| Spreader | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | O.F. Jordan Company |
| Year(s) of manufacture: | 1900- |
A spreader is a type of maintenance equipment designed to spread or shape ballast profiles. The spreader spreads gravel along the railroad ties. The various ploughs, wings and blades of specific spreaders allows them to remove snow, build banks, clean and dig ditches, as well as trim embankments of brush along the side of the track.[1][2][2] The operation of the wings was once performed by compressed air, and later hydraulics.[3]
Oswald F. Jordan was a Canadian road master who worked in the Niagara, Ontario area on the Canada Southern Railway, a branch of the New York Central Railway. Jordan designed the Jordan spreader and supervised a crew at the St. Thomas Canada Southern shop as early as 1900. He formed his own company, O.F. Jordan Company, and continued construction of Jordan Spreaders.[2]