Each summer a group from our church head up to Hume Lake camp in the Sequoia notional forest. A few of us venture into the wilderness to search for items from old logging myths that we have been told of. So far we have found the legendary missing camp 7, an abandoned steam donkey, some of the tracks ties and lots of cables. This past summer someone told us of a shay locomotive that derailed and went off the mountain down into a ravine never to be seen again. A few days ago a friend sent me the following e-mail. Myth?
There is a missing Shay Locomotive somewhere near Hume. During the logging days, the Hume-Bennett Company owned three Shay locomotives, numbered 1, 2, and 3. Legend has it that one spring, locomotive #1 slid off of the track somewhere near Camp 7 and plummeted down the mountainside. Records of the locomotive’s existence have been verified by Hume Lake staff—three were purchased according to purchase slips, three were photographed throughout their time in the Hume Bennett fleet, and just two—locomotives 2 and 3—were sold with sale slips. The locomotives were a large asset to the company, rendering the sale of all three likely, especially given the sale of the other two and the sale of less valuable equipment. It would seem, given all of the proof that locomotive #1 did exist and the proof that it was not sold when the others were, that the legend of its demise is true. Despite years of searching, only one person has ever been documented to have found the Shay since it went missing—a Forest Service ranger in the district during the 1950s, as “verified” by a picture of him standing on the Shay shown to Hume’s Director At Large. Many believe that it’s out there, but no one now living has been able to find the legendary shay.
We are looking for any information about the existence this shay and of its known whereabouts or anything that might be of help in finding out if this is a myth. We are planning to search for it this summer. If you have any information we would love to hear from you.
Thanks Lindsey
