Oil was also sprayed on the rails to reduce corrosion from the salt brine dripping from passing ice reefers. Oil spray cars vanished at
the
same time as ice reefers on many railroads.
Bob Witt replied:
I don't believe I have ever seen an "oil spray car".
Weed sprayers, but not oil sprayers; does any one have a photo to
share?
Bob,
PRR #497700, page 422, Pennsy Power 3. The caption notes that the PRR "was one of the few railroads that did it [spay oil] mechanically."
Regards Bruce Smith Auburn, AL
Explains why when they undercut the mainline through Altoona a while back for double-stacks, the soil was not permitted to be removed from Conrail property. It was classified as hazardous waste (likely from all the Steam Era oil sprayed along the tracks - had to get STMFC era in here somehow) and was trucked to another site within Conrail property for disposal (it would have had to go to a H.W. dump for processing otherwise). I can't imagine all the weed-control oil and leaking lube oil that must have dripped between the rails in the 150+ years that line has been open. That dirt came out jet black from under the tracks!
