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Granby museum to acquire steam locomotive

The Moffat Road Railroad Museum will be bringing this 1922 WestSide Lumber No. 8 Shay locomotive to Granby this month.
Moffat Road Railroad Museum

The Moffat Road Railroad Museum will be adding a 1922 locomotive to its growing collection this month.

The 1922 WestSide Lumber No. 8 three-truck Shay will be relocating from the Royal Gorge Route Railroad in Canon City to Granby this August, according to Dave Naples, executive director of the railroad museum.

According to the museum, the narrow gauge Shay locomotive was built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1922. It weighs 154,400 pounds with 12-inch by 15-inch cylinders and 34-inch drivers. An oil burner, this locomotive operated at a boiler pressure of 200 PSI and delivered 36,150 pounds of tractive effort.



The Shay was sold in 1966 to Malarkey Wall in Banks, Oregon. In 1977, it was leased to the Colorado Central Narrow Gauge Railroad in Silver Plum and ran on the Georgetown Loop.

It moved to Georgetown in 2004 for display and was relocated four years later to the Royal Gorge Route Railroad in Canon City. The Shay will be relocated to the Moffat Road Railroad Museum sometime this month.



The 1922 locomotive was used for logging and will be the centerpiece of a new logging exhibit at the Moffat Road Railroad Museum. The Moffat Road had multiple logging and sawmill operations on the line, especially in Grand County.
Moffat Road Railroad Museum

A truck will ferry the locomotive to Granby and then a crane service will assist in positioning it onto the display track. The date and time will be announced with updates available at http://www.facebook.com/moffatroadrailroadmsueum.

Naples said the museum will be highlighting the fact that the Shay is a logging locomotive. The Moffat Railroad had multiple logging and sawmill operations on the line, especially throughout Grand County.

Granby’s railroad museum continues work on its expansion plan, envisioned in this rendering. Phase two work should be completed by 2023, according to the museum's director.
Dave Naples / Moffat Road Railroad Museum

The museum plans to build an exhibit featuring the logging and sawmill industry in the 1920s and ’30s with the No. 8 as its centerpiece.

“We hope the local community will join the museum staff in welcoming this extraordinary railroad exhibit to its new home,” Naples said.

The Moffat Road Railroad Museum is currently in phase two of its expansion plan, which should be completed in Fall 2023.

The Shay No. 8 will be the second locomotive obtained by the museum this year. In January, the museum secured a 1906 caboose that was a part of the original Moffat Road Railroad.

Director Dave Naples helps the crane as it lowers the 32,000 pound original Moffat caboose in January at the Moffat Road Railroad Museum in Granby. The 1922 locomotive expected to arrive this month will also need a crane to place it on the display tracks.
Amy Golden / agolden@skyhinews.com
Moffat Road Railroad Museum

Summer hours: 10 a.m.- 5p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays, 1-4 p.m. Sundays

Where: 555 Park Lane, Granby next to Kaibab Park

More info: moffatroadrailroadmuseum.org

 


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