Western Pacific Maintenance-of-Way 71
This unique piece of railroad equipment was used to burn weeds along the right-of-way and to thaw frozen switches and melt snow around the yard.
It used #2 diesel as the fuel for the five burners, each at the end of a long boom. Each boom could be raised or lowered individually and moved left or right. Each boom had a foot-pedal lock/release and a wheel that the operator would manually use to move the boom.
To light the burners, the air compressor would be started and the fuel oil would be “cracked” for only the center burner. A lit fussee (a red flare used for flagging or warning purposes) was placed under the center burner and would ignite the fuel/oil mixture. Then the outer burners on each side would be activated and would ignite from the center burner.
It is believed it was used until sometime in the 1970’s and then was retired.