| A medieval-looking behemoth that is known as a Jordan Spreader. Seen at the CSX maintenance facility in Rockwood, Pa. These versatile machines are like a Swiss Army knife of railroading. They have multiple uses depending on the season. Though they have an enclosed cab, they do not have their own power and must be pushed with a locomotive. They also have a coupler on the front so that it can follow behind ballast cars to spread new ballast over the tracks. For plow duty, the wings on the front and side are lowered. Over 1,600 of these have been produced for railroads all over the world. It was invented around 1900 by Oswald F. Jordan, a roadmaster on the Canada Southern Railroad. He soon went into business with his own company building these. Over the years, the O.F. Jordan company became Jackson-Jordan, then Pandrol-Jackson, and is now Harsco Track Technologies, which still builds new machines and services old ones. |