If you are interested in watching a shay slowly be brought back to life, follow my link below. The link is chapter 1, to the right you will see a chapter list, I just started chapter 2.
I am not involved in the refurb but this engine has family ties to me, plus I grew up about 300 yards from where this is taking place. The volunteers the are performing this found my blog and have been providing weekly updates.
Hope you enjoy, and there are many more updates to come.
Gidday, thanks for the post, Shays never made it to New Zealand, Climaxs, and Heislers did, and there were locally built “adaptations” so good to see something different.
Hats off to the restoration crew, good to see photos of them doing the business.
The romance of the rails - AKA hard, dirty, dangerous work.
I’m glad the boiler seems to be in good condition. Boiler defects (and the expense of repairing them) have been the rock on which more than one rebuild foundered.
I was lucky enough to see (and hear!!!) Shays in action at Cass and Alishan (Taiwan.) Truly impressive machines.
Yes the boiler (at this point) seems to be in good condition, which is surprising since it has endured many Montana winters with no cover at all, just some varied attempts at keeping “the rain and snow out of the holes” [swg]
Your welcome Chad, glad you enjoyed it. On a personal note, my grandfather engineered for J Neils, this was one of several he operated for the company, when he retired he was running the one diesel switcher, switching cars between the mill and the GN mainline. I’m glad to see that someone is showing here some care.
Dave sent me more pictures the other day, scroll about halfway down for newer pictures.
Gidday, I guess that the restoration crew had an idea on the state of the crankshaft, but were pleased to see that the bearing services weren’t a pitted rusty mess. Just curious but are they going to crack check it?
A recent update, work is slow due to the winter, the museum is currently saving a piece of Great Northern history, a bridge that was used as a haul road bridge, has been removed and was going to be scrapped. The museum is trying to get the bridge donated for use on a future RR loop at the museum grounds.
Breathtaking. Thank you, Geared Steam, for sharing this. Were I not several states and a national border away, I’d be breaking down the fence in my eagerness to help!
I love the picture in chapter one where, during the move, the shay’s stack lines up perfectly with the chimney plume from the building behind it. Like the old girl came to life during the move, just for a moment.
Gidday, again thanks for the update, While the news regarding the turntable was not great, I’ve observed locally that attempts that try to save everything generally end up with nothing being actually saved. While my opinion doesn’t count I reckon the right decision was made.
Once again, hats off to the restoration team.[tup]