Crown Zellerbach #6 was built by the Willamette Iron & Steel Works in Portland, OR, in 1924 for the Crown Willamette Paper Co., in Astoria, OR. It later moved to Youngs River, OR, and then Cathlamet, WA. An oil burner, it weighs 140,00 lbs and has 36” drivers and 12” x 15” cylinders. Operating at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, it delivered 30,350 lbs tractive effort.
Willamette Iron Works, also known as the Willamette Iron & Steel Company, was a general foundry and machine business established in 1865 in Portland, OR, originally specialising in the manufacture of steamboat boilers and engines. In 1904, the company changed its name to Willamette Iron & Steel Works, under which name it operated continually until it closed in 1990.
The Willamette locomotive was very similar to a Shay, but had several differences, as the company intended on making an "improved Shay", even though the "Pacific Coast Shay", later made by Lima, took up many of the features on the Willamette. The company built thirty-three of the type between 1922 and 1929. You can see other surviving Willamettes and find out more about their history and manufacture on the Western Lumber #7, Mt. Ranier Scenic Railrad, RAYO #4 and the Anderson & Middleton Lumber Co., #2 pages of this website.
The Crown Zellerbach Corporation was incorporated in 1924 by the union of the Zellerbach Corporation founded in 1924 and Crown Willamette Paper Co., founded in about 1870. After the merger, it became the second largest paper manufacturer in the United States producing newsprint, wrapping paper, paper bags and a variety of other paper products and, by the mid 1970s, it was one of the largest paper companies in the world.
In 1981, #6 was donated to the Western Washington Forest Industries Museum, and is now on display at the intersection of Division and River St in Cathlamet, WA. The net fencing makes it impossible to get good photos of the engine.
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Location of Crown Zellerbach #6
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