✅ SOLVED Barrett Jack

[NOLA_Ken]

Obviously it's a jack, but this thing is pretty big.... 24 inches tall and extends to 38. On the right side it reads : "MAN'FD BY DUFF PITTSBURGH PA" and BARRETT JACK" on the handle. The other side has "NO. 1" I've seen similar jacks being called "railroad jacks" and I'm wondering if anyone can confirm that these were indeed made for the railroad. Or if they were intended for farm machinery or just big trucks.....If anyone can give me an idea of age too that would be great.

It's a Hurricane Katrina find, and has been sitting forgotten downstairs since then, I was cleaning out a bunch of junk yesterday and found it again. I can't for the life of me remember exactly where I found it.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I guess I solved it myself..... I found a link that didn't turn up before for some reason, and found one for sale at 600$!!!!! Although it seems that around 200 is what they are selling for.....

NICE!!! Duff Barrett No. 20 Railroad Jack

 

[nhbenz]

The sale you've compared your to is for a model 20, where yours is a model 1.
To answer your original question as to the original purpose of your jack, I note that in the lower left of the below advertisement page that they list the model 1-a and 1-d, both with a hight of 22" (Is this a more accurate measure of your jack?), and that it was indeed marketed as a track (railroad) jack. I didn't want to just take a sellers word for it, so it's nicer to see it direct from the company. They did also make jacks designed for cars and for mining purposes, but I believe yours was for railroad use.
1952 Ad Duff Norton Barrett Geared Track Jacks Simplex Ball Bearing Screw | eBay

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Thanks for that link.... I don't know how I managed to miss the "No. 20" It's definitely cool, and I think I'll clean it up and repaint it.