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You got the first question right. My house used to have a coal burning steam boiler. It was converted to natural gas sometime in the late 30s and the house still has a steam boiler. The coal door is still on the side of the house and there used to be a coal bin. A stoker would automatically add coal to the boiler. I once worked with a old fella that still burned coal in his furnace and the only day he would take off would be coal delivery day. His house was very smokey and dark from the coal. [img]http://home.ripway.com/2005-2/264627/nw1054.jpg[/img] Most early steam locomotives burned wood because it was readily available. Once coal became widely distributed and the technology to apply it to locomotives, it was the fuel of choice. It burns hotter, evenly and longer than wood. When oil was discovered and the means to process it into fuel, mostly western railroads converted to oil because there were a lot of oil fields in the southwest and was cheaper than buying coal from the east. Coal hauling railroads in the east like B&O and N&W stayed with coal. Depending how much traffic a spur or siding sees, weather and surrounding vegetation, there will be weeds more or less. It's takes resources to keep weeds in check. Railroads have a weed spraying program as part of their M.O.W. department. Maybe some industries do not want to spend money on weed killer for such maintenance. Cutting them down with a tractor once in a while is more cost effective. How many cars can a 0-6-0 pull? Only a few at a time I guess. I don't know for sure. I do know not as many as an 0-8-0. There are variables like the weight of the cars and if the yard was on any kind of grade, how well the engine burned fuel and the grade of fuel.
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