How the Amazing Shay Locomotive Does What No Other Can

Built in 1907 for the Bering, Kiam & Southern Railroad in Texas, this Class B Shay locomotive was designed to tackle the toughest jobs in the logging industry. Originally a wood-burning locomotive, later converted to coal, it was used on logging railroads where traditional locomotives failed. Its unique geared drive system, offset boiler, vertical cylinders, with both universal and prismatic joints gave it unmatched power flexibility to tackle steep grades, sharp curves, and rough temporary logging railroads.

After years of service with the W.T. Carter & Brothers Lumber Company in Camden, Texas, the locomotive was retired in the 1920s. It later sat on static display at Stephen F. Austin State University until 2021, when the Harbor Springs Area Historical Society rescued and restored it. Today, you can see it proudly on display at Shay Park in Harbor Springs, Michigan, right across from the historic Ephraim Shay Home and beside Shay’s all-steel steamboat, the Aha.

More than just the history for this one, Shay locomotive, though, join me as we dive deep into what makes the Shay's different, and exactly how they worked in ways that no others could, to see why loggers loved this innovative locomotive.

Filmed on location.

Related video:
See an even bigger Shay locomotive running at the Hesston Steam Museum -    • The Last Narrow Gauge Shay Locomotive  
See Shay's Aha steamboat:    • Did a Train Genius Really Build This Stran...  

Visit the W. T. Carter & Brothers Shay Locomotive In Harbor Springs, Michigan at harborspringshistory.org

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