Maintaining the right-of-way on any railroad is challenging. Keeping ties in good condition means draining water from the sub-roadbed. Regulating ballast and creating a manicured ballast profile has always been a challenge to the maintenance-of-way department. To be able to accomplish all of this, and more, the machine had to pretty big and that is the No. 308 F. Jordan spreader, flanger, scrapper, bank builder and snow plow.
That is what confronted the crew of F&M Installations when they stepped forward to help the Ladysmith Industrial Heritage Committee. They wanted to move the hundred year-old F. Jordan Spreader from the top rails, over approximately 50 feet, and then down to the lower rails.
Moving an 84,000 pound, 48 foot long chunk of metal takes special thinking and special equipment. The move was requested so that the volunteers could easily move it closer to the car shop and start the long process of refurbishing this piece of industrial history.
Having been involved in an array of large projects in the past the crew from F&M Installations had the equipment and manpower to make the move possible.
“The Hydra Slide can move 300 tons,” said Shawn Crucil, company president. So this move was not too much out of the ordinary, but Crucil said, “I wasn’t sure how smooth it would go…moving a piece that’s over 100 years old. It’s surprising the unit is still in very good shape.”
The move was closely watched by members of the Industrial Heritage Committee.
“This is the only way we could get the machine set up on the lower track so we could work on it, said committee volunteer Brent Fourmeaux. "Once it’s on the lower track we can push it back to the car shop and then start to fix it up. Originally the spreader had a wooden 'cabin' on it for the operator, but age and weather has taken care of that."
Crucil said a move like this, which is relatively short, usually takes about a day.
“It all depends how young our crew is," he said. "This equipment is used quite often on our industrial jobs.
“It was a pleasure working with the volunteers. We are so used to moving stuff over 500,000 pounds and not even a thank you when we are done, so it means a lot to us to see the appreciation. It’s very neat to see what the team of volunteers has been able to restore all the equipment and now taking on this Jordan Spreader."
The Jordan was built with large wings on each side, along with blades, so that it could perform tasks such as building banks, cleaning and digging ditches, spreading or shaping ballast on the tracks and clearing snow. The cars where operated with the use of air pumped into a massive tank located in the centre of the car. Air was supplied directly from the train's brake lines, and as the cars were not capable of moving on their own, they required a locomotive to pump the air and move the vehicle.
