I had no idea they could use these for grading the ROW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5-w63a27VY
This is a 'Jordan Spredder' or a takeoff from one. These have been around for 70 years.
CMStPnPI had no idea they could use these for grading the ROW:
OvermodI thought grading the ROW was what they were primarily built for.
They're good for clearing brush from alongside the ROW, too.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
They are good for lots of things within 25 feet of the track. Roadmaster's friend.
Team them up with a 980/988, a good work train crew and a half dozen airdumps and you can do wonders reshaping shoulders, drainage, cuts and fills (and yards).
One of the better things that ever came out of Michigan.
(Flees the scene as Tree and Carl go looking for rocks)
There is a very early 1917-1919 model of CRIP heritage looking for a good home out here. (Jordan Type 2-150, last used on GWR)
Makes a CAT D-9 look like a pup.
Spreader Ditcher (harscorail.com)
They are also used for snow removal both between and outside of the rails. They are the first units called to clear snow before it gets too high.
mudchicken(Flees the scene as Tree and Carl go looking for rocks)
Well, there's Carl and I...
Nikes don't fail me now....
mudchicken Nikes don't fail me now....
No problem. I actually took it as a compliment... ;-)
I've seen photos of ditching accidents where the operator dug in a little too deep, and instead of deepening the ditch it pushed the track over sideways, resembling a horrible sun kink.
CN only uses them for plowing snow now. They are especially useful for clearing slides in the avalanche zones west of Yellowhead Pass and on the former BC Rail line north of Prince George.
I wish we had more of them, they make plowing yards and clearing drifts much faster and easier.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
The only time I caught a work train with the spreader was when I was doing my brakeman/conductor's field training way back. I was detailed to follow along on the adjacent roads with the MOW guy's hi-rail truck so they would have transportation if the train tied up at other than the starting point. I noticed after it had made it's pass a number of track side railroad signs also had been pushed out of the way.
I've caught one as a conductor on a snow widening job. On the main line, usually there's enough traffic to keep the line clear. However it builds up along the side, so they call out the spreader to push the snow back. Making room for new snow. On double track, you normally only have one wing out, the one on the field side. There have been cases where by the time they ran the spreader the snow had been packed pretty good. When the spreader's wing hit the packed snow it derailed the spreader. Same thing has happened with the CNW's old left handed plow. (That plow, built from an old Alco is now on the Iowa Northern.)
Jeff
The Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern has an ancient edition, with the CN lettering still visible.
These days it's mostly used as a snow plow, if the regular plow can't deal with the snowfall or they need to push banks back.
Several years ago, MA&N was storing cars north of Carthage. The brush was so thick that it was lifing cut levers...
So they brought out the Jordan and used it to clear said brush. It was kind of fascinating to see a 6" or so tree shake, then fall.
It was a busy operation, though. They'd go a couple of hundred feet, then pause to adjust the blades for culverts and other impediments, then away they'd go until it was time for the next adjustment.
I think CSX still has a Jordan in Watertown, but I haven't seen it lately.
I had thought those were only for snowplowing. Interesting.
Still in training.
LithO, if you have the Trains archive available to you, I think the article on Jordan Spreaders by Jerry Pinkepank appeared in the late 1960s or early 1970s. There was very little those machines couldn't do.Now, as for MC thinking we'd be upset by having such a machine being placed in the same august company as Larry and I, I also took it as a compliment. However, MC, you forgot about Pat.Having come out of Michigan three times so far this month, I remain,
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
The only time I saw one in operation, the milwaukee was plowing the yard at Houghton, Michigan. They were clearing 2 tracks to their right as well as the one they were on, pushing 4 feet of snow. The engine pushing was just ideling.
MOW Critter: First one of these I saw was about 2007 while going to college at Pitt State ( Pittsbirg,Ks). KCS RR used it in the area to grade ROW. Their Jordan Spreaders have dedicated power; painted that orangey color with all the engine glass covered with plating.
Found a photo of one, on railrpictures.net apparetly, a well used item ?
Linked @ https://www.railpictures.net/photo/104399/
samfp1943Their Jordan Spreaders have dedicated power; painted that orangey color with all the engine glass covered with plating.
Interesting that they would dedicate a loco like that.
tree68 samfp1943 Their Jordan Spreaders have dedicated power; painted that orangey color with all the engine glass covered with plating. Interesting that they would dedicate a loco like that.
samfp1943 Their Jordan Spreaders have dedicated power; painted that orangey color with all the engine glass covered with plating.
That, technically, is no longer a locomotive. It's just the power source for the spreader, operated by remote control from the cab of the spreader, by a pilot, or--if rules permit--a member of the spreader crew.
CShaveRRThat, technically, is no longer a locomotive. It's just the power source for the spreader, operated by remote control from the cab of the spreader, by a pilot, or--if rules permit--a member of the spreader crew.
No argument from me on that.
It does show, though, that they use the Jordan enough to dedicate power to it, as opposed to something they can use elsewhere if the Jordan isn't in use.
CShaveRR LithO, if you have the Trains archive available to you, I think the article on Jordan Spreaders by Jerry Pinkepank appeared in the late 1960s or early 1970s. There was very little those machines couldn't do.Now, as for MC thinking we'd be upset by having such a machine being placed in the same august company as Larry and I, I also took it as a compliment. However, MC, you forgot about Pat.Having come out of Michigan three times so far this month, I remain,
Get a good operator and a good worktrain crew - you've got a great team that can make the thing dance. Sounds like a few wound up in the hands of Fred Scuttle's relatives which in turn had the neandernoids ("we run trains - what else is there?") in the operating department put unwarranted restrictions on them. One of the former Belt Railway spreaders out here got the torch because the shortline management was clueless and cheap.
tree68It does show, though, that they use the Jordan enough to dedicate power to it, as opposed to something they can use elsewhere if the Jordan isn't in use.
KCS was famous for an earlier version: white F units plated off to be run as mandatory B units...
OvermodThat's one of the MidSouth's frogeye GP10s...
Didn't notice the "frog eyes." I remember seeing them on IGC in the early 1970's.
(I imagine LimitedClear could tell you stories)
CShaveRR tree68 samfp1943 Their Jordan Spreaders have dedicated power; painted that orangey color with all the engine glass covered with plating. Interesting that they would dedicate a loco like that. That, technically, is no longer a locomotive. It's just the power source for the spreader, operated by remote control from the cab of the spreader, by a pilot, or--if rules permit--a member of the spreader crew.
I would guess a member of the MOW crew. UP has done something similar. They've taken some old SD40-2 engines and rebuilt them to handle certain MOW trains. These aren't handled by train crews but by MOW people, not locomotive engineers because UP doesn't recognize them as locomotives. A step up from the Brandt trucks.
A co-worker was able to get inside one and said the cab is not very different than a regular locomotive. It may look like a duck (an ugly duck) and quack like a duck but it's not a duck.
jeffhergert CShaveRR tree68 samfp1943 Their Jordan Spreaders have dedicated power; painted that orangey color with all the engine glass covered with plating. Interesting that they would dedicate a loco like that. That, technically, is no longer a locomotive. It's just the power source for the spreader, operated by remote control from the cab of the spreader, by a pilot, or--if rules permit--a member of the spreader crew. I would guess a member of the MOW crew. UP has done something similar. They've taken some old SD40-2 engines and rebuilt them to handle certain MOW trains. These aren't handled by train crews but by MOW people, not locomotive engineers because UP doesn't recognize them as locomotives. A step up from the Brandt trucks. A co-worker was able to get inside one and said the cab is not very different than a regular locomotive. It may look like a duck (an ugly duck) and quack like a duck but it's not a duck. Jeff
If the equipment would display markers to define its rear end - by rule it would be considered a train.
A locomotive body coupled (or drawbared) to MofW equipment without displaying markers is a piece of MofW equipment.
Different rules apply to trains and MofW equipment.
Derailment of Harsco Rail Grinder with two locomotives as MofW Equipment
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAB0903.pdf
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDIf the equipment would display markers to define its rear end - by rule it would be considered a train.
By our rules - on track equipment is required to display a white light in front and red in the rear when operating at night. And some more definitions:
Train — An engine or more than one engine coupled, with or without cars, displaying a marker.
Engine — A unit propelled by any form of energy, or a combination of such units operated from a single control, used in train or yard service.
On-Track Equipment — Flanged-wheel equipment, other than trains or engines, propelled manually or by other forms of energy, used in the inspection, maintenance, or construction of track, structures, signals and communication equipment.
I'm guessing a blue card is what makes the difference between an engine and on-track equipment? The lines are getting a bit blurry, though.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
zugmannI'm guessing a blue card is what makes the difference between an engine and on-track equipment?
Bet the MU has been modified well away from AAR function, perhaps along the lines of proportional direct control of the Woodward governor. What was that story Dave Goding told about the EMD locomotive modified to drive like a mine truck?
mudchickenUh oh - How high on the Richter scale did Pat's eyebrows get?
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