J. Neils Lumber Company Shay number 5 sits in the station at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) at night as they wait to depart with a pull, push, caboose train, with Commonwealth Edison 4 on the other end, on September 16th, 2023, during the museum’s 70th anniversary celebration weekend at Union, Illinois.
According to the IRM Website: J. Neils Lumber Company 5 is the museum’s only geared locomotive. It is a Shay, designed with three cylinders mounted vertically on the engineer’s side that power a drive shaft running the length of the engine alongside the wheels. This allows all wheels to be powered using bevel gears. Shays were extremely slow but were powerful and could negotiate uneven track and sharp curves, making them popular with logging and mining companies.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, Nikon 10-24 @ 24mm, f/3.5, 30 seconds, ISO 160.