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Sprinkler wagons came into use in the 1890s. Preceded by a light sled-load of logs, sprinkler wagons iced road ruts to provide easy passage for heavy loads of logs. By the light of kerosene torches or lanterns, sprinkler crews began their work in pre-dawn darkness, often as early as 2:00 a.m. Water for the wagon's tank was either hauled up in a barrel or pumped in from a roadside stream or man-made pond. The tank held forty barrels of water, enough to ice one-third of a mile of road. The water trickled through two vents behind the runners into snow ruts where it froze.
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