Vintage railroad weed-burning cars

This is a break from my slow construction of the steam pump company, which is still progressing.  These early railroad weed-burning cars (approximately 1900 - 1905) were crude by todays standards but interesting.

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.

 An adjustable iron plate burner shield behind and beneath the burners protected the car from the flames and directed them to the intended location.  The car was operated by a crew of two men; one to operate the engine and one to operate the 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.

Other roads of the time arranged the weed-burning apparatus on a flat car which was moved over the track by a locomotive - a more expensive solution over time.

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.