to prevent..or at least minimize the effect of the brine.
Anyhow..Here's my WEED SPRAY EXPERIENCE. SUMMER 1958.......Brakeman Wymore Division CB&Q...Working Lincoln Extra Board.
June 5th, 1958. I had made my first round trip Lincoln-St. Joe June 3rd---returning and tieing up at 6:15am June 4th This was the trip where I received my "Excellence in Flagging" Degree (Summa Cum Laude).
Today was Tuesday June 5th...Phone rang about 5:30am...Called for the Weed Spray for 7:00am. I don't recall whether the caller told me that it was the Weed Spray or just an "Extra East". Anyhow I got to the roundhouse to get the engine, which was always
the job of the head brakeman..As the "juniior man" I was always the Head brakeman. I read the bulletins, compared and registered my watch and "signed the book".
About that time the conductor I had not met before came in the register room. I introduced my self to him thinking "Why is he here?? Usually you didn't see the conductor until you had put the engine on the train and he brought the orders and/or messages
up to the head end.
He and I walked outside and he pointed over at one of the departure tracks where I saw, what I now know, was the weed spray train. The train was made up with the spray car on the east (front) end....followed by several tank cars and the engine (a GP7)
on the rear with a waycar behind it.
As we walked over to the train the "Con" pointed to the Spray Car and said "Your job is "OVER THERE" and he handed me a copy of the orders and walked off toward the rear end of the train. That was the full extent of his instructions for me.
I walked over to the spray car...which looked exactly like the spray car on the train I mentioned in my reference to a photo some time back on the "list". The spray car on my train did have the same configuration as the one, now determined to be the
oiler in the photo.
I went over to the right side of the front of the spray car and climbed in. There I found 3 men..One was the roadmaster, one was the operator..(an employee of the company which had been employed by the Q to do the spraying) and another "helper" from
the chemical company.
I looked around and said to the roadmaster..."How do we control this thing"...He looked at me...WHACKED me on the arm and said..."With that" (meaning my arm)...NO RADIO...NO COMPUTER...just me and the OLD HAND SIGNALS. OK Said I...This is going to be
fun>>>>And it was
During our conversation the matter of why all the cars between the spray car and the engine...Well, many years ago the "Chemical" used to spray was Poison...I knew that from my youthful experience on the RPL&N where we sprayed our ROW with a pressurised
tank mounted on a flat car. I also remembered that in those days that before the railroad would spray, signs reading "Poison Weed Killer"..keep cattle away would be posted along the right of way. Because of the poisonous nature of the Chemical there was
an agreement between the railroads and the engineer's union that there would be 8 cars between the spray car and the engine.
Of course..like most other things on the railroad...changing conditions didn't always....or ever...change the agreements, so even then..long after "Poison" was not the issue the spacing continued.
I don't how we found out when it was time to go,...I guess the roadmaster and the operator told me that they were ready...I think that there was a "pot" signal as a leaving signal and it was green....Hence...it was time to go....
I got into position on the right hand side of the car at the door...stuck my arm out and waved a come ahead signal...The hoghead "Whistled off"...got an OK from the "rear end" and away we went.
As we traveled along the roadmaster would tell me when he wanted to slow down or speed up...Mostly he yelled at me that we were going to fast. He would turn the spray on and off as he observed the vegetation growth along the way. He was limited in the
amount of Chemical he could use and sometimes he would think we were going too slow and sometimes too fast...mostly too fast.
The day consisted of a repetition of slow downs...speed ups...I don't think we ever had to stop and back up.
Someplace along the line we stopped to eat, but I don't know where it was...I don't think that we sprayed any sidings, or elevator, or house tracks...
It was a long day when we finally arrived at Falls Citya t 8:00pm...put our train on a house track and tied up at 8:05 pm...14:05 on duty.. 214 Miles... $37:21 My pay
Next morning at Falls City we went on duty at 7:00am...Of course we had to switch our train all around to put it in the same order to go back west to Table Rock thence over the line from Table Rock to Wymore. I didn't note the time we left since we were
on "continuous time".
On the way back west to Table Rock and Wymore there was "on and off" discussion as to whether we were going to spray the yard at Wymore...It seemed to be "iffy" at best as to whether the spray job belonged to the Wymore switch engine or whether we were
to do it. It was the general consensus that we really didn't want to do the yard, since if we did we would miss our opportunity to Dead Head back to Lincoln on No. 90 due out of Wymore about 2:30pm. If that was the case we would have to wait and ride No.
94..(Wymore local with all night work at Crete) or wait until the next day.
As it turned out we arrived at Wymore at 2:15pm and were told that we weren't going to spray the yard. We tied up at Wymore at 2:15pm for 7:05 hrs on duty equals 100 miles...My pay $17.39.
We boarded No. 90...it was the Pioneer Zephyr at that time at 2:30pm...Dead headed to Lincoln...arriving at 4:30pm...2hrs on duty 32 miles (DH)...deadhead pay for me $5.25.
As I recall it was a very hot day and "riding the cushions" on the PZ was a very refreshing and comfortable respite from standing on the front of that spray car.
Well, that's my Spray train story....I had several memorable and enjoyable experience in that last summer as a trainman, but I think that my "Weed Spray experience" would top the list. I had a wonderful sense of being in control
of the operation while we were moving....
Pete