Pickering Lumber Co. No. 11 is a Shay - 3 truck built in 1929 by the Lima Locomotive Works for the Forest Lumber Company of Pine Ridge, OR, as #5.
In late 1940, when Forest Lumber shut down, #5 was sold to the Pickering Lumber Corporation in Standard, CA, and renumbered #11.
The locomotive then hauled log trains for Pickering until late 1964 when the company converted to diesel motive power.
Two years later, #11 was sold to Tom Irion and trucked to the Western Railway Museum near Rio Vista, CA, where it occasionally operated. In 1969, it was bought by Gus Peterson who planned to use #11 on the Klamath & Hoppow Valley Railroad.
In 1981, #11 was bought by the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad and Logging Museum where it would be restored to haul the tourist train but then it returned to steam in the early 1990s.
Today it's still at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad and Logging Museum but the locomotive is out of service. It hasn't been in operation since 2001, requiring the full 1472-day/15-yr FRA inspection and required repairs. It is on display at Mineral, WA.
Trivia[]
- It is one of twenty-four Pacific Coast Shays designed by Lima to compete with output from the Willamette Iron & Steel Company in Portland, OR. Willamette included as standard many features that Lima charged extra for but, on the Pacific Coast Shay, Lima offered the same features as Willamette.
- In early 1941, soon after being delivered, the engine was badly burned in a roundhouse fire.
- The company decided #11 was not worth repairing and planned to scrap the locomotive.