Maintenance of Way Equipment

A custom build Jordan Spreader clears snow from the mainline near the summit of Wolf Mountain.

A rotary snow plow heads up the foothills towards Wolf Mountain

A pair of back to back rotary snow plows with a trio of geeps in between head up the foothills towards Wolf Mountain

A log truck crosses the tracks just in front of a Jordan Spreader on Wolf Mountain

The snowfighting crew inside of the Jordan Spreader raise the plow blades
The snow fighting crew inside of the Jordan Spreader raise the plow blades for the crossing

Custom scratch built kitbashed Walthers Jordan Spreader and Roundhouse 3in1 Kit.

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Santa Fe	Crane	Wrecking Crane	ATSF	50
Santa Fe	Crane Tender	.	ATSF	932
Santa Fe	Flanger	.	ATSF	369
Santa Fe	Hopper	Offset Ballast	ATSF	86,500
Santa Fe	Hopper	Offset Ballast	ATSF	86,546
Santa Fe	Hopper	Offset Ballast	ATSF	86,555
Burlington Northern	Jordan Spreader	Compressed Air	BN	972,621
Southern Pacific	Jordan Spreader	Hydraulic	SP	4034
Burlington Northern	Snowplow	Rotary	BN	972558
Southern Pacific	Snowplow	Rotary	SP

Caboose
Caboose	Wide	SPPD
Caboose	Copula	ATSF	7,240
Caboose	Bobber	V&T	5

Currently the Lone Wolf and Santa Fe Railroad has only a few pieces of maintenance equipment, a Jordan Spreader from Burlington Northern, another BNSF spreader which is being constructed, a snow crab, which is another type of spreader/plow, a flanger from Santa Fe and some ballast hoppers.
A maintaince of way train heads out to work with a spreader on the point and three balast hoppers behind a pair of GP40 locomotives

A maintaince of way train heads out to work with a spreader on the point and three balast hoppers behind a pair of GP40 locomotives

A maintenance of way train heads out to work with a spreader on the point and three ballast hoppers behind a pair of GP40 locomotives.

    The spreader is probably the most important piece of equipment to have because it has many uses. It is the railroad's version of a bulldozer. It cuts trenches, spreads ballast, and plows through snow. Because of it's simple design and rugged construction, plus the fact that they are not in interchange service meant that these tough cars could last a lifetime. Many older versions are still in service today after 70 years because they still do their job. They are basically a big thing of metal that pushes stuff out of the way. Not too high tech, although many newer spreaders now have hydraulic systems which operate the plows. The older models used compressed air.
    The Spreader, as they're referred to, does most of it's work on Lone Wolf Pass, cleaning up rock slides which are a given, during every rain storm. Winter storms can also mean snow at the top the pass. The spreader is a great snow plow and easily handles the job of keeping the mainline clear. Since Jordan spreaders have no tractive power of their own, they most be pushed by a locomotive. The locomotive's air compressor supplies air to the tank which feeds the mnemonic plow wings. The snow plow train is ran over the pass as an extra between the Foothill Siding and the High Desert Siding. It then returns to the Foothill Siding and lets a few trains go by, then plows the pass again if needed. Another snow train which has a flanger in tow also does the same run. Flangers clear the snow from between the rails then spreaders come along and push it out of the way.
    The compressed air spreader model is a Walthers kit. When I began building this kit, I looked up pictures of it on the internet. I found pictures of a Jordan just like the model, then I found pictures of the actual prototype for the Burlington Northern Jordan Spreader with the same number. I noticed that (of course) they were all built all a little differently from railroad to railroad. I decided to try to match the actual prototype as much as possible.
    On the BN prototype the air reserve tank lies horizontal. The kit gives you this option. On the big front blade, the sides plates only go up to the height of the frame mount. Above the mount they are removed. A Bachmann coupler with a long shank is mounted in the front plow for clearance. The self contained spring fits well where a Kadee spring won't fit. A Kadee #5 coupler is in the rear. An MU air hose was added to the rear to connect to the locomotives air compressor. The stairs up to the back door are narrower on the prototype and the handrails have also been moved in to account for it.
    One thing on the model that wasn't changed to match the prototype is the wings. The model has medium length wings with adjustable wing tips. The prototype has longer wings with no wing tips. I might be able to custom make some new longer wings with no tips but I just going to use the other ones for now. Besides, they look good with the tips.
    Maintenance of way equipment is dispatched via car cards with 'work order' way bills. See operation for more details.

Berdoo	West Side	North End	Foothills	Wolf Mountain	Sand Mountain	High Desert	Barstow

Rail Detection Vehicle
High Rail pick up truck