MONON BOARD
Monon Property => M.O.W. Equipment => Topic started by: Joe Land on February 11, 2012, 01:15:41 pm
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Larry Boyd collection, photographer unknown.
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I bought an Overland brass Jordan spreader from Larry at a MONON swap meet.
Chad B did a fantastic paint job.
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Another shot of a Jordan Spreader and a derrick at work
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Is the spreader derailed? Looks like it is, but may be an optical illusion.
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I believe it is Joe. I have no additional information on the photo, but I thought it was derailed too. Maybe someone bumped the table?
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I think we figured out once that this is at Lafayette Junction and the spreader split a switch or something.
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Monon Jordan Spreader in operation. This Photo from Dave Ferguson Photo Art Studio. Not sure of the lacation.
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Wow
When I think of spreaders, I think of snow. It never dawned on me they would use it to clear the ROW in general.
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What was the 800XX number of the Monon Jordan spreader?
George L.
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Forgive my ignorance, but what does a Jordan spreader spread? I guessed ballast, but the pic seems sadly short of same. :-\
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George. In no way am I am expert, but I think it had many uses, or was used in many ways. Spreading ballast, snow and when the wings were extended, vegetation along the right of way. Look at the topic , Jordan spreader, part two there is a picture of one working.
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Thanks Tom. It looks from the accumulation of plant debris as if the spreader is pushed, but the ballast shoulder and the cutting slope have already been shaped, so is this a second pass, or a posed photo.
George
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The Monon spreader carried the number 80015. It was originally numbered X-15. Mont Switzer wrote an article on building a brass spreader that was in THL Volume 11, No 1. The unit was primarily used to spread ballast between and on either side of the tracks. The article does not mention any other purpose. I was told of snow removal and vegetation by others.
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Heard a story that one of the arms dropped while being towed and ripped a hole in a grain elevator.
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I believe that a separate piece of equipment called a "Flanger" was use to clear snow between the rails. That was the case on the SP over Donner Pass.
Attached is a view of a Flanger suspended below a car, that I borrowed from Wikipedia.
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Another shot of the Jordan Spreader.
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The Jordan spreader was used primarily for ditching along the right of way. I never saw it used for snow, but it could have been used for ballast before the advent of the mechanized ballast regulator they use today. What the Jordan spreader usually did best was to derail. I have used them many times on work trains, and the [not allowed]ed things spent more time derailed than they did working. The blades would just twist or lift the wheels off the rail. / Ron
PS, they were not working the Jordan spreader when it derailed at the Junction. They were just moving it on a train. I don't know what caused that derailment, but I remember Brown Eyes Hubertz was the engineer.
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Ron, the snow removal aspect was something that I once heard from Cookie at an Archives Day. Now was he just messing with a novice foamer in training? Don't know. He did say it might be a rare situation. Looking back, I think he was more than likely messing with my head.
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I've heard some of the north end guys talking about the Monon using it on the Michigan City Branch during the blizzard of 1958.
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Well, they would have known Mike. I just never saw it used for that, but it could well have been. / Ron
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To have a good road bed, you must have drainage. The MONON used the Jordan mainly to cut the apron or edge past the ballast to make a "drainage ditch" Also, they cut back the bank near road crossings to improve driver sight distances.
The one the MONON had was fitted with a ballast leveler. The small round thingie in the photo is the air cylinder that powered it.
The cylinders were air powered from the locomotive. Thus, the large diameter.
The loco spent more time pumping air than pushing dirt.
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After looking at the photos again, I must clarify something The photo of it sitting on a siding and Lafayette jct derail show the A end of the car. The one showing it working is the B end.
The large horizontal tank on theA end is the air reservoir. The small vertical one on the B end powered the ballast leveler.
As Ron stated, the thing was easily derailed. Georges question about the photo being staged was accurate. If the operator took too large of a cut, They would have to get the re-railer out again. Small cuts were the norm.
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Jordan Spreader line drawing.