A two truck Shay built by Lima in 1909, this engine was shipped around Cape Horn to Smiths Cove Dock in Seattle, WA, and it initially worked in that city for the Hofius Steel & Equipment Co. It was then owned by Gig Harbor Timber Co., at Gig Harbor, WA, before being purchased by the Stimson Timber Co., in 1913.
#1 worked for Stimson in Belair, WA, and then moved to Gaston, OR, where it was named “Peggy”. It was retired in 1950 having hauled an estimated one billion feet of logs during its forty year operating life. Donated to the City of Portland, OR, it went on display outside the Forestry Building near the Oregon Zoo in Washington Park. The building burned down in 1964 and #1 was badly damaged in the fire.
The locomotive went into storage until restoration work was started by members of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1969. Three years later, #1 was moved to the newly completed Western Forestry Center (renamed the World Forestry Center in 1986) near the site of the old Forestry Building. It was moved to its current location in 2002.
Above left, note in this front view of the engine, the original link and pin coupler.
#1 was built as a wood burner but was converted to burn oil at some stage during its working life. It weighs 84,000 lbs. With 29½” drivers and three 10” x 12” cylinders, it operated at a boiler pressure of 180 psi delivering 16,900 lbs tractive effort. The fuel bunker originally held 1½ cords of wood and 1,560 gallons of water.
