C&O in 1911--N&W also?

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
June 8, 1911

TO OIL ROADBED
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Novel Improvement Has Been Authorized by Chesapeake and Ohio
A novel improvement that is to be beneficial to the public has been authorized by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company according to the Portsmouth Times.  The roadbed of the line is to be oiled from one end to the other by a patent process and the work is to be commenced at once.
    A tank car and equipment arrived at the Chesapeake and Ohio station at South Portsmouth last Sunday preparatory to the oiling of the line east of Portsmouth.  The entire Cincinnati division is to receive the first oil treatment as soon as the double tracking now under way is completed.
    The officials of the Chesapeake and Ohio believe that the oiling of the road will do away with considerable of the disagreeable features of traveling and are certain that a dustless line will be easily beneficial to the health of their passengers and employes.
    A crew to man the oil tank and the oiling machinery arrived at South Portsmouth Monday to begin work east of South Portsmouth.  The residents in South Portsmouth and to Fullerton along the Chesapeake and Ohio route will also derive benefit from the innovation.
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[Was this oil spraying EPA approved?  What did the men who had to work on oiled track think of the idea?  Did the N&W ever make this mistake?]
Gordon Hamilton
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