2-Truck Shay at Duncan BC

[railwaybob]

I happened to be out west on Vancouver Island on November 22 in the pouring rain when I came across the neatest little 2-truck Shay I've ever seen (not that I've seen a lot of Shays). Wouldn't it be nice to have something like this in your backyard?

 

[railwaybob]

The Preserved Steam in BC website
http://members.shaw.ca/preservedsteamBC/vancouver_island.htm

has the following details:
Type: Shay 2-truck Builder: Lima Number: 2475 Year Built: 1911 Weight: 42 tons Current Owner: British Columbia Forest Discovery Center Use: Logging/Static Display
British Columbia Forest Discovery Center, Duncan

 

[railwaybob]

Bloedel, Stewart and Welch (BS&W) bought this locomotive and had it working at Myrtle point. Later, it was acquired by Great Central Sawmills at Great Central Lake near Port Alberni. BS&W took over the Great Central Sawmills company and #1 was once again owned by them. #1 went through another merger when BS&W became MacMillan Bloedel. In 1953, Gerry Wellburn acquired the locomotive from M&B and made it part of his collection at the British Columbia Forest Museum (now known as The British Columbia Forest Discovery Center) in Duncan. It is on display at the entrance of the center greeting visitors and railfans.

 

[railwaybob]

The week before my trip to BC, I,d been looking at the Roundhouse 2-truck Shay at my local hobby shop but decided against the purchase.

 

[railwaybob]

But when I got back home, the two Roundhouse Shays in stock had been sold. And they were at such a good price! That'll teach me not to trust my instincts! Like my granny said, "If it feels good, do it!" I shoulda bought one of those Shays.

 

[railwaybob]

Oops, I forgot to get a good photo of that log truck. It's simply two trucks connected together with a wooden beam. I imagine in the early days, they didn't even use the wooden beam. Just load the logs between the two trucks, cinch the load down, and get the load outa here.

Imagine the feeling of bringing a load of logs down the side of the mountain - and no air brakes!?

(Maybe I should have posted these photos at the Logging Forum?)

 

[Matthyro]

A neat find railwaybob. I saw some of these locos at a logging museum near Duncan.
Let me know if you want this thread to be moved to the logging forum and I will do it for you.

 

[interurban]

Why move it?? after all it is The real thing Canadian eh:thumb:

Nice shots in the B C rain Bob.

 

[railwaybob]

I posted a link at the logging group so they should find their way here.

The museum was closed for the weekend. If you follow the links on one of the top quotes, you'll see that there's a whole bunch of logging locos - Climax, Heisler and some more Shays.

Running the photo through my PaintShop Pro graphics software before I posted the photo helped to "dampen" the effect of the rain. It was pouring cats and dogs that day!

Gotta make sure I make it back to Vancouver Island some day!