BN 972673 Jordan Spreader.


rlundy90

rlundy90

Armchair Engineer
Building Jordan Spreader BN 972673 .

I started building this spreader last year for my friend Rick. He happened to mention he had the old Roundhouse kit. I had seen it on a forum somewhere and had been looking for the kit but I couldn't find one. I offered to build it for him and here we are.
I started a thread on a forum last year some time but can't remember which forum for the life of me. I ran into a few snags and put it away for a while, so thought I would start over again, here. Hopefully it will get completed this session.
When Rick gave me his kit to build, the first thing I did was grab the instructions and look them over. It looked fairly complex but nothing too crazy.
On the box lid it states,"Kit Bashing" is necessary and the purchase of some construction components from other manufacturers is needed. Undecorated kits.
This is a bit of an understatement, to say the least. I looked in the box and couldn't find many of the pieces. I was almost ready to call Rick and tell him I wouldn't be able to build his model cause all the parts were missing. I took another look at everything and realized everything that was supposed to be there, was.
What the kit actually contains for the Jordan Sreader, are the drawings and a white metal frame, possibly from a Roundhouse tanker kit. The box contains a bunch of spare parts from other models which you use to basically scratchbuild the spreader and 2 other maintenance machines.
With Rick being a BN modeller I thought I would try to track down a spreader similar to the kit version. I found BN 972673. This fits the bill well, so with my drawings and my tanker frame, plus a few pictures of 972673, I started to build.
The first thing to be done is to take the one part that is supplied and lay it on the plan. It then has to be cut to match the plan.Once this is done you can start on the floor and cab. I used the plans for as many of the parts as I could, but there were many that were different. The plans gave me the basic dimensions of the spreader floor, which was a big help. I used the plans for the dimensions for the cab as well.
 
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Good luck with your project! I discovered the 3 in 1 kits when I first got back into the hobby, and while I was somewhat disappointed in what was included in them, I do credit the skills and experience learned from them to help me later. Here's my Jordan spreader.
 
very nice model, but at the risk of sounding like what ever to folks, what is a "Jordan spreader"? im assumeing its a snow plow by the looks of it...but might as well ask :)
 
Jordan Spreaders were first designed to spread ballast and contour the roadbed. The wings can slant down at an angle, with the outer small wing section contouring the base of the ballast. Many have had snowplow blades added to the front, and when used in this capacity, the side wings widen the cut.
 
Here is a more modern version of the Jordan spreader, doing its winter work. That's not snow its throwing, but mostly ice after a big snow/ice storm some years ago locally. Lucky for me I was on the opposite side of a crossing, so they raised the front blades to clear it, and spared me from getting blasted with flying ice!
 
Nice pic Bob and great job on the Jordan, I'd have thought it was brass!
Ron that's looking pretty darn good!
This "Rick" fellow must be a pretty good guy to deserve such craftsmanship!?!?!?
 
dam and I just listed both my walthers Jordan spreaders on ebay and they end tonight. Now I wish I didn't do the one this way I could build the large crew cabin like above to modernize it.
 
Really nice looking spreader there Bob. Looks like you built it to the plans. The spreader I am building has the same basic shape of the floor and upper deck as well as the cab, but I think this may be a more modern version than yours. I forgot to mention, I am hoping to build this so that everything moves as it should. The side wings are figured out but the front blade has me stumped right now. I have no idea what type of mechanism lifts and widens the front blade. If anyone has pics of the spreader from behind, with the plow spread, they would be greatly appreciated. I have emailed the photographer of the pics I have been building from, and hopefully he will give me permission to post a photo, otherwise I will have to post a link. In the meantime if you want to see what the spreader looks like just Google BN972673 and click images.
Hey Rico. Yeah that Rick is a pretty nice guy. You know him?
Maybe I will have this thing built when you are ready to ballast your new layout and you can use it to spread it all.
As I am building, if anyone has any suggestions or tips please feel free to join in. Hopefully this thread will go from the start to a finished, detailed and weathered model.
So, once you have the frame, floor and cab built, it is time to start fabricating parts. The first part I made was the deck above the floor. This is made out of brass mesh from Plano. It was then framed with 1/32" angle.
Next I started on the wings. These took a bit of thinking. The whole wing assembly has to move up and down as well as turn out. The wing itself has to tilt up and down. Then there is the extension that also moves. I made the wings out of a combination of styrene and brass.
 
Ron, That's a good start, the base unit I had purchased like what your using by MDC was sold as a skeleton log car for more modern RR's but it could have easily been adapted to hold longer tanks too.

I was also thinking the flat face on the cab section wasn't correct until I looked at Bob's picture and that's exactly how the prototype is!


Bob, Very nice job on your Jordan Spreader/Snow Plow. In reading what you wrote as well as the great shot you took of the Jordan in action it reminded me of some other shots I had seen of RR Snow Plows where the Hydralic rams were actually bent due to the weight of snow/ice attempting to be moved but that was in areas where they were attempting to plow through roof high snow & ice.

Anyway great model.

I'm going to attempt to build a Rotary SP for my 1890/1900 era Colorado layout. The most recent 3-1 kit I picked-up of ebay did indeed have a precast Rotary blades as well as the shroud and diverter shoot which should make it so much easier. I don't think the Blind end Caboose body they include is too close to other older Rotaries I've seen so I'll scratch built the body when that time comes. In the meantime I have a lot of track to lay.
 
Thanks Trussrod. It may well be a log car frame. I just assumed it was a tanker frame. I am not really too familiar with Roundhouse kits. Non of their kits fit into what I model so never built any.
Once everything is put together it works really smoothly and sits in any position I put it. Everything is made with brass square and round tubing in sizes that fit inside each other.
Now I turned my attention to the hydraulic pump on top of the deck.I started with a small block of styrene and started adding manifolds, valve covers, ect. to model the engine. It wasn't looking as good as I wanted it too, and I remembered a plastic model jet I had. It was a diarama with a fighter jet and ground crew. There was a small tractor in the kit. The engine looked about the right size, so I cut off what I didn't need and just left the engine and rad.
 
After cutting it down it still looked wrong to me. So out came the saw and I chopped it down some more. A few little styrene circles cut with a leather punch from styrene, made the pulleys and center of the fan. Three more circles made the pump on the back of the engine. I made a frame, to make it look like a drop in made for easy servicing. I then made the cage that it all sits in. I will make a floor for it later and add a few other details to finsh it off.
 
While doing all these little things I was trying to figure out how to mount the arms so they will move properly. They must move in a few different directions at the same time. I couldn't tell from any of my photos, what the joints looked like and on the model there are no arms. I ended up making a bunch of mini universal joints out of square tubing. I used tiny brass nails from model ship building for the pins. I will use 1 on each end to attach the arms. I won't know if this works until I have the wings mounted on the model. I need them there to judge how long to make the arms. Lots to do before that happens. Now I have to start constructing the deck so that I can make the yolk that the wings mount to. I don't have any pics of this either so I have to make due with what little I can tell from the photos and plans. Still a ton of parts to make for the various bits and pieces on this thing.
 
I just realized I still don't have a prototype pic of this spreader. Here is a link to it for now.
http://rrpicturearchives.net/rsPicture.aspx?id=200870
The next problem I have to solve is how to make the yolk, that the wings attach to and the arms that steady the wings. I have to have the wings mounted to the machine to measure the arms proprerly. In the meantime I fabricated and kitbashed some more parts.
In order to go any farther I now have to build the deck so that I can work on the yolk. It starts off as a very delicate affair and even the real thing looks pretty fragile. As I add more details to the deck it will get much stronger. Now it is time to do a little painting that would be too difficult to do later on.Here's a pic to give you a little idea of how it will look.
 
That's some fine model building! When I made my model about 30 years ago, I was new to the hobby and didn't know all that much, so I built my 3 in 1 kit from the instructions, never tried to articulate the arms or add more details. The instructions were a great learning tool to me when I first started.

Several years ago I assembled a Walthers Jordan spreader, and I can recall being disappointed that the side arms did not swing out very well, as shown in their ads. So I rebuilt the joints so they would work, and so the arms would swing too.

I added a Custom Finishing front blade and hydraulic ram to the model, see attached photos.

Good luck in your project, and please keep us up to date!
 
Thanks Bob. Another really nice spreader. This one looks older than the first. Does that one come as a complete kit? I am trying to find pictures of the front end hydraulics and blade lifting mechanism, but have had no luck at all. I will probably end up inventing my own, the same as I have been doing so far. I am learning a lot from building this spreader just as you did. That is the main reason I am building it. To get more experience building. This is my second scratchbuild. I call it that even though the frame does come with the kit. Considering everything else doesn't, it makes it close enough to be considered scratchbuilt. My first was this wooden snowplow. It was originally a Northeastern Scale Models B & M plow kit. I only used the floor and built everything else from wood and brass. I wanted to try something in brass and styrene, so offered to build this kit for Rico because I couldn't find one anywhere at the time.
After priming a few parts, I started assembling the deck. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, but with the help of a few bottle caps, some Lego blocks and a small sharpening stone I go it stable enough to set the uprights in position. I should have left one off of the front to make it easier to install the stairs. Luckily, I had installed these so that they could be removed without doing much damage to the model. What I do is prime the parts I want to be removeable. When glued, you can pull the peices apart, because the primer will let go before the glue does. It still holds solid enough to keep the model together, though. In the 3rd photo you can see where it has pulled of the primer. All I have to do is touch it up with a brush, sand it a tiny bit with 400 grit and reglue my piece. Always sand it first to get rid of the sharp edges(Unless you want to make rust patches) Where the joints are, is just where it would rust in real life.
 
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Okay so why am I making the same noises as Homer Simpson looking at a pork chop?
Wow that is lookin' fantastic!
I hate to say this but... a Jordan just came down the "one way track" a week or so ago!:mad:
I have to go in there later this week so I will see if it's still there.
There also may be one in the city, I'll take a peak in the yards when I'm in there.

There's a glimpse of the front in a video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5GpCnG4N4Y&list=UUM_IXt1rJaDLAz-orQ8JChw
 
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Would be great if you or anyone else can supply me with photos on the front end and plow on this thing. If I can't figure out how to build it, I might have to make it stationary. I am now finished the deck and some parts. I will prime it tonight and then I can trial fit the wings and measure up the arms so I can build them.
I"m just waiting on primer to dry right now . I have to install the counterweight before I can install one of the deck supports. Then I can finish the railing. It will then be ready for paint. The rest of the details will be painted later and added separately.
Now that the deck is finished I started on the yolk.
The pictures show the brass rod that the wings turn on. The small square inner tubing just fits on this round tubing and allows the whole wing to move.The brass tube as well as the 2 uprights have to be square to the cab as well as to each other. Now there is just the handrails to install and off to paint. In the meantime I will work on more of the parts I need.
 
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