By Martin E. Hansen

It was in this month of August 100 years ago that Lima Shay construction number #3233 first rolled out of the Lima Locomotive Works plant in Lima, Ohio. The next hundred years would see this Shay not only go through several owners, but would also see her travel across the country to the West and then years later travel cross-country to the East, only to see her then be shipped out West again for the final time.

When first built in August 1923, Shay #1 did not have a known buyer. She had been ordered to be built as a “stock locomotive” by Lima’s West Coast Shay dealer, Hofius Steel out of Seattle, Washington. After she had been shipped to Hofius, that dealer found a buyer for her in the form of Independence Logging Company out of Aberdeen, Washington. When she arrived in Seattle, before being shipped to her new owner, the Hofius crews chiseled the “August” off her builder’s plates and stamped “September” in their place. This was done so that Independence Logging would think the Shay had been originally built for them.

Shay #1 would work for nearly 5 years on the logging railroad for Independence Logging before that outfit down-sized and deemed Shay #1 to be surplus. She would not be on the market for long, as the Mount Emily Lumber Company was just starting up in LaGrande, Oregon and they needed a big Shay for their new logging railroad. Thus, in February, 1928, this 80-ton Shay became Mount Emily Lumber Shay #1.

Once delivered by the Union Pacific to Hilgard, Oregon where the Mount Emily Lumber logging railroad joined the UP, Shay #1 was put to work hauling long trains of logs from the forests above Starkey and down to Hilgard where the UP would take them to the Mount Emily Lumber mill in LaGrande. This routine would continue until 1955, when the Mount Emily Lumber logging railroad was shut down for good.

Word got out in the Spring of 1955 that the Mount Emly Lumber logging railroad was shutting down. A small number of railfans from Portland traveled to Hilgard to catch the last scrapping runs on film. These runs were being handled by the only other locomotive that Mount Emily had, 3-truck Willamette #4. Since this was one of the very last Willamette’s that was operating, one of the railfans shared his photos with the Oregonian newspaper who ran an article on it. That article was seen by those at the Oregon Museum Of Science & Industry who decided to contact the lumber company about the Willamette so she could be put on display back in Portland where she had been built.

When contacted, the lumber company was more than eager to donate the Willamette to OMSI. They even transferred title of the Willamette to the last crew that ran her so that crew could be the ones donating the Willamette. Unfortunately, while all this was going on, no one thought to tell the scrapper about the donation. As it turned out, when the scrapper first arrived in camp to start cutting up the rolling stock, the first thing they reduced to pieces was the Willamette.

Now that the Willamette was gone, the lumber company offered Shay #1 in its place to OMSI. While OMSI took the donation, they were less than thrilled with it, since the Shay had been built in Ohio, unlike the Willamette which had been built in Portland.

The big Shay was towed by the UP down from Hilgard to the UP roundhouse in LaGrande where it was stored until that roundhouse was torn down in 1958. At that time UP towed the Shay (with the line shafts still installed) at 10mph from LaGrande all the way to Portland. Needless to say, this was a slow trip as they stopped many times to grease the running gear.

Shay #1 would languish in the yards of Portland for the next 12 years. OMSI decided she was too big to ship by truck through the tunnel up to their facility by the Zoo. Because of this, OMSI donated Shay #1 to the Oregon Historical Society who would continue to own her until 2022.

Shay #1 was painted up once in 1966 for a visiting railroad convention that came to town. Other than that one paint job, #1 began to deteriorate as she was parked near Portland Union Station.

Finally, in 1971, through the help of Portland railfan Jack Holst, the Cass Scenic RR of Cass, West Virginia inspected Shay #1 and took out a 10-year lease on her from the OHS. Shay #1 was loaded on flatcars and shipped back East in mid-1971 to Cass where she was rebuilt and put back into operation in May, 1972. Sadly, this operation would be short lived as Shay #1 (who was now #3 at Cass) was caught in an Enginehouse fire at Cass in July, 1972 and the Shay was badly damaged.

She was rebuilt following the fire and returned to service in 1973. She would continue in service at Cass until 1993 when the OHS decide to return her back to the West. As the lease with Cass was up, OHS contacted me to find her a new home here in the West. After sorting through various proposals, OHS decided to accept the proposal by the City Of Prineville Railway in Prineville, Oregon. A new lease was drawn up and in the Spring of 1994, Shay #1 (as she was re-numbered here in Oregon) was loaded on 2 flatcars and shipped from Cass to Prineville, Oregon.

Shay #1 was refurbished and re-lettered back to her Mount Emily Lumber Company markings and the #1 was reapplied to her. She would continue in service on the City of Prineville Railway for nearly 30 years. She even was shipped behind SP #4449 down to Railfair 99 in Sacramento, California where she participated in “Shay Races” with Graham County Shay #1925.

Shay #1 received her last 1472-day inspection in 2006. By 2021 she was due for another such inspection. The City of Prineville Railway told OHS that they would no longer be operating Shay #1 but she could remain stored there for the near term. OHS decided it was time for them to find a new permanent owner and home for Shay #1. After vetting through 3 proposals, OHS chose the Oregon Rail Heritage Center as the best new home and permanent owner of Mount Emily Shay #1. In the summer of 2022, title passed from OHS to ORHF as the Shay’s new owner.

Plans are underway now to ship Shay #1 on one flatcar from Prineville to Portland. New tubes have already been ordered for the Shay. Once in Portland she will undergo another 1472-day inspection and will then be put into service out of ORHC. She will be the primary Holiday Express locomotive for years to come.

Such is the story of the 100 years of Mount Emily Shay #1. Let’s see what her next century brings.