LAYING DUST WITH OIL

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Sep 6, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 36.

LAYING DUST WITH OIL.

THE experiment of making a railroad dust-proof and water-proof by the use of crude oil has been tried during the past year in the East with success. In the West, the Burlington railroad is the first to adopt the improvement. General Superintendent Calvert has had part of the Wyoming Division of the Burlington treated with crude oil, and the results there have been so satisfactory that he is making arrangements to continue the work elsewhere on the system. Two cars were especially arranged for sprinkling the track and the road-bed with the oil. Oil was sprinkled in the center of the track and on the outside of the rails for about five feet. One application of the oil keeps the track free from dust for about one year. The number of hot-boxes on trains is considerably lessened, and the comfort of passengers is greatly enhanced. An additional advantage found in treating the track with oil is that moisture will not then penetrate through the oiled outer crust. Instead, the water runs off the track into the ditches at the sides. Vegetation along the track is destroyed by the use of oil.