Last March a note in the steam section of TO mentioned a Shay that was in operational condition in the Mexican state of Durango.

Drawing a blank on finding any images or video, I eventually decided to add finding the loco to the itinerary of a road trip to Mexico that I've just returned from.

The loco in question is this one:

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/lim ... n-2773.htm

It came into the ownership of Mr Sergio Gamero a hotel and restaurant owner from the town of El Salto in the early 1990's having been set aside some 20 years earlier.

Mr Gamero restored the loco to operational condition around year 2000.

They day we left for the trip I'd concluded the loco was no longer operational but we decided to go and take a look anyway.

This note was one received that day:

"It visited Mexico City in 2003 to star in a beer commercial and Parral, Chihuahua, in 2004 for a festival. It did quite a lot of operation around Parral for several days on the latter trip. I have seen reports that it is currently stored operational in El Salto, Durango state".

We arrived in El Salto to find the second loco owned by Mr. Gamero a three truck Heisler on display outside his Hotel / Resturant complex. This loco is fairly complete but clearly no work has been done on it except for paint in a long time.

We asked in the hotel for Mr Gamero and were warmly greeted by his brother Gabino.

Gabino took us to see the Shay which is located on a short stretch of track at their ranch outside of town.

Sadly we were greeted with the sight of an abandoned locomotive open to the elements that clearly had not operated in some time (four years).

El Salto sits at approx 6,000 feet altitude and while the summers are mild, the winters bring sub zero temperatures and snow.

I pointed out to Gabino that the loco needed to be moved to a shed which is available if a spur was built. That not only were the elements taking their toll but some vandalism had also taken place with both headlights and the water gauge having been smashed.

Gabino whilst not technical at all understood the concerns.

It seemed to me that the family has lost interest in the loco. I might be wrong but that was the appearance.

I suspect that there were other players who helped get the loco operational but have no idea who.

Images attached show:

Sergio (left) and Gabino (Right) with Gabino's two children and the Heisler.

The business side of the Shay

And the photo that really sums up the situation.

We should of course all remember that without Sergio, these two locos would be long gone but that Shay in a shed with some oil on the motion......the current situation could be so different.

TH

Thanks for the info Trevor, the photos did not come through.

Tom,

No idea why the images did not "stick"

Looks like they are there now.

Additionally, the Shay URL has been updated with a couple of them

Regards

TH

Trevor,
Can you contact me at shayloco@twlakes.net about using one of your Shay photos in a book? Your email account is full apparently.
Rick Henderson
ShayLocomotives.com

In the interests of promoting knowledge and preservation of artifacts, you are welcome to use any of my Durango Shay images in your book.

Kind regards,

Trevor Heath