** 1836 - Tuscumbia, Courtland & Decatur Railroad decides to uses sandboxes on locomotives to prevent them from slipping on squashed grasshoppers
Some grasshoppers I guess. I regularly crush ants with my locos but so far it has not caused any slipping issues. But, maybe I should keep a supply of sand trackside just in case…
** The headline was culled from LSC Home Page ‘Today in railroad history’
Ants seem to use the rails as a interstate highway.
Alan Lott said:
** 1836 - Tuscumbia, Courtland & Decatur Railroad decides to uses sandboxes on locomotives to prevent them from slipping on squashed grasshoppersSome grasshoppers I guess. I regularly crush ants with my locos but so far it has not caused any slipping issues. But, maybe I should keep a supply of sand trackside just in case…
** The headline was culled from LSC Home Page ‘Today in railroad history’
Crushed ants can gum up your loco’s wheels and pickup shoes. I run an “ant car” ahead of a loco several times around the loop before I start serious running trains. I clean the crushed ants off its wheels and shoes after each circuit of the loop. The “ant car” is merely a frame with wheels that holds a loose, removable block down on the tracks. The block has a Scotch Brite pad on the bottom and is weighted down on the tracks with a small rock. After 6-7 circuits, most all the ants are crushed or cowed, and my loco wheels are still clean. I’ll see if I have a picture that I can post later.
HI Art,
I have noticed the marks on my wheels. I only have Bachmann and Aristo-Craft stock so no pick ups. Track is always kept clean and wheels are inspected periodically. The ant visits are only, luckily, at certain times of the year.
It is interesting how the varying seasons affect railroading. Summer is the time when most maintenance is required: snails, slugs, sap, pollen, resin and growth of encroaching plants and bushes.
Spring and fall brings petals, leaves, twigs. Winter, as we seldom get snow, is the easier time but can sometimes be too cold for just admiring trains. lol
I too have noticed ants using the rails as a highway. I’m surprised they don’t feel the current and hop off. I have noticed weeds that if they are contacting the track and I’m running a train for a couple hours the leafs that are contacting the track turn brown like they are dieing. Is it the electric current or the train repeatedly running it over?
What really stops me in my tracks here in Massachusetts is a few weeks in Spring when pollen and caterpillars are at work. The track gets a sticky goo on it and after just one circuit I needed to clean wheels on the locos. This past spring it was so bad that I didn’t even bother trying to run a train. When it was all done I took a bucket with soapy water and my scotchbrite pad on a sanding pole and scrubbed the rails several times to clean up.
happy running now until the leaves start falling in a few months.
Those Pine Beetles we have don’t squash. They just de-rail the loco, some cars. 
Some people call 'em Junebugs or Longhorns.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jebouck/longhorn.jpg)
“I’m surprised they don’t feel the current and hop off.”
Todd;
That is because they are only using one rail. They would have to be able to touch both rails before they might feel anything, and I never want to meet an ant that is THAT big! It is the same reason why birds can perch on high voltage power lines and not be harmed.
Best,
David Meashey
That beetle looks rather like the insect known as a May bug here in SW England. I never considered the ants sensing electrical current but I have wondered if they are insensitive to vibrations on the rail as the train gets closer.
I haven’t been bugged by ants but have seen them on the tracks. When the track is hot they stay off the tracks but so do I!
A friend had a derailment the other night because the train was hit by a frog!
I would love too crush a couple of chipmunks…communist rebels they are!!!
David Russell said:So would someone else I know :D
I would love too crush a couple of chipmunks.......communist rebels they are!!!!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH7vb71oy_M[/youtube]
LOL…I was thinking the same thing when I wrote that…I have lost my first 5 red ripe tomatoes to them little bast#$%'s
