Close-up shot of a Shay train engine. Three cylinders fronting the cab of this 1880 Model Shay engine dispatches power to all twelve wheels equally. When one wheel spins, they all spin, which is a rarity indeed.
3/4 front view of Shay train engine No. 1. Two men sitting on the front of the engine. One man standing beside the engine. Two men in the cab of the engine.
Earl Palmer, "Blue Ridge Mt's Roamin' Cameraman," Cambria, Va. 'This decaying building was once the worlds largest double bandmills'. During the hey-day of operations at Cass, 2500 men worked here and in the woods round about, turning out a quarter million feet of wood products per day, working two 10 hour shifts. Nowadays the old bldg. is an object of curiousity amongst thousands of rail fans who pass by on logging train excursions to Bald Knob.
Shay No. 4 Rear View with 3 Loads of Dirt on 10-30 yd Cars. (Not the Big Cut)
Date:
undated
Description:
There were 2 engines used in making the cut, No. 4 Engineer Robert Dean, No. 2 Engineer was Lewis (Pinhead) Collins. There were 10-30 yd. cars and 10-20 yd. cars. This is Engine #4 backing down with 10-30 yd. cars.
No. 4 takes on a tank of water, and it takes 1,500 gallons of it from nearby Leatherback Creek for each puffing trip up Cheat Mountain, with about 400 thrilled passengers, that is. The neighboring Chesapeake and Ohio Railway donated the water tank.
Unlike standard steam engines every wheel of the Shay engine and tender is a drive wheel no wheel can spin unless they all spin, thus giving the Shay tremendous power. Vertical cylinders and the crankshaft make multiple power strokes per revolution of the gear driven wheels for a smooth, even flow of power to negotiate steep grades with heavy loads effortlessly.
'Controls inside the cab of a Shay look like this. Shown are train and engine brake controls, reverse bar, water injector, and throttle and water-gauge cocks. Visitors are welcome to visit the cab between 'runs' and they do!'
