The Granby Museum acquires a steam locomotive

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

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

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

According to the museum, the narrow-gauge Shay locomotive was built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1922. It weighs 154,400 pounds with 12-by-15-inch cylinders and 34-inch conductors. An oil burner, this locomotive ran at 200 PSI boiler pressure 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 at Silver Plum and ran the Georgetown Loop.

It moved to Georgetown in 2004 for display and was transferred four years later to the Royal Gorge Route Railroad in Canon City. The Shay will be moved to the Moffat Road Railroad Museum 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 several logging and sawmill operations on the line, particularly in Grand County.
*Moffat Road Railway Museum*

A truck will transport the locomotive to Granby, then a crane service will help position it on the display track. Date and time will be announced with updates available at http://www.facebook.com/moffatroadrailroadmsueum.

Naples said the museum will highlight that the Shay is a forestry locomotive. The Moffat Railroad had several logging and sawmill operations on the line, particularly throughout Grand County.

**The Granby Railway Museum is continuing work on its expansion plan, contemplated in this rendering. Work on the second phase is expected to be completed by 2023, according to the museum director.**
*Dave Naples / Moffat Road Railway Museum*

The museum plans to build an exhibit showcasing the logging and sawmill industry in the 1920s and 1930s with No. 8 as its centerpiece.

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

The Moffat Road Railroad Museum is currently in phase two of its expansion plan, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2023.

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