The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-05-26
SPRINKLE TRACKS WITH
WITH
Experiment Which the Boston I
HIaine Is TO Try This summer,

Track walkers. dust, weeds and the
travelling public will be concerned in the
experiment which the management of tie
Boston yS Maiue is about to try of sprink'
ling the road bed with oil. 1t was first
attempted on the West Jersey railroad,
and last year was given trial by the
Boston & Albany, the excellence OF whose
roadbed ia remarked by travellers, Two
cars are now being lifted for the work
at the Boston s. Maine shops iE Concord,
n. H., and about June 1, selected SEQ
lions OF the track upon the three divisions
of the road, beginning with the western,
will be treated. They will be about 20
miles in length each. probably extending
out from Boston.
The oil VIII be carried In tanks upon
the ordinary platform cars, ana will be
piped to the sprinkler, which will not be
unlike the water sprinkler used by street
railways. Directly over the roadbed'is a
fixed perforated pip, through which the
oil will flow, and at each sids Is a swing
pipe arm three or four feet long, through
which the liquid, which is thicker than
water and thinner than molasses, VII
drip 10 the side of the tracks. AT the
bottom Of the sprinkler in the center, Is a
platform upon which two or three men
will stand to operate the side-pipes. and
the oil crew will include also other men
whose work will be above and upon other
cars. The fluid used is what Is known as
sroadbed OIL" and is a petroleum pro-
duct. The tanks will holl about 6.0Co
gallons each, and it is estimated that to
sprinkle sufficiently will require about
500 gallons to the mile and will con-
sumo about three hours to the mile.
Shrinking with oil is expected to bring
three advantages over present conditions:
1t will effectively Law the Gust. 1t Will
kill weeds wherever the oil touches them,
aud 1t will prove such an Inconvenience
TO track walkers that the management
will not be surprised to find its road
practically freed of them. 1t has been
noticed upon other roads that In places
where hundreds were won't TO Walk tne
tracks before the oil WAS used, everyone
avoided the roadbed afterward. The oil
js regarded as fatal to the life Of bicycle
tires, but the road will protect the
rights of wheelmen and others who cross
the track at proper places by emitting to
sprinkle the oil at crossings
1t is estimated 1t will take three sprink.
ll10S, ONE SdCH year, w pun ehO Ao"u 49,
ia iirst-class condition, and then it is
thought that it will not be necessary to
spr nkle again for perhaps seven CT eight
var After three years the oil Will per-
cclate to depth which will XIII all
veeus and lay the dust beyond the posi-
lility of any wind raising it. The cou-
rany regards its operations this summer
as only an experient, however, while 1t
win not continue unless the results war
rant.
The experiment of oiling the road bed
of the Boston g. Maine railroad is hailed
with delight by the officials who have
much to contend with in the way OF track
walking, to say nothing of The other ad-
vantages CT the system.
As the oil is ruinous to bicycle tires
and has u bad effect on shoes, it Is be-
lfeved that the practice of walking and
riding between the tracks will be disoon-
tinted. The officials do not object TO
track walking as disseminating traffic
on the line, but IL is the danger that
truck walkers subject themselves to that
concerns the railroad men. Not one OF
tho men and women making this practice
is safe from injury. They would be poor
risks in an accident Insurance company,
for though their brains may be active and
their feet nimble, there Is liable to come
% time when they cannot avail themselves
of these attributes of mind and muscle.
If the road bed system Is oiled and pre-
vents track walking, more than one en-
gineer will bless it. while those about the
stations, who are charged with the custo-
dy Of the district, will feel as If great
load had been lifted from their minds,
while the passengers will be happy at the
freedom from dust.