Weed spray and de-vegetation options

[NW Mailing List]

I am dubious about the statement claiming the ability of cinders to kill 
anything within their scope of coverage.  In June and July of 1954 I was 
a short-boom operator on the N&W's weed spray train when the N&W was 
100% steam and cinders were ankle deep at places on the right-of-way.  
We sprayed everything east of Williamson, WV, and I mean everything, 
even the short Potts Valley branch.  A contractor sprayed west of 
Williamson.   The N&W spray car nozzles covered the ballast section as 
well as the berm, drainage ditches, etc.  There were plenty of summer 
weeds and grasses in all of these areas, and we used many tank cars of 
chemicals and water to defeat them.  In spite of the steam locomotives, 
the N&W spent a lot of money to control vegetation along the track.

Gordon Hamilton


On 1/1/2018 9:30 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>
>  Message: 1
> One of the many forgotten benefit of "the good old days" was that in 
> addition to spreading smoke and soiling the daily wash for Mom and 
> Dad, those little bits of cinders and the like had lots and lots AND 
> LOTS of acid producing Sulphur compounds which would kill anything 
> within their scope of coverage, typically perhaps 50 feet of the RR. 
> Of course they also had a lot of really cheap labor into the pre-WW II 
> era and that helped.
> Afterwards, labor costs skyrocketed, the Sulphur producing trackside 
> modules (aka steam locomotives) went away in increasing numbers and 
> voila, growth encroached much closer to the ROW, lower costs for 
> maintenance, etc.
>
> That is just part of the forgotten story, but then we also have global 
> warming and a whole bunch of other factors as well.
>
> 'nuff said.
>
> Bob Cohen
>
>
> Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2017 19:44:24 -0500
> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
> <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>>
> To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
> <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>>
> Subject: ROW
> Message-ID: <mailman.440.1514730157.11939.nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
> <mailto:mailman.440.1514730157.11939.nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> It is hard to get clear pictures along railroads these days due to
> vegetation along the lines.  Photos from the 60's and before seem to be
> mostly clear of such obstruction.  I have seen photos of "weed trains"
> spraying the N&Ws ROW to keep down those pesky trees and such.  I was
> wondering about the "reach" of those sprays i.e. how far from the tracks
> would they have kept the growth suppressed?  When did they stop 
> spraying or
> limit their efforts to allow the current tree "infestation" that currently
> exists?
> Thanks,
> Jim Cochran
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