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Shay Locomotive Bound for Portland

Mount Emily Lumber Co. 1 will soon be relocated to the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland. Photo Courtesy of ORHC.

Shay Locomotive Bound for Portland

By Railfan & Railroad Staff

PORTLAND — A Shay locomotive that has spent a number of years on a Central Oregon short line, will soon be relocated to the big city. Last week, the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation announced that it had acquired Mount Emily Lumber Co. 1, a three-truck Shay built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1923, from the Oregon Historical Society and that it would soon be relocated to Portland. 

The acquisition of Shay 1 means the Oregon Rail Heritage Center will now have at least four steam locomotives under its roof. Besides the Shay, ORHC is home to Southern Pacific “Daylight” 4-8-4 4449, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 4-8-4 700, and Oregon Railway & Navigation 4-6-2 197. A fifth locomotive, Polson Logging Co./Saginaw Timber Co. 2-8-2 2 will also be making an appearance at the ORHC later this year as it heads the museum’s annual Holiday Express trains. The 2-8-2 is currently at the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad but was recently sold to short line Albany & Eastern. However, it will make a brief stop in Portland on its way south. Traditionally the larger 4-8-4s have led the popular holiday trains on the Oregon Pacific, but the heavy locomotives do a number on the track. 

Once it arrives in Portland, Shay 1 will likely become the standard power on the Holiday Express starting in 2023. 

Shay 1 ran throughout the Pacific Northwest before being donated to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and later the Oregon Historical Society. The historical society later restored the locomotive to operation for years it has called the City of Prineville Railroad north of Bend home. 

This article was posted on: September 7, 2022