The first good reference I found for understanding Jordan Spreaders
was a five page set of plans done by Bill Roy, editor of Timberbeast
magazine. These plans consist of very detailed drawings of the
standard models 2-200, 2-180 and 2-150 and all their major
components. If you intend to scratchbuild, kitbash or detail a Jordan
Spreader model, you'll need this invaluable reference. He'll send us
information about purchasing these sets (1/87 or 1/48 scale) as soon
as he has his new pricing established. (Bill Roy / McKenzie Iron &
Steel, P.O. Box 41475, Eugene OR 97404-0363). You can now purchase this great set of plans at the following link.
McKenzie Iron & Steel Drawings
A good magazine article called "Jordan Spreaders on the Boston
& Maine," by H. Bentley Crouch, B&M Bulletin,
Summer 1981. This article has a nice drawing of a B&M Type A
spreader. B&M had three Type A's and three Standards (this
article notes that two of them were "modernized" in 1940,
presumably from earlier scissors type machines). It's a good
reference, even if you aren't modelling the B&M.
For all the help that John C. LaRue, Jr. has given us. He has an
extensive collection of the original O.F. Jordan Company's builders
photo negatives. Along the way he ended up with a bunch of original
Jordan sales brochures and shared copies with us to further our education. Withough John, This site would not exist. You can email John
for more information about obtaining prints from his collection of over 20,000 negatives, most of which are MoW machines.
MOFWCABOOSE@aol.com
Work Extra No. 24, June 2011. Formerlly Spikes, Ties & Rails. John C. LaRue Jr. did an excellent writeup on Jordan in this issue, dediacated to spreaders. You
can purchase the back issue from him for $2.50, a must have for any Spreader fan.
Mr. Jordan's marvelous multidextrous machine" in Trains Magazine, June 1969, pages 38-42, by Jerry A. Pinkepank. This is a great overall article
covering Jordans history.
A good portion of our information comes from hours of researching many different kinds of material. This includes photos, manuals, brochures, machines themselves
etc. We do this website out of a labor of love, nothing else. All we ask that is if you use the site for anything, to simply credit or link to us.
