Friday Night Steam

Let's go all out for the end of the year - Steam Geared Engines!

          

GEARS!!!!

Info from: Steamlocomotive.com

Willamette

Willamette locomotives were essentially the same as Shay locomotives with a number of improvements. They were built by the Willamette Iron and Steel Works of Portland, OR after the original Shay patent expired. The improvements that the Willamettes had included:

• Superheaters (Shays usually did not have superheaters)
• Welded boilers (Shays used bolts)
• Walschaerts valve gear (Shays normally used Stephenson valve gear)
• Cylinders all facing the same direction (rear cylinders on Shays faced the rear) Compare: Willamette Willamette Shay
• All cylinders were positioned forward of the cab (the last cylinder on Shays protruded into the cab) Compare: Willamette Willamette Shay
• Valve chests turned outward
• Truck springs inclined toward the bolster
• Improved efficiency

Some of the later Shays included some of these improvements. Only 33 Willamettes were built. Of those 33, 6 still survive today.

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Willamette Shay Logging Locomotive built by Portland Iron Works in 1927. One of six left in the world, on display at the Railroad Park Resort, Dunsmuir, California. The Willamette locomotive was a geared locomotive of the Shay locomotive type, built by the Willamette Iron and Steel Works of Portland, Oregon. Key patents on the Shay locomotive had expired, and it was now possible for other manufacturers to produce Shay "clones". The Willamette locomotive was very similar to a Shay, but had many differences, as the company that made them intended on making an "improved Shay", even though the "Pacific Coast Shay", later made by Lima, took up many of the features on the Willamette. The differences were: All Willamettes were equipped with superheaters, while Shays usually were not. The boiler parts were welded together, instead of being bolted together. The Willamette locomotive used Walschaerts valve gear, while the Shay mainly used Stephenson valve gear. The rear cylinder on the Willamette was facing the same direction as the rest of the cylinders, while the two front cylinders on a Shay faced forward, with the rear cylinder facing backwards. The back cylinder on a Willamette was moved forward of the cab, while in a Shay, the back cylinder was almost protruding into the cab. The valve chests were turned outward. The truck springs were inclined towards the bolster. In a test done between a Shay and a Wilamette, the Shay pulled 27 empty cars, while the Willamette pulled 29 empty cars, as well as using 40% less fuel. All but one Willamette burned oil, despite their working for logging companies, where wood would be abundant. Oil burners produced few sparks, however, and were less likely to ignite a forest than coal- or wood-fired locomotives. The only coal-fired Willamette worked for Anaconda Copper. Six Willamettes survive; none are in working order although several are undergoing restoration. (Wikipedia)