The week, I have a little story of railroad research.
... about this drawing...
Once upon a time, Max wanted to adapt the Atlas Shay to match Portland Railway Light & Power #1 (PRLP #1).
This standard-gauge Shay operated on the Clackamas River not 10 miles from my house beginning in 1923 on the
Oak Grove Hyrdoelectric Project.
I started with some internet surfing. I found a couple of photos. I found the
actual serial number assigned to the engine by the builder, Lima, as s/n 3206.
More web surfing told me that the California State Railway Museum (CSRM) has a lot of Lima
drawings, so I checked with them. They will produce an entire index of every drawing they
have of a given locomotive, if you can provide them with the Lima builder's number. Then you can order
drawings from that index.
Lisa, at CSRM, found the side elevation drawing number (the one I really want), 428-A-5054. She
did not have that drawing, but referred me to the Allen Country Historical Society (ACHS), in Lima, OH,
because ACHS has a lot of Lima drawings, particularly of the logging locomotives.
I called ACHS, and then corresponded many times there with Charles. I gave him the drawing number.
He pored through their records but could not find it. He found a few others that were close,
and he really put in a lot of effort on my behalf.
Alas, no drawing. Undaunted, I pressed on.
I noted a name under the builder's photo I originally scarfed off the web, so I thought I'd search the
internet for that fellow (George) and see if I could contact him about this engine.
George returned a barrage of details about my project engine in a text file. The most interesting tidbit was that he
quoted the elevation drawing number as 428-A-5045. NOTICE! His number has the last two digits interposed
from the number I got from CSRM!
Back I go to Charles with the other number. And amazingly, George was right. The museums had it wrong.
5045 was the correct number, Charles had the drawing, and he made a full sized copy which cost me only
$15, including the mailing cost (it came as a 48" drawing rolled up in a tube).
And so, from the internet to Lisa to Charles to George, and back to Charles. And today, after about 3 weeks of digging,
calling and checking, I got my prize in the mail. When the 0-6-0 is done, I'm ready.
And thus concludes my little story with the happiest of endings. Be not discouraged. The drawings are out there!
The End
