Tollie

The Shay locomotive invented in 1879 by Ephraim E. Shay, a bearded Michigan logger who did not have speed in mind, was patented in June of 1881. It is a gear-drive locomotive powered by three cylinders tied to a line shaft that is geared to all the wheels on the right side. At 10 mph, the staccato bark of her exhaust sounds like a high-wheeled flyer of a bygone day rolling down the high iron at 70 mph.

According to a quote from “End of an Era”, a booklet about steam railroad logging published by Rayonier Inc., the Shay traveled almost anywhere that tracks could be laid. It could traverse steep grades and twist its way around short radius curves that rod-drive locomotive could never have managed. It could find traction on rails laid on floating ties set on road beds of little more than forest humus. It could safely traverse shaky timber spans that men of the woods put together with more optimism than skill, to cross rivers, streams, and deep ravines in the forests. Where other locomotives could not venture, the Shay was sent to do the job.

This Shay was built by the Lima Locomotive Works, Lima, Ohio, in 1924 for the Phoenix Logging Company in Potlatch but came directly to the Simpson Timber Company when it was completed. It was last used in the high woods of 1949 and then used by Simpson in the Shelton area until 1955 when it moved to McCleary, Washington, where it was used until it was retired in February of 1958.

“Tollie” was originally named “The Ted Elliot” after the first superintendent of Simpson’s railroad. It was renamed “Tollie” in honor of Mrs. Sol Simpson when it was donated to the City of Shelton by the Simpson Timber Company on May 22, 1959, as part of the 15th annual Mason County Forest Festival.
She was originally located in Brewer Park, but was moved to the grassy strip in front of the Shelton Post Office on Railroad Avenue on May 22, 1983, in time for the 39th annual Forest Festival – exactly 24 years to the day from its move to Brewer Park. The project to move “Tollie” to the location of Simpson Timber Company’s longtime mainline track was a joint effort of the City of Shelton and the Chamber , to honor the area’s railroad timber heritage.