Mount Emily Lumber Co #1

CITY OF PRINEVILlE RAILWAY PRESENTS:

MOUNT EMILY LUMBER CO. # 1
Built: 1923 - C/N 3233 Manufacturer: Lima Locomotive Works, Lima, Ohio
Type: 3 - Truck Shay
Weight: 95 Tons
boiler Pressure: 200#
Tractive Effort: 35,100#
Cylinder Diameter & Stroke: 13 1/2 x 15"
Fuel (oil) capacity: 1,200
Gallons Water Capacity: 4,000 Gallons

This Shay geared locomotive was one of 2,771 such locomotives built by the Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio between 1882 and 1945 (only 84 of these engines still exist and only 27 of those are in operable condition). These engines (named after it's inventor Ephram Shay) were designed to climb the steep grades (up to 12%) and were ideal for logging railroads where steep grades and temporary tracks were the rule.

This locomotive was originally built as a "stock" locomotive for Shay dealer Hofius Steel & Equipment Co. of Seattle, Wa in 1923. Before she was delivered she was sold to the Independence Logging Co. of Aberdeen, Wa. for $28,070.00. In 1928 she was sold to the Mount Emily Lumber Co. of La Grande, Oregon. She worked for the next 30 years on Mount Emily's 40 mile logging railroad which included a 7 1/2 % grade on the mainline.

In 1955 Mount Emily Lumber Co. started hauling all it's logs to the mill by truck and scrapped it's railroad. # 1 was donated to the Oregon Museum of Science and Technology to serve as a reminder of the technology used to haul logs in the Northwest for more than 60 years. Unfortunately OMSI did not have a place to display the locomotive. The "lockie" was stored in the Union Pacffic roundhouse in La Grande for several years. After the roundhouse was torn down # 1 was towed at 10 mph to Portland, Oregon. In the late 1950's #1 was transferred to the Oregon Historical Society, which still owns the "lockie". The OHS also had no display site for the locomotive. # 1 was stored in the rail yards of the Northern Pacffic Terminals Co. near Union Depot in Portland until 1970, when leased to the State of West Virginia to operate on their Cass Scenic RR which is a tourist operation built on an old logging railroad.

The last lease to Cass expired in late 1992. At that time the Directors of OHS asked Bend attorney and railfan Martin E. Hansen to find a new home for # 1 in the Northwest. A 10 year lease with the City of Prineville Ry. was negotiated with COP General Manager Jerry Price and was finally signed in November 1993. #1 arrived loaded on 2 fiatcars on May 25, 1994 and was unloaded in the next 2 days. Since that time COP Engineer Roy Hill and volunteer Martin E. Hansen have (with the help of other volunteers) spent many hours preparing the locomotive for operation.

#1 will operate on the City Of Prineville Ry. over the next 10 years as a reminder of the Highball days of steam logging in the Pacific Northwest.

by Martin E. Hansen