PORTLAND, Ore. — Mount Emily Lumber No. 1, a three-truck Shay locomotive, has arrived at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, completing its move from its former home at the City of Prineville Railway.
The locomotive, built by Lima in 1923, was donated by the lumber company to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in 1955, but the museum — unable to get the engine to its home at the time — donated it to the Oregon Historical Society in 1958. It was subsequently loaned to West Virginia in 1971, then returned to Oregon in 1994, with the City of Prineville becoming its operator and caretaker. When Prineville requested an end to the loan, the Historical Society — with no place to house the engine — sought a new owner and selected the Rail Heritage Center in 2022. The engine arrived at the heritage center early on Thursday, Feb. 15.
“The Oregon Historical Society sincerely appreciates the support of the City of Prineville in stewarding and operating the Mount Emily Shay for decades,” Oregon Historical Society Deputy Museum Director Nicole Yasuhara told the Portland Tribune. “We are thrilled that the Mount Emily Shay will have a new, permanent home at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, where it will be on view and used for excursions, balancing preservation and access to this important piece of Oregon history.”
After the engine undergoes the Federal Railroad Administration-required 1,472-day inspection, the center plans to use the locomotive for excursions along the Willamette River. It will also be part of a new exhibit on railroading’s role in the Pacific Northwest logging industry.
