Folks, Need a little help here. Does anyone know if any of the Meadow River Lumber Company Shay No. 1 sisters survived? Also does anyone have some pics of her in better condition that she is now?

Thanks.

Meadow River Lumber Co. Shay #7 survives at Cass sans boiler. The boiler was worn out and then finished off by the fire that destroyed the second Cass shops building. With a new boiler and replacement parts for those scavanged for the other Cass locos over the years she could indeed steam again. As they say all it takes is money and time.

Here are two shots of #1 taken July, 1956 in service. Sorry about the color fading!

Thanks Pete!!! That's what we are looking for!

Steve B.

Although she is not a Shay Meadow River Lumber Co. Heisler #6 still survives and runs at the Cass Scenic Railroad.

What I'm looking for is a real good picture of the cab. The cab was destroyed in a building collapse and I need to know if it's a metal cab or wooden.

Thanks.

There are some good photos of #1 here
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/onli ... /shs2l.htm

The cab WAS made of wood!

Dear afboone:
The cab was wood and as noted ,destroyed when the large shop/storage building collapsed the winter of 1981-1982.
After clearing the roof trusses, etc. from on top of the locomotive, we stacked up all the bits cab on the cab floor and built a crate around the backhead, etc. covering the cab remains. Some mechanical parts are in the firebox.
J.David

Thanks J David. We looked her over real good last week. The tender is full of stuff. The sand dome is somewhere on Steamtown along with the lights. We will do a ton of searching for stuff. My troops and I are going to start out small by helping out in the back shops but if the guys like the idea of working on the steamers we are going to ask if we, my squadron here at McGuire can take on getting the shay back up to display status. The more I think about it, the biggest problem we are looking at is the asbestos and lead paint. Moving the shay to paint bay will also be a challenge. Right now I want to get as much info as I can on the cab because that will be the biggest piece to replace. I have two guys who love to work with wood so they are looking forward to the challenge. We will have to decide if we are going to tear it down to the frame or if we can sand blast the engine with some of the stuff still on her. We have been talking, my supervisors, and we think we will have to take it down to the frame and boiler. I don't want to remove the boiler unless we have to replace a member or something. The trucks will probably come off so we can clean and paint them. We will see what we can do....

Dear Afboone:
Good luck with a most worthwhile project, one which was actually planned for at Steamtown in the the early 80s' but never accomplished. The reason the SHAY was in the shop building was that we planned to work on it, but then the roof came down and that was that.
One thing we did do was to gather up all of the parts scattered around and put them on or in the locomotive (this was partially undone at Scranton, hopefully nothing vital was scrapped).
I would note that we never found the bronze bearing caps that go on the ends of the "U" joint horns and into the "U" joint rings.
A neat appurtenance was (hopefully still is) the "MICHIGAN" hydrostatic lubricator, one of only 3 or 4 in existance.
J.David

J. David, what is the hydrostatic lubricator? I will keep you up to date on envents with this. Thanks again

Steve.

The cab salvaged by J. David's crew after the engine shed collapse was not the original. The original cab was burned by vandals while the Shay was on display in Wakefield, MA, at "Pleasure Island." Ray Anoe, an early veteran of F. Nelson Blount's crew, and an assistant built the new cab at N. Walpole, NH. They used the remains of the burned cab as a pattern, so that it looked almost original. During the cab rebuilding Ray removed the boiler lagging, which was severely rotted, as well as the asbestos. A postcard from that era shows the #1 sitting outside the N. Walpole roundhouse after the restoration.

As an aside, the #1 made the June 1961 trip from Wakefield to N. Walpole a long one for the hospital train. One or more truck bearings ran hot, the trip ended up taking twice as long as expected, with at least one recrew before the train finally arrived at N. Walpole.

Special thanks go to my friend Bob Adams in filing my first report to RYPN.

Romi Romano

Dear Steve:
Quickly...
The hydrostatic lubricator dispenses valve oil to the cylinders and the steam end of the air compressor. Oil floats in water (hydrostatic principal). Oil is poured into the reservoir of the lubricator, then the reservoir is sealed. Steam is fed to the reservoir and as the steam condenses into (pressurized) water the oil floats to the top. Regulating valves are opened, the oil goes down through a passage to beneath the regulating valve and the droplets of oil can be seen rising through the water when you look through the sight glasses. The valve allow you to regulate the feed (3 drops per minute or whatever). The oil goes into lines that feed the parts to be lubricated.
I hope this helps!
J.David

Thanks everyone. I got in contact with Charles Bates. He has the drawings for the cab. Just have to send him some money to send them to me!