Shay Development Time Line |
Geared Steam Locomotive Works ©
Some of the notable developments in the line of Shay locomotives is detailed in the table below. These are listed in ascending chronological order. In many cases, only the year of the development is known. Other notable developments are not listed only because an approximate date of occurrence is not known. See Note.
Date |
Class | Development / Change / Event |
|
9-15-1882 |
First straight boiler Shay built - s/n 50 |
|
|
7/19/1884 |
C |
First 3-truck "Tender" type Shay built - s/n 117 - This was the first Class "C" design. The engine, boiler and cab were part of one unit. A separate "tender" unit similar to that used on contemporary "rod" locomotives housed the water and fuel. The middle or 2nd truck was located under where the cab and tender were joined. The rear truck was located toward the rear of the tender. |
|
mid-1884 |
|
"I" beam steel frames begin replacing wood frames |
|
12-24-1884 |
|
3rd steam cylinder introduced with s/n 126 900d - Two cylinder models continued to be built. |
|
1885 |
|
Wagon Top Boiler introduced with s/n 130 |
|
1888 |
C |
First 3-truck "Extended" frame type Shay built. This 2nd design of the Class "C" model replaced the water and fuel "tender" design of 1884. The common engine and boiler frame was extended to the rear of the crew cab to allow the mounting of a fuel bunker. A separate "tender" unit for water (only) was joined behind the new extended engine frame. The middle truck was moved forward from its former "joint" location to a position under the rear of the extended engine frame below the cab. The rear truck was moved forward to the middle of the tender frame from its former extreme rear mounting under the tender. |
|
late 1880's |
Last vertical boiler Shay built. |
|
|
1888 -1894 |
|
Full sheet metal truck covers applied over the right truck sides was available beginning in 1888 and discontinued in 1894. The earliest "noted" on existing photographs was s/n 209 built on 06-09-1888. The the latest "noted" on existing photographs as s/n 474 built on 10-27-1894. *(b) |
|
4/1898 |
|
All steel cab introduced with - Freeo Valley Railway #3 - s/n 555 |
|
8/15/1902 |
|
First oil fired Shay built - Sierra Rwy #10 - s/n 718 |
|
3/1902 |
D |
First 4 truck, 3 cylinder Shay built - El Paso & Northwestern Rwy #105 - s/n 673 |
|
9/30/1902 |
|
First "left handed" Shay built. - Sr. Octaviano B. Cabrerra #1 - s/n 757 |
|
4-26-1905 |
|
Last "boot" or "T" boiler Shay built - Kelly Island Lime and Transport #27 - s/n 1516 |
|
9/16/1905 |
|
Main crankshaft bearing bracket - The E. Dillon's & Son #1 - s/n 1553 is earliest locomotive appearing in "existing" photographs with this bracket. *(a) |
|
4/05/1907 |
|
Steel plate truck frames debuted on D.H. McEwen Lbr Co.'s #1 - s/n 1823. The archbar frame design would still available after this date. |
|
mid-1910 |
|
Steel "girder" frame introduced with Eastman-Gardiner & Co.'s s/n 2307 |
|
11-24-1916 |
|
|
|
1922 |
|
Open steel "girder" frame design conceived. Date of first production unit unknown. |
| 1927 | Piston Valve Cylinder system introduced. | |
|
10-26-1927 |
|
|
| 05-14-1945 | Last Shay built - Western Maryland Rwy #6 s/n 3354 |
Note: Some dates are "cut off" dates and others are "available" dates.
- "Cut off" dates are where a former option was discontinued or "replaced" by the company in favor of another option. The key word used is "replaced".
.- "Available" dates are where a new option was offered for installation on new locomotives, but did not mandatorily replace a former option. Because a new option was "made available" in a certain year, it doesn't necessarily mean customers began ordering the new option in that same year. The key words used for this in the text is "offered" or "available".
Reference: Unless otherwise noted, the information on this page is "based" on developments and dates noted in:
"A Chronology of the Shay Locomotive" by Dan Ranger <> November-December 1986 issue of "Locomotive & Railway Preservation".*(a) - This 9/16/1905 inception date of the "main crankshaft bearing bracket" differs from the 4/1906 for El Dorado Lbr Co's s/n 1628 noted in the main source above. It is possible a "slightly" earlier built locomotive debuted the bracket since photographic evidence disproved the main reference source and photographs for all earlier locomotives are not in existence.
Photographic evidence shows the bracket was optional but increasingly popular until as late as 6/30/1910 where it appears s/n 2307 "may" have been the last (or very near) built without the bracket.*(b) - The 1888 -1894 date range noted differs from the 1890 -1893 date range noted in the main reference source above. I arrived at this broader date range by studying existing photographs only. My date range also assumes the covers in the photos of the two locomotives were applied at the time they were built rather than as a retrofit. Since photographs don't exist for all locomotives in this era, it is possible that locomotives built "slightly" earlier or later than the two noted may have had factory installed covers as well.
We thank:
Dan Rowe of the Dripping Springs Locomotive Works
- for the contribution of a copy of this article
- for discovering the earlier inception of the "main crankshaft bearing bracket".
Shaylocomotives.com for:
- allowing us to link to the Shay photos on their site
- online access to the Shay photos "we" used to challenge the information noted in the main reference source above.
- providing selected time-line data that is more accurate than that noted in the main reference source above.
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