Alabama salt on railroad law

I came across a strange sounding law from Alabama, USA, which says that "it is illegal for a person to put salt on a railroad track." Despite how random this sounds, there was a reason for this. In the 1900's, robbers would put salt on the railroad tracks, if there were large animals like cows or deer near by. The reason for this was that they were trying to recreate a salt lick, also known as a mineral lick. A salt/mineral lick is a deposit of either natural salts and minerals, or man made blocks of it. These animals require these salts/minerals, and get them by licking these deposits. So the plan of the robbers was that by putting down this salt, it would attract these large animals to the track, blocking it off , and force the driver of the train to stop it, therefore giving the robbers time to board the train, and loot it.


So despite my original thoughts when I read it, it made a little more sense as I researched it.