Ok Sorry for the ridiculously large photo. But I wanted people to be able to zoom in. I am interested in the horse drawn grader. When one googles a horse drawn grader you don’t come up with these. So am I calling it by the right name. I am wanting to see more pictures and other views of this type of equipment. Thanks.
Scraper maybe?
Yep found it. It is a horse drawn scraper not a grader.
Don’t know what’s it’s worth, but maybe the book “Nothing like it I the World” by Steven Ambrose might mention the proper name for these horse drawn carts/scrapers. For those who don’t know the book is about the building of the transcontinental railroad.
As a side note, I wouldn’t recommend reading the book from a historians perspective because the author makes a lot of false claims and assumptions.
So I don’t know if it is tis exact one but here is a look at a Western Wheeled scraper
The Western ones all seem to be a little newer. This one has metal wheels. But I m getting the idea of what one of these will look like.
This one is a Weber I am liking the looks a bit more vintge and the break (???) off the back is present in the original picture.
Your contests will be more fun if you give us more than 9 minutes!
But boy does it make you look good, according to Billy Crystal; Marvelous!
Score,
Here is the patent for the Weber wheeled scraper, 1879. The original photo was the construction of the Idaho side of the NP branch from Desmet Montana to Wallace ID. It was actually called the Coeur d’Alene Branch built as part of the Coeur d’Alene Railway and Navigation Company but was 100% NP. By this time NP had leased the CR&N. Work on this line began in 1889 most was done in 1890.
John Caughey said:
Your contests will be more fun if you give us more than 9 minutes!
But boy does it make you look good, according to Billy Crystal; Marvelous!
John,
I searched and searched graders. That was stuck in my head. then as I was tying I thought “wait its more like a belly scraper than a grader” Viola a quick search and bingo answered my own question. Sometimes it makes all the difference to talk it out.
Maybe that’s a bar for raising/lowering the scraper tub rather than a brake.
These wheeled drag scrapers were the next generational development of the
Fresno or Fresnal hand drag scraper.
The next major development was the chariot scrapper used behind the early cats
before the development of the blade (bulldozer).
For more information about these early machines check out some of the books about
LeTourneau equipment.
Rick
Rick Marty said:
Maybe that’s a bar for raising/lowering the scraper tub rather than a brake.
These wheeled drag scrapers were the next generational development of the
Fresno or Fresnal hand drag scraper.
The next major development was the chariot scrapper used behind the early cats
before the development of the blade (bulldozer).
For more information about these early machines check out some of the books about
LeTourneau equipment.
Rick
That would make way more sense. I haven’t look through he patent beyond a quick glance maybe that will explain it but I like you thought on it. Especially its location would be conducive to that.
Hey Devon do you know what side of the border that photo was taken at? The reason I ask is because it looks like the first large curve as your coming down the 4% grade out of Lookout Pass going into Montana. Shortly after that curse is the derail siding that I found my railroad tie with the round sides and a flat top and bottom. The one sitting next to my shop. Interesting picture.
Chuck
@Chuck The ties with the round sides and the flat top and bottom, are the very old ones. Does your tie have the marks of being hand hewn? Usually you can tell by the ax marks and the cuts on the top and bottom. If it has those, it may even be older then the turn of the century. In the 1880 -90s they used a lot of hand hewn ties, usually bought from independents like local farmers and such that made a few dollars on the side cutting ties. Also can you measure the gage by looking at the spike holes, and or the worn marks of the rails used with out tie plates?
Chuck,
This is the Idaho side I believe at Potsville. That’s the big sweeping corner at te head of the canyon before climbing the grade. The description of these photos are RR construction somewhere in ID. Also the pictures also in the group show big trestles with numbers that correspond to the trestles on the Idaho side. The date put them there also as this was the only NP project in Idaho in 1890.
Do your ties look like these:
This is part of the same collection. The ties are the same as what was used everywhere else on the line.
Dave,
The ties throughout this era of construction where round hand cut ties. from 1886 until probably the end of this lines construction in 1890. At some point they started using mill cut ties but I am guessing this happened after the NP reorganization in 1895. This brought much new RR construction including making everything standard gauge and upgrading facilities. the square ties start showing up.
Also Chuck, I agree this is an interesting picture. Not to many times do we get to see the grading work. Whats fun for me is I have read the letter press book that includes the communication between the CR&N chief engineer and the construction engineer of this project. They are discussing the various aspects of construction and it is cool to tie it together with pictures. I also read the original bridge book detailing every piece of wood and hardware used including the bridges location. Those are in the archives at the University of Montana. Then in Minnesota I discovered a track profile book showing this line. Every bridge culvert cut fill you name it and its location. So I have a very complete picture of how this went down. I have a located all of the bridges on google earth. So I can identify most of the locations of the pictures by looking at height and counting bents.
For the NP museum in Wallace we are writing a book that will be a self guided tour of the NP facilities from Desmet to the Silver Valley. It will be a fun project with pictures history GPS way points and we are even thinking of including GEO caching stuff for fun.
The tie I have is from a derail spur on the Montana side of Lookout Pass. There was an accident in 1933 when a class Z 2-6-6-2 locomotive ran away down hill on the 4% grade, was switches into the spur and overturned. The locomotive was cut up for scrap on the spot.
Looks right. That’s a cool find. I want to walk the line down over the sides and see what is there to be found.
There’s lots of stuff all alone the old right-a-way Devon. Most of the different colored rocks on my layout have all come from the right-a-way both on the Idaho and Montana side. The telegraph poll, spike bar, and tie plate next to my shop on display were all found at the town site of Borax. Borax was a watering stop before the locomotives continued climbing the grade to Lookout Pass. We’ve even found an old pistol and medicine jar there also. It just takes time and a good metal detector.
That’s awesome. I would very much like to get metal detector but I have to many hobbies already
Devon Sinsley said:
That’s awesome. I would very much like to get metal detector but I have to many hobbies already
Too many hobbies? 
Is that even possible? (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)
