Keeping the weeds in check

[jlehnert]

How do they keep weeds from growing on the tracks? You put a shovel full of dirt in the middle of an acre of asphalt, and 3 weeks later it will have weeds growing. And you can run all the trains you want over a weed. It won't care until it gets tall enough to actually get touched by the train going over it. Do they send a ?? down the tracks spraying herbicides every so often? And what did they do in the past? 

[mlehman]

Mechnical methods were used in some cases. In modern times, this is often seen as a boom with a mower unit on the end. Typiclaly, these are used on cuts and embankments that are too steep for much of anything else to work, not on the trackbed itself.

Primarily, it's either burning or herbicides. Look up "railroad weed burner" and click through to Images in Google and you'll find lots of pics. For chemicals, try "railroad weed sprayer" instead.

[dknelson]

Not long after they'd send the weed sprayer on the main line through my home town, you'd see the clean, almost knife-edged line between green and brown to either side of the ROW, I'd say about 10 feet to either side.  It smelled strongly of oil, and indeed may simply have been oil. I'm talking mid to late 1960s here. 

A friend of mine took some Brownie camera shots of that same main line back in the mid 1950s to early 1960s and when we look at those snapshots, the same thought occurs to both of us - there was way less vegetation along the ROW back then than there is now -- including further away than the weed sprayer could reach.  Even in a nearby parkway there was less vegetation, because back then the park mowed the lawn more regularly and closer to the creek than they began to do when budgets got tighter and labor costs got higher. 

From a modeling perspective that is another reason to seek out photos of your modeled region in your modeled era as well, because it isn't just structures and road signs that change over time, but the type and extent of vegetation.  

Dave Nelson

[dehusman]

You ballast with cinders and the acid from the cinders keeps the weeds down.

You spray waste oil on the right of way and that kills the weeds.

You use a weed burner to burn them down.

You spray strong herbicides on the tracks to kill anything green.

[mlehman]

dknelson

From a modeling perspective that is another reason to seek out photos of your modeled region in your modeled era as well, because it isn't just structures and road signs that change over time, but the type and extent of vegetation.

Yeah, lots of factors went into the extent and location of weed control measures. Gotta remember these all cost money, so the cost had to be justified somehow. When steam retired, one major reason for rather stricter weed control went with it -- the sparks and cinders that steam power produced. Weed control was a lot about reducing the threat of fire along the right of way.

[hon30critter]

Here is one example of a weed sprayer (scroll down to JaBear's post). I'm not sure if it is an exact copy of a prototype, but it is certainly plausible. In fact, I suspect that many railroads cobbled their own weed control equipment together so there could be many different designs. Personally, I think this is a perfect scratch building opportunity.

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/260893.aspx

Dave

[doctorwayne]

I built two of these about 40 years ago...

The spray arms can be manually positioned for photo purposes. The photo above was taken, I believe, as part of an advertisement for GERN brand herbicides (3% more effective than other brands) and that's part of the GERN Industries Port Maitland facility in the background.
The product must be pretty effective, as there are few weeds along the right-of-way.  Employees tell me that it also acts as a ballast adhesive. 

Wayne

[rogerhensley]

This is the way the Pennsy did it back in 1955.