I went to the Springfield Mo swap meet last weekend. Not many model T parts this year. I did score a couple accy parts and a nice flip top radiator cap as well as some straight slot wood screws. But I also bought a jack, like I have never seen before. It was made (for or by) J. Barret, and also says "Mfg by Duff mfg. Co." I like old railroad items so I thought it could be railroad ??? It appears to slide onto the top rail of railroad track. But it is curved so the rail would need to be curved. It also has two ratchet pawls that would require the top of the rail to have teeth in it. It appears to "walk" the rail. One end of the jack is cast in a way that it appears to be designed for a chain/rope/steel choker or cable ect to hook over or around it. I think it is some kind of load tie down jack for very heavy loads, ??????? It is very heavy and about 18 inches long. It may work on a short section of rail attached to the hauling vessel or vehicle .???? But Im just guessing. Due to the carrying handle, it also appears to be portable and moved from point to point as needed. Thanks in advance for any ideas.....















Here are the front axle attachmets to use a longer spring. They attach with a longer king pin bolt.




The flip top radiator cap




probably my best deal of the day is all the straight slot screws for 20.00. Boxes are nearly full.


(Message edited by dobro1956 on August 23, 2017)

I noticed I did not show the end where a large pipe or maybe a wood handle is inserted near the "carry handle" to tighten the jack. Also the handle Im calling a "carrying handle" could also just be a "quick action" handle used to snug up the jack and then use the large pipe or wooden handle to do the final tightening with . ???

Check This out......
https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=barrett+railroad+jack

Think cog railroad jack, then you can figure what is missing

Steve, I have found 100s of ads for Barrett jacks. They all are for vertical lift type of jacks. I have found nothing that is similar to this jack. Eugene, Ill do some "cog railroad" searches, but I think the only thing missing is a cover for the ratchet pawls and springs. The covers on most of the early jacks were just a sheet metal cover. Im still thinking it is not really a "jack" but is more of a "com-a-long or "winch" type of item. I did find one mention of during the 1800s era J. Barrett was working on barges and was in need of something to tie the barges together. So he had something made to accomplish that. There were no pictures or any more mention of J. Barretts early years. This could possibly be a jack/winch to tie the barges together . ???? But again, Im just guessing ...

Here is the portion of the history of the Duff/Norton company speaking of the barge jack. But there are no pictures. I guess it could be possible that my jack is "bent" and the center rail is missing. but it shows no signs of bending and this thing is massive. This could be one more of the things I have that Ill never figure out for sure .... have fun and be safe ......



Duff-Norton History

The international marketing and manufacturing firm known today as Duff-Norton was born in the mind of an enterprising riverboat captain, Josiah Barrett in 1883. He had an idea for a ratchet jack that would pull barges together to form a "tow" and he needed someone to manufacture it. That person was Samuel Duff, a proprietor of a machine shop in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now part of Pittsburgh. Together, they created the Duff Manufacturing Company, which by 1890 had developed new applications for the original "Barrett Jack" and extended the product line to seven models in varying capacities. In 1929, the company purchased the A. O. Norton Company, becoming Duff-Norton in the process.

Today, Duff-Norton is division of the Columbus McKinnon Corporation of Amherst, New York. Columbus McKinnon is a broad-line designer, manufacturer and supplier of material handling products and integrated material handling systems. Columbus McKinnon is listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol "CMCO".

Donnie, post some pictures of the jack with something(tape measure?) so we can have a better idea of the size. Not that it will help, but couldn't hurt. Dave

That Jack has a TV show on the Velocity Channel.

Barrett Jackson. They sell classic cars.

Sorry I couldn't help myself

Could it be a walking chain hoist?

I think you may be right about the screws being the best score of the day. That old time hardware is getting scarce.