Gene Green asked: "What is the white stuff on the sides of CP and/or CN stock cars? Why was it used?"
Ben Hom replied:
"Lime, used to disinfect the cars."
and Tony Thompson replied:
"The cars were PAINTED white. I was once told it was because all the steam cleaning of the cars faded the BCR paint used on the rest of the car. Lime cuold indeed be sprinkled in stock cars on long journeys to kill fly eggs (or maggots) in the manure, but does not usually make that much of a mark on the car sides."
When did North American railroads stop using lime as a disinfectant? The british railway companies stopped using it in the 1920's when more effectice (?) phenol based disinfectants became widely available and cheap.
