The Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive. Although the design of Ephraim Shay's early locomotives differed from later ones, there is a clear line of development that joins all Shays.
Development
Ephraim Shay (1839–1916), was a schoolteacher, a clerk in a Civil War hospital, a civil servant, a logger, a merchant, a railway owner, and an inventor who lived in Michigan.
In the 1860s he became a logger and wished to devise a better way to move logs to the mill than on winter snow sleds. He built his own tramway in 1875, on 2ft2in (660mm) gauge track on wooden ties. This was much more efficient than his competitors because he could log all year round.
Two years later he invented the Shay Locomotive. In about 1877 he developed the idea of having an engine sit on a flat car with a boiler, gears, and trucks that could pivot. The first Shay only had two cylinders and the front truck was mounted normally while the rear truck was fixed to the frame and could not swivel, much as normal drivers on a locomotive. He mounted the 3-foot (914mm) diameter by 5-foot (1,524mm) tall boiler centered on the car with the water tank over the front trucks and the Crippen's engine mounted crossways over the rear trucks. Shay experimented first with a chain drive from the engine through the floor to the truck axle. It is not known if he powered one or both axles, but he soon found that the chain drive was not practical and he next tried a belt drive. It did not take long for the idea to become popular.
Ephraim Shay was a logger from Haring, Michigan, near Cadillac. Shay was in the logging industry, and realized that a method of moving logs when the ground was muddy and damp would increase productivity immensely. He experimented with horse-drawn trams with limited success, then hit on the idea of building temporarty rail lines. In 1879, Shay invented a type of steam powered locomotive specifically for use in the logging industry. This Shay locomotive was small and powerful, and was geared to operate on tracks with steep grades and articulated to handle sharp curves. Shay patented the locomotive in 1881.
This Shay locomotive was constructed in 1898 by the Lima Locomotive Works for the Boyne City Southeastern Railroad Company. In 1918, it was sold to Michigan Forest Products in Strongs, Michigan, and then to the Cadillac Lumber & Chemical Company for service in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. In 1924, it was purchased by the Cadillac and Soo Lumber Company, also from Sault Sainte Marie, and used there until 1954, when Cadillac-Soo Lumber donated the locomotive to the city of Cadillac. It was partially restored in 1964, and further restored in 1985. It now serves as a tourist attraction in Cadillac's City Park.
Earlier this week, Sen. Jeff Wilson questioned if the site should be decorated for the holidays because kids could be exposed to dangerous items left there ....
Throughout the night Jason and Kiara had the chance to hear the story of Big Tom and his run-in with the phantom ghost train in the engine house beside the Shay locomotive told by JoshRoth, site ...
ULYSSES — The Pa ... It was her first visit to the Lumber Museum. The Shay locomotive was on display for visitors to climb on and ring the bell; in the camp kitchen long-time volunteers John and Jan Halter offered samples of authentic ham and bean soup.
Weekends are the time that some can get out for a short hike, so this is working out well for them ... 44 ... One can almost visualize the big Shay locomotives with their powerful gear-driven drive wheels earning their keep on those days ... 12, at noon ... ....
Today, the image of a red locomotive chugging through tree-coated highlands is splashed across everything from packets of oolong tea to biscuit tins ... A shay steam locomotive built by AmericanLIMA locomotive works on display in Fencihu’s loco shed.
Shay Park, which is already home to Ephraim Shay's steel yacht, the "Aha," and a view of his Hexagon House, may soon be seeing Locomotive #2005, a Shay locomotive that was built in 1907.
The Pennsylvania Lumber Museum’s “Santa in the Shay” returns on December 9 to offer families a one-of-a-kind holiday experience! Santa arrives at noon in the cab of the museum’s Shay locomotive to listen to holiday requests ... .
“This (new restoration project) will still require years of work and a great deal of investment,” Mitchell said, “but when completed, Humboldt County could once again have a running Shay locomotive, a ...
Samuel F. Long, Samuel B ...Meister, David Kimball, Ephraim Shay, F.J ...John Leeson was the inventor of the famous “Tiger Oil” and was active in civic affairs, and Ephraim Shay invented the Shay engine, which was a locomotive with side gears on the wheels.
Two full days of family-focused activities follow on Friday and Saturday, inspired by Shay’s innovations in locomotive design, logging, shipbuilding and engineering ... The “steam up” will include a steam-driven replica Shay Locomotive and other engines.
The museum offers an extensive model train layout, Shay locomotive, a restored caboose, a true steam “train crane” and many other artifacts and displays that inform and entertain museum ...
Longview News-Journal
30 Nov 2024
Longview News-Journal
30 Nov 2024