The Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railway car was built on an ordinary flat car. The front end contained a steam boiler and engine. A sprocket chain connecting the engine shaft and car axle made it self-propelling. In the center was a water tank used both for the boiler and for extinguishing accidental fires. On top of the water tank was two air reservoirs to supply pressure to spray oil into the burners. At the rear was a compartment with an oil tank. At the very end was a set of adjustable burners.
Another car used on the Chicago Great Western railroad consisted of a platform at the rear end of a boxcar. It was also self-propelling in a similar manner.
Some roads of the time (including the Southern Pacific) specified that during the grass-growing season only so much grass and weeds were to be removed as necessary to keep the rails clear. At the end of the growing season the vegetation was more completely removed and kept that way until the start of the next growing season. I guess some track areas of the time were somewhat weedy looking.
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