Katherine Bickford

Bloedel, Stewart & Welch was formed in 1911 by US lumberman Julius Bloedel and railway contractors John Stewart and Patrick Welch. BS&W’s first logging operation was at Myrtle Point, near Powell River, for which the Shay was purchased new from the Lima Locomotive Works and assigned road number 1.

By 1925, Bloedel, Stewart & Welch had purchased and was logging extensive holdings of prime timber in the Union Bay, Menzies Bay and Alberni areas on Vancouver Island. No.1 worked at the Menzies Bay, Great Central Lake and Franklin River operations until 1937 , when it was transferred to the Franklin River Camp.

No.1 was taken to Vancouver in 1953 in preparation for sale to Philippine interests. When the deal fell-through, the locomotive was sent to the company’s Chemainus Division, where it was lettered as M&B No.1, reflecting the amalgamation of Bloedel, Stewart & Welch with H.R. MacMillan Export, which created MacMillan & Bloedel Limited.

• Type: 2-truck Shay 42 ton Lima, Class B, three cylinders
• Built: 1911, Lima Locomotive Works, Ohio
• Construction number: 2475.
• Weight: 42 tons.
• Cylinder dimensions: 10×12.
• Boiler-pressure: 180 pounds per square inch.
• Hauling capacity on straight level track: 2070 tons
• Gauge: standard (56.5 inches)
• Fuel: wood.
• Braking system: Lima steam engine-brake (later fitted with air train-brakes).

No.1 was purchased by local lumberman and museum founder, Gerry Wellburn, as the first item of a large personal collection that would become the Cowichan Valley Forest Museum in 1964. The engine was put on display at the museum entrance in 1966.