Here is my RR jack. First I'll say its heavy, stands 24 inches tall. Uses a pipe/bar up to 2.5 inches as a handle. Has lifted many a tractor axle, upwards of 3 ton. Will also jack up buildings. Quite a mechanism inside, upper and lower pawls. Can't take the center post out, goes out the bottom, but the top square lift plate is peened on. The name on it is DUFF MFG. Allegheny PA. Barretts, Pat. 1884 and 1886. Is also marked No.1, cast into the upper part. Now to bore you all I'll tell how it came to be mine. In the 20s, my father was growing up on a farm in Illinois that the Illinois Central RR ran through. There was a big derailment, and my fathers family went out to watch the big stuff put the train back upright. Later, my father and his little brother spotted two RR jacks left in the weeds at the edge of their field. They carried them on the stones of the track shoulder. Nearly a year later they were still laying there. Figuring the RR had no need for them anymore, they went down with team and wagon, brought the jacks home and put them in the barn. The 30s came and went, as well as WWII. In 1948 my parents were visiting Illinois, and brought this jack back to Nebraska. As long as I can recall, my dad used it to lift the tractors, to slide the wheels in or out. I have looked it over closely, and has no RR stampings, none, where other railroad tools are well marked. So, Art you wanted a pic of a heavy wagon or RR jack, here it is.
