Hillcrest #1 Shay: Start of Day Routine

The recently rebuilt Hillcrest #1 Shay locomotive starts its day by being pulled from the shop, has its fire lit, and gets steamed up. The view is from the shop entrance, looking at the locomotive's nose as the crew attend to their various tasks.
The Shay then runs down the shop lead and switchback track to the mainline and gets into position at Alderlea Station, ready to pull the visitor train.

These scenes are on the narrow-gauge Cowichan Valley Railway at the BC Forest Discovery Centre, in North Cowichan on Vancouver Island.
Seen on August 5, 2024.

Photo Album Link is here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1320134...

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Chapter Markers:
0:00 - Shay Pulled from Shop
2:24 - Fire Lit
3:29 - Early Tasks
5:07 - Blow Down
6:40 - Side View
7:58 - Air Compressor View
8:48 - Raising Steam
9:31 - Fast Rhythm
10:18 - Final Preparations
11:03 - Moving Out
12:10 - Down the Switchback
13:20 - Reversing Up
13:49 - Alderlea Station Arrival
14:31 - Hillcrest Shay History
16:48 - Rebuild Project

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The Hillcrest #1 Shay is a narrow-gauge oil burning steam locomotive in the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

This Class-B Shay has a present-era weight of approximately 28 tons. She was construction number 3147 in 1920 at the factory in Lima Ohio, USA.

After a pre-delivery factory conversion from narrow-gauge to standard-gauge, she arrived at Hillcrest Lumber on Vancouver Island in early 1921, and worked for Hillcrest Lumber in Sahtlam, and then for other companies in the Cowichan Valley and Crofton until 1963.

Following conversion back to narrow-gauge and oil burning, she was donated to the newly formed Cowichan Valley Forest Museum which opened in 1965. This museum is now known as the BC Forest Discovery Centre, located on Drinkwater Road in North Cowichan, on Vancouver Island.

The Hillcrest #1 Shay was one of the steam locomotives that pulled the visitor train in the early years of the forest museum, and she did this from the late 1960s until 1998. Following this, she went into storage, and the visitor train was then pulled mainly by the Vulcan #25 "Samson" steam locomotive.

A rebuild project was started in 2016 and was completed in Spring 2024. The Hillcrest #1 Shay is now being tested in-service, pulling the visitor train on various days during weekends in Summer 2024.

The locomotive's steam whistle is a 4 chime Kinsley.

https://bcforestdiscoverycentre.com/p...