Jordan Spreader

[Tom Kepshire]

Another shot of the Jordan Spreader.

[Ron Marquardt]

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.

[Tom Kepshire]

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.

[Mike Albert]

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.

[Ron Marquardt]

Well, they would have known Mike.  I just never saw it used for that, but it could well have been.  / Ron

[Gene Remaly]

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.

[Gene Remaly]

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.

[Tom Kepshire]

Jordan Spreader line drawing.