Philip Dove wrote:

If you want steam era cow chips (We less euphemistically inclined Britons talk of cow shit) . . .

Well, you have the contents down pat (so to speak) but the form in which they are deposited is the reason for the separate word "chip."

In the UK pre 1925 cattle cars got coated with lime wash as a disinfectant between trips, did this happen on any of North American railroads?

This was sometimes done IN ADDITION to the steam cleaning if infestation was a problem in the area. But to my knowledge, not INSTEAD OF cleaning.

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