Equipment Information

J. Neils Lumber Company 5 is the museum’s only geared locomotive. It is a Shay, designed with three cylinders mounted vertically on the engineer’s side that power a drive shaft running the length of the engine alongside the wheels. This allows all wheels to be powered using bevel gears. Shays were extremely slow but were powerful and could negotiate uneven track and sharp curves, making them popular with logging and mining companies.

COMPARE ME WITH: Coronet Phosphate 9, the museum’s other steam engine that was used for logging. Both engines were designed for low-speed drag freight use but CP 9 is a standard “rod engine” and lacks the separate trucks and drive shaft of the Shay.

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Builder: Lima
Year Built: 1929
Builder Number: 3336
Wheel Arrangement: 3 Truck Shay
Length: 46ft 9in
Width: 9ft 10in
Height: 14ft 10in
Weight: 140500 lbs
Brakes: 6ET
Tractive Effort: 24500 lbs
Cylinders: Three 11×12
Boiler Pressure: 190 psi
Drivers: 32in
Description: 3 Truck Shay
Arrived: 1965
Condition: Complete / restored / operational

Read more about the history of this engine in Rail & Wire #258

Photo gallery

Ownership History
1929-1957 – J. Neils Lumber Company
1957-? – St. Regis Paper Company
?-1964 – Klickitat Log & Lumber Company
1964-1965 – Privately owned
1965-present – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

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