Shay Steam Locomotive Prepared for an Evening of Work: Part 1

Part 1 in a series showing the Hillcrest Lumber No.1 Shay steam locomotive being prepared for an evening of pulling the Halloween Train on the narrow-gauge Cowichan Valley Railway.

These special train events during October 2025 were at the BC Forest Discovery Centre, in North Cowichan on Vancouver Island.

This video is comprised of scenes from October 17, 21 and 29, 2025, allowing for a few different angles of view.

It is a wonderful privilege to be near a working steam locomotive as it is being prepared for a day of work. In Part 1, even in the first hour after the fire is lit and before steam starts to work its way out of the various pipes, the simple regular routines of the engineer and fireman are interesting to observe. There is a calm atmosphere as the regular tasks are completed, all to the background noise of the fire building and water boiling.

Photo Album Links are Here for each of the days:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1320134...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1320134...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1320134...

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0:00 - Plymouth Pulling Shay from Shop
2:03 - Fire Lit
3:43 - Preparations & Adjustments
5:00 - Boiling the Water
5:40 - Boiler Blowdown
6:07 - Another Day
6:47 - Sunshine on the Shay
8:00 - Autumn Leaves
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The Hillcrest #1 Shay is a narrow-gauge oil burning steam locomotive in the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

This Class-B Shay has a present-era weight of approximately 28 tons. She was construction number 3147 in 1920 at the factory in Lima Ohio, USA.

After a pre-delivery factory conversion from narrow-gauge to standard-gauge, she arrived at Hillcrest Lumber on Vancouver Island in early 1921, and worked for Hillcrest Lumber in Sahtlam, and then for other companies in the Cowichan Valley and Crofton until 1963.

Following conversion back to narrow-gauge and oil burning, she was donated to the newly formed Cowichan Valley Forest Museum which opened in 1965. This museum is now known as the BC Forest Discovery Centre, located on Drinkwater Road in North Cowichan, on Vancouver Island.

The Hillcrest #1 Shay was one of the steam locomotives that pulled the visitor train in the early years of the forest museum, and she did this from the late 1960s until 1998. Following this, she went into storage, and the visitor train was then pulled mainly by the Vulcan #25 "Samson" steam locomotive.

A rebuild project was started in 2016 and was completed in Spring 2024. The Hillcrest #1 Shay is now in-service, pulling the visitor train on various days during weekends in Summer and for special events.

The whistle on this day is a 4-chime Kinsley.

https://bcforestdiscoverycentre.com/p...