Dennis S. wrote:

I had never heard of oiling the entire rail for corrosion prevention, but the references cited show that some roads thought this was necessary on some routes.

I've never heard of this either. Oiling for lubrication at sharp curves, of course, was done in the steam era and ever since.

Meanwhile, there are numerous references to weed spraying trains in the late steam era, usually consisting of a modified boxcar for the pumps and spray equipment, followed by several tankcars, all modified so they could be hosed together and emptied without switching. Photos show folding spray arms that cover the ROW a good number of feet past the tie ends, so it is obvious that vegetation is the target, not the rail. I believe that most these outfits were owned by contractors, not the railroads, but I suppose it was possible that the larger systems had their own.

SP designed and built its own weed spraying train in the late 1920s. Photos exist of all the cars. I don't know how long it stayed in existence, but two of the spray cars were no longer on the MOW roster by 1940.

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