Heritage Museum volunteers seek grant for Shay engine work

Libby’s Heritage Museum volunteers continue to work to restore a Shay locomotive train engine.

Museum board member Sherry Turner was at the Nov. 20 Lincoln County Commissioners meeting to share progress and seek a letter of support for a state grant. The commissioners did OK the letter.

At the Dec. 2 Libby City Council meeting, Turner further elaborated on the museum's plans.

"We are to the point with the engine, we need specialists to finish the work," Turner said. "There is a company in Tennessee we've spoken with and they are really interested in the job. They've restored one and would love to do another."

The Museum is going after a $2 million grant that would fund restoration work on the 118-year-old No. 4 engine, putting it back in working order. It would be the centerpiece for an “early 1900s logging history exhibit” where visitors could ride down a mile-long track and back to the Museum. 

The grant would be for a five-year period.

Museum board members said, "This project would create a unique new “Montana heritage tourism experience” for Libby, Lincoln County and the northwest corner of Montana."

The Cass Scenic Railroad State Park in West Virginia is a popular tourist destination where several Shay engines still operate. About 75,000 board the locomotives each year.

According to a story on american-rails.com/shay.html, the Shay locomotive was born in the 1870s when Ephraim Shay, a logger and inventor from Michigan, found locomotives at the time not up to the task for the steep, uneven tracks on logging and mining railroads.

There are a handful of other Shay engines in service in Washington, Colorado, California and the Midwest.

The No. 4 was built by Lima Locomotive Works in Ohio and began work in northern Minnesota for a logging company. 

In 1917, the Shay was brought to Libby where it hauled logs for J. Neils Lumber to the mill before trucks took over hauling in 1946. In 1963, St. Regis Lumber put the engine on display in Libby. A decade later, it was loaned to the museum.

“A Glacier Country Tourism Study said Libby needs an attraction to make people stay the night which would increase spending here,” Turner said. 

She said the board was also working with museums in the Troy and Eureka for letters of support. Turner added that the county Port Authority was also writing a letter of support for the endeavor. 

“The Port is also committed to giving us an easement for the railroad tracks,” Turner said.

In Libby, the Shay hauled logs, supplies and logging crews until about 1924. J. Neils Lumber Company bought four of the powerful engines during the early days of logging in Libby. 

Unlike traditional steam engines, the Shay locomotives were designed to operate in the mountains and to pull heavy loads up steep inclines.

Restoration began in 2011 on the engine.

The Tourism Grant Program is funded by the four percent Lodging Facility Use Tax, commonly known as the “Bed Tax.” Enacted by the 1987 Legislature, the Bed Tax is collected from guests of hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, guest ranches, resorts, short-term vacation rentals and campgrounds.

Lincoln County is part of the Western Montana Glacier Country Tourism Region, which includes the Blackfeet and Flathead Indian reservations and Flathead, Sanders, Lake, Mineral, Glacier, Missoula and Ravalli counties.

The Heritage Museum is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization run entirely by volunteers. New volunteers are always needed.  

Visit the website at www.libbyheritagemuseum.org which contains a link to its Facebook page to learn more about projects at the museum.