What are Shay locomotives used for?
What are Shay locomotives used for?
Shay locomotives were especially suited to logging, mining and industrial operations and could operate successfully on steep or poor quality track.
What is the advantage of the Shay locomotive?
This slow speed, high tractive effort locomotive could climb grades as great as 14 percent. One other advantage the Shay had was the exposed cylinders and running gear. This made repairs relatively easy, as everything was accessible. Shay production lasted until 1945.
Who made Shay locomotives?
Lima Locomotive Works
The Shay locomotive was built by Lima Locomotive Works (Lima, Ohio) in 1912. The Dixiana — a two-truck, 42-ton Shay, originally owned by Alaculsy Lumber Company — served on six shortline railroads in the Smoky Mountains before moving west. It was named for a narrow-gauge mining railroad out of Dixiana, Virginia.
Do steam trains have gears?
The steam locomotive, as commonly employed, has its pistons directly attached to cranks on the driving wheels; thus, there is no gearing, one revolution of the driving wheels is equivalent to one revolution of the crank and thus two power strokes per piston (steam locomotives are almost universally double-acting.
Where were Shay locomotives manufactured?
Bullock. The Shay locomotive was built by Lima Locomotive Works (Lima, Ohio) in 1912.
Did steam trains have gears?
What is the history of the Shay steam locomotive?
C.G. Heimerdinger, Jr. photo. The Shay steam locomotive had its beginnings dating back to the late 1870s when Mr. Ephraim Shay realized that he might have a new design that could greatly benefit the timber industry.
What was the first 2-8-2 locomotive?
The very first locomotive ever operated as a 2-8-2 design is said to have been an experimental built by the Lehigh Valley. The railroad took one of its 2-10-0 Camelbacks and cut it down into a 2-8-2 with the belief that it would reduce flange wear on the rear set of drivers.
What did William Shay do for work?
By that time Shay had already worked or held a number of different jobs from logger and school teacher to railroad owner and inventor. As early as 1872 he began development of a new locomotive that used gears rather than standard rods to propel the device forward. He built the design from the ground up using a flatcar as a base.
What was the weight of the first Shay?
The development of the Shay over the years is quite amazing; the original two-truck Class A was offered at just 13 tons. However, by 1903 the first Class D version with four-trucks at 140 tons was unveiled (at the time the heaviest locomotive ever built, it was eventually offered up to 150 tons).
