Prototype Information.
Willamette Iron & Steel opened their doors in 1865. Located on the
western bank of the Willamette River, adjacent to downtown Portland,
Oregon, Willamette became a well-respected manufacture of steam powered
logging equipment - yarder's, skidder's, donkeys, et al.
Willamette
Iron & Steel obviously enjoyed innovative management. "Thinkers,"
as we used to say, "who thought outside the box." While busily involved
in the logging equipment market, they began building an experience base,
performing maintenance and repairs on regional locomotives. Timber
operators chose Willamette in Portland for locomotive repair and
servicing, rather than endure the time and expense of sending equipment
from the Pacific Northwest all the way back to Lima, Ohio!
In November 1922, the first Willamette Geared Locomotive was delivered to Coos Bay Lumber Company. Lima responded with several improvements to its Shay, launching the “Pacific Coast Shay” in 1927. The Lima's "Pacific Coast" model incorporated improvements Willamette had incorporated on the "Willamette Geared" locomotive design!
The overall decline in orders as logging companies moved toward the use
of motor vehicles rather than rail, resulted in Willamette shuttering
their locomotive line. The last locomotive was
delivered to J. Neils Lumber Company of Klickitat, Washington on
December 27, 1929.
Engineering Information.
I have not found any engineering drawings of the locomotive to date. With the knowledge gained from servicing Shays, we do know from marketing brochures, etc, that Willamette Iron &
Steel offered three "shay type" locomotive models:
- a 50 ton, 2- truck, 11" diameter cylinders, with 13" stroke.
- a 70 ton, 3-truck, 12" diameter cylinders, with 15" stroke. 75-3.
- a 75 ton. 3-truck, 12½" diameter cylinders, with 15" stroke.
The Willamette Geared Locomotive can be identified because on all three cylinders the Walschaert's valve gear chambers face outward in contrast to the Shay's Stevenson type valve gear of which two face foreward and one rearward.
The WWSL
The WWSL would not have a Willamette Geared Locomotive on its roster. Neither would the OPLC, perfering Shay, Climax and/or Heisler locomotives working the logging spurs, like their prototype Schafer Brothers, Clemons Logging Company and Saginaw Timber Company.
Because I do not model logging spurs, it is not logical to prioritize modeling the Willamette Geared Locomotive. My plan is to have static models of Class 1 and Class 3 (logging) locomotives used in the Montesano Wa. area stored on a display shelf and maybe posed on the WWSL for a vignette photograph.
Modeling Information
I am unaware of any Willametter Geared Locomotive models. Kitbatching is possible using a Shay model as the base.
Bachman has a discontinued model of an 80 Ton 3 Truck Shay Locomotive. This model can be found occasionally on EBay.
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| Bachmann 80 Ton 3 Truck Shay Locomotive model |
Bachman also has the Cab w/Boiler Assembly, Cylinder Assembly and miscellaneous ancilliary parts available for purchase on their parts web site. The fact that it would be a non-powered model lends to an idea of purchasing the Cab, Boiler and Cylinders, scratchbuild the locomotive frame and tenders, and kitbatch the running gear.
I am going to 'super-detail' it but that effort is going to be later than sooner. I have in my railroad library several books/phamplets on the locomotives that I will use for that project. I will update this page when the project is completed.
Reference
Steve Hauff and Jim Gertz, “The Willamette Locomotive”
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Mt. Rainier Scenic
Railroad, Mineral, WA |
(Aerial View) |
http://www.gearedsteam.com/willamette/willamette.htm
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