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 Shay Locomotive
N 44° 14.938 W 085° 24.000
16T E 627741 N 4900770
A very neat historical marker located in downtown Cadillac with a fully restored Shay Locomotive displayed with it.
Waymark Code: WMARJD
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 02/18/2011
Views: 22
This is a two sided historical marker describing the Shay Locomotive that assisted with lumbering in the 1800's. In addition to the historical marker, there is a fully restored Shay Locomotive used by the Cadillac-Soo Lumber Company on display. This Waymark is also listed as a virtual cache.
Historical Date: 01/01/1898
Historical Name: Ephriam Shay
Description:
In the 1870's logging was a seasonal operation. Horses or oxen could drag logs over snow or ice trails to sawmills or rivers. But once the ground thawed, the logs could not be moved. Ephriam Shay (1839-1916), a logger from Harling, near Cadillac, was one of several people who decided that temporary railroad tracks and the right locomotive would allow lumbermen to haul logs year round. Shay envisioned a small but powerful locomotive that could operate on tracks with steep grades and sharp curves. He used vertical pistons and a flexible drive shaft to transfer power via gears to all the wheels beneath the engine and tender. This produced more power, less wear on the tracks, and the ability to negotiate tight curves.
Shay recieved patents for his geared locomotive in 1881. He had already granted the exclusive rightof the manufacture to Ohio's Lima Locomotive and Machine Company, which produced 2,770 Shay Locomotives from 1880-1945. Before he developed his successful locomotive, Shay experimented with tramways that used cars pulled by horses. However, on a downgrade the horses were in danger of being run over by runaway cars. Later, with the help of William Crippen, a Cadillac machinist, Shay built a rigid-drive locomotive; however, it tore up the wooden tracks then in use. Finally, he produced the geared locomotive with pivot-mounted trucks that bears his name. This Shay Locomotive built in 1898 was last used by the Cadillac-Soo Lumber Company. It was restored in 1985.
Parking nearby?: yes
D/T ratings: 
Registered Site #: Local Site #528
website: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:Take a photo of your GPS at the marker. We'd prefer a photo of you with your GPS, but we realize that sometimes that's just not possible or preferable.
Also include a bit about your visit to the marker.
NEW: Instructions for logging Missing Marker Visits.
If the Marker is missing, but still listed here, you must provide a photo of you at the actual item historically honored. (This should be the waymark's "default" image). Indicate in your log that you took your photo at the Historical Location instead of the marker, because the marker was missing. Please also still include a bit about your visit to the site.
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