The Lake Superior Terminal & Transfer Railway Company Jordan Spreader #55 was built by the O. F. Jordan Company of East Chicago, Indiana in 1916. The Jordan Spreader has a 100,000 lbs. capacity and this multi-purpose spreader ditcher could be used to spread ballast and dirt, clean ditches along the tracks and plow snow.

This Jordan Spreader was built for the Butler Brothers Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. Butler Brothers had warehouses in the Twin Cities and were heavily involved in mining operations in the Mesabi Range. The LST&T purchased the Jordan Spreader from Butler Brothers Company (St. Paul, MN) in 1940.

At the time of sale to the LST&T the spreader Butler Bros. modified the Jordan Spreader for snow removal use and the Northern Pacific added the present enclosed cab to the spreader. A coal burning stove inside the cab provides heat for crews in the wintertime. The side wings are air-operated and they can be operated from inside the cab for plowing and ditching. A flanger blade is mounted underneath to plow between the rails.

The Lake Superior Terminal and Transfer Railway was incorporated in 1884 as a terminal railway and operated the union passenger station, located in Superior, Wis. It provided passenger and freight terminal facilities for the following carriers: Chicago, Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway Company, Northern Pacific Railway Company, Great Northern Railway Company, and The Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway Company. The LST&T owned and used 23 miles of yard tracks and sidings.