Shay Locomotive No. 2005

The 36-ton Shay was built in October 1907 by the Lima Locomotive and Machine Works in Ohio for W. T. Carter and Brother Lumber Company, according to Stephen F. Austin State University. It hauled timber to the Manning and Camden mills until the early 1920s, then sat unused at a Camden siding for nearly half a century. In 1970 it was donated to the university and stood outside the Forestry Building. In 2021 it left for Harbor Springs, Michigan, home of its inventor Ephraim Shay, to be restored; its log car went to a Louisiana museum.

What the plaque says

Shay Locomotive No. 2005 Vertical-piston drive and direct-gear design was patented, 1880, by Ephraim Shay. This 36-ton engine was built by Lima Locomotive and Machine Co., 1907, for Behring Co. of Texas, and soon purchased by W. T. Carter and Bro. Lumber Co. Carter used it first on tram roads from forest to mills at Manning and Camden, and later on the company-owned Moscow, Camden & San Augustine Railroad. In early 1920s, it was parked on a siding at Camden, where it remained until 1970, when it was brought here. Attached log car was used during same period by Angelina County Lumber Co. (1973)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Site of the Home of William Clark, Jr. — 0.2 mi
• Old Spanish Cemetery — 0.2 mi
• Robert Bruce Blake — 0.2 mi
• Site of the Home of James Dill — 0.2 mi