Art & Words by
HOWARD B. TAYLOR

This painting is adapted from several photographs. The road is factual, being one built in Oregon in which the location brought it down the hill, across the trestle, around a hill, and back under itself. It shows both the bald and the business sides of the shay in a probable situation.

The boiler was offside to accommodate the compressor and gear side with added space and to balance weight. The engines shown are burning oil (top) and wood (bottom). The owner converted their engines at will. I have used re-reconverted locies. (J. H. Chambers owned three twice.)

Some shays were of comparable weight to locies in use on the main line roads. Power was needed to get the empties up the hill. The power wasted as loads came down must be conserved ; as pollution-free energy it must be used. Our only choice is the length of our dalliance.