Rail washers on steam locomotives?

[NW Mailing List]

Mike,

Rail Washers used boiler water. They were jets placed at the front of the
loco before the sanders.  They cleaned the rail of oil and residue which
improved the adhesion.  Sanders could be used after this also.  Some times
rail washers were used to remove the sand from the rail to reduce the
rolling resistance of the train being pulled.  Diesels don't have them.
Mobile rail washers are sometimes used in the fall to remove the slime that
forms from fall leaves getting on the track and being ground up by the
wheels.  There was an article about this in Trains referencing Metro North
at some point.

John Rhodes

On Sat, Mar 1, 2008 at 8:36 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:


>  What are the "rail washers" that were on steam locomotives? When were

> they used or what exactly were they used for? Is there an equivalent "rail

> washer" on diesel locomotives?

>

>

>

> Mike Weeks

>

> Charlotte NC

>

>

>

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