Locomotive #3 Traditional Cache
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This Shay #3 locomotive is a standard gauge, two truck, 60-ton
locomotive made by the Lima Locomotive & Machine Company of
Lima, Ohio. It was built on April 30, 1910 and sold to the Standard
Lumber Company in the timber-rich Sierra Nevada foothills in
Tuolumne County, California. That same year, the Standard Lumber
Company pressed this locomotive into service on the Sugar Pine
Railway, the steam-logging railroad division of the company. The
new engine hauled many flatcars filled with timber to the mill in
Standard where they were turned into lumber and sold all over the
state.
In 1925, #3 had a mishap and collided with another engine,
destroying the original wooden cab. The local workmen at Standard
Lumber Company fabricated the steel cab that can be seen today. It
put in many more years of service before being retired.
Around 1976 "Ol' Number 3", as she was called, was relocated to its
current location, the entrance to the Mother Lode Fairgrounds near
downtown Sonora
During a monsoon-like storm in 1996 this locomotive was almost lost
to posterity. May 15, 1996 brought 3.4 inches of rain in 24 hours,
half of that amount coming down in ONE hour (7 AM to 8 AM) A rain
guage on Big Hill collected 7.6 inches from Wednesday morning to
Thursday afternoon! The Save Mart supermarket had six inches of
standing water in it until the front doors were opened and then a
stream of once good merchandise was strewn into the parking lot and
beyond, up to a half-mile away!
Near the fairgrounds, the creek bulged against a bridge and ripped
out 200 feet of a slate wall protecting the creek's bank. All that
seemed to be holding the bank together was this 60 ton steam train!
Only now it was sitting on tracks that were hanging 3 ft. above the
missing bank below. Three tow trucks from Vic's Chevron were
dispatched to try and save the locomotive from sliding in to the
creek.
They attached six steel cables to the locomotive to stabilize it.
Working all day long, dump trucks hauled in over 300 yards of dirt
and rock to be carefully pushed under and around the giant machine
with backhoes. A 125-ton, $600 an hour crane was brought in from
Modesto to hoist Old Shay #3, one end at a time, onto new makeshift
tracks.
The Modesto Bee reported local city administrator Greg Applegate as
saying, " I don't know what it's going to cost, but it's worth it.
We're saving a piece of history". Thankfully, this piece of history
is still a local landmark and even gets some attention during the
holidays as it is decorated with Christmas lights. Sonora can be
proud to have such a fine piece of machinery welcome all who visit
this quaint little city in the heart of the gold country!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[SPOILER]pvgratnz, erczho
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