1913 article on LIRR and Catepillars

Courtesy of LongIsland.com: https://www.longisland.com/news/10-25-2 ... -lirr.html

Some pics new to me, some of you may be interested. I'm guessing they were Gypsy Moth infestations, they used to be an issue but I didn't know they were a nuisance as far back as that. Funny how Montauk gets clobbered by these things, now it's ground zero for ticks.

What's interesting (in reading the explanations that go along with the photos) is that the stated concern was for the effect the caterpillars would have had on vegetation near the tracks - isn't it more likely that (like todays issues with leaves) that crushed caterpillars on the rails would have been a safety issue affecting train braking?

Definitely a legit concern, but have no idea about that. Not sure if they would attempt to pass over the rail. I remember a few years when I was a kid from bad infestations in CT, when it was completely clear outside and yet you heard a pronounced light rain, it was the caterpillars crapping on the ground. It would pile on the cars if you parked under a tree like snow. At one point of the things tried was to paint a sticky substance around the tree trunks to stop them on every tree in the area. They may have to do that, or something like that for the Spotted Lantern flies in the near future.

Krispy and JM: Interesting read about the LIRR's "war" against the Wooly Bear Caterpillars (Gypsy Moth) on
the East End back in 1913...I wonder how toxic that chemical carried in the barrels applied by the pictured
workers was when being applied on the rails and track area...Interesting timing with the current noteable
leaf fall becoming pronounced on LI and the LIRR (and MNCR) taking action appropriately...

My favorite mention on a somewhat-related matter was how the LIRR was credited with the extinction of
poisonous rattlesnakes on LI is how that they would "sun themselves" on the shiny rails and get groggy...
("Steel Rails to the Sunrise" by Ron Ziel) and be run over by passing trains...Today ticks can be a problem
anyplace on LI remembering that Connetquot River State Park (the north boundary is the mile between
the Veterans Highway Bridge at MP 45 and the under-track pedestrian culvert leading to Lakeland Park
at MP 46) had signs posted to be beware of ticks and to stay on trails...I recall taking a short-cut through
woods in that vicinity once and then finding a few ticks trying to "hitch a ride" on my person back some
years ago (80s era) and I fully understood what those warnings were for...The other big problem during
some times of the year were the mosquitoes especially in and around the Connetquot River wetlands...
MACTRAXX