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| The legendary Bebelheimer Shay |
The Seven Mountains region has no shortage of legends and lore. Tales of mysterious creatures and residual spirits are an integral part of the its rich culture. However, one enduring legend stands out from the rest. It is neither the wraith of man nor beast, though it seems to be quite elusive all the same. Many have tried to prove its existence, to confirm the rumors and stories from old timers who claimed to see it with their own eyes decades before. All of those who have tried have failed to catch a glimpse of this specter that haunts its mountainous abode.
This “ghost” is not a translucent figure floating through the woods, but a product of man crafted from iron, steel, and wood. It once inhabited the mountain when the steady rhythm of crosscut saws and double bit axes still echoed through the hollows. Tradition holds that it never left..
The legend begins with Daniel Bebelheimer, a lumberman from Port Carbon, PA who came to the Seven Mountains in the early 1900’s to cut what timber remained amongst the rugged ridges and hollows. As part of his operation, Bebelheimer utilized a narrow-gauge railroad that ran from Milroy, Mifflin County westward into Huntingdon County. He then purchased a small second-hand Shay locomotive to transport the timber from the mountain. Shays were unique steam locomotives that used a series of gears rather than rods to power the wheels, a design that produced the immense torque required to haul heavy loads up steep grades. Where the Shay came from is unknown, but it was reported as being second hand.
As legend tells, one day while the Shay was in the woods, it suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure that stopped it in its tracks. As there was no way to tow the locomotive all the way back to Milroy, the crew had no alternative but to leave the engine where it was. Other lumbermen who were supposedly there reported that the engine was rolled off the tracks to get it out of the way. In a cacophony of hissing steam and shearing metal, the wounded engine tumbled down the steep mountainside, parts flying in all directions. Whatever the ending may have been, the engine never made it back to Milroy.
With no engine, Bebelheimber’s operation came to an abrupt end. The tracks were pulled up and nature was left to reclaim the denuded mountain. While new trees and vegetation began taking root in the years after the loggers left, the question of what happened to the Shay planted itself in the minds of the curious. For generations, many have searched the mountain for the lost engine. To this day, no one has ever found even a trace of it.
So is the old Bebelheimer Shay still out there somewhere in the Seven Mountains? The following is my dissection of the legend. At the end I will offer my thoughts on whether or not you should lace up your boots for the hunt...
First up is the basis of the story, lumbermen leaving an engine out in the woods due to some sort of accident or mechanical failure. Has this actually happened? The answer is yes. Equipment that was not worth retrieving was written off if costs of recovery exceeded the financial value. Did it happen often? Not really. Locomotives and related equipment represented investments and were often the most expensive parts of the operation. As such, they would be retrieved with the help of backwoods ingenuity and raw muscle. Even if equipment was abandoned, it was usually stripped of valuable parts to recoup some of the monetary loss, which is why rolling the engine down the mountain makes no sense from a financial standpoint.
Has anyone actually found the engine? To date, there have been zero reputable accounts of locating the locomotive. Stories of its discovery are the same ones that have been recycled over the decades. Many repeat the same basic story. A well known version involves two men who were cutting over the mountain back to Milroy. Along the way, they happened upon a completely intact engine encased within a dense thicket. However, as darkness was quickly approaching, they didn’t have time to study it. Since the location lacked any discernible landmarks, the two men could not pinpoint where they had spotted the locomotive and it remained lost.
All of these so-called “discovery stories” share this commonality. Nowhere have I found a story that mentioned some sort of landmark or rough location. For the men taking the shortcut, this doesn’t make sense. If they had enough familiarity to cross over the mountains, especially so close to dark, then one would think they’d be able to name the closest trail, ridge, hollow, or stream that they evidently had some knowledge of if they were using the route as a shortcut. Oftentimes, the men in the story are substituted for hunters, yet any hunter worth their salt would be able to provide these details. All these concocted stories do is provide enough details to intrigue and persuade others to take on the hunt.
A trade publication from January 5, 1905 that I discovered while researching this topic may finally put this legend to rest. A small advertisement within it seems to point towards a less mysterious ending for the locomotive.
Is the Shay still out there? I don’t believe so, but stories like the Bebelheimer Shay will always enchant us with their themes of the unknown. Across the state, there are many other lost engine legends with a similar progression of events. Are some of these true? Only research and exploration will slowly dwindle the list. Regardless if these tales have any validity, they are part of the rich history of this storied region.
*If anyone can produce evidence or documentation to support that the Shay is still out there, I would very much like to see it.
Chilton Company (1905). The iron age, 75. (1) Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=3hpKAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA105&dq=shay+engine+%2B+milroy+pa&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgwt75uvLjAhWRJ80KHS62ANwQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=shay%20engine%20%2B%20milroy%20pa&f=false
Kline. Benjamin,F.G.,Jr.(1971). Pitch pine and prop timber. Lycoming Printing Company.
Pennsylvania Department of Forestry and Waters (1910). Report of the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry for 1908-1909. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=iK5UAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Taber, Thomas.(1987). Railroads of Pennsylvania encyclopedia and atlas. Retrieved from http://books.northwestern.edu/viewer.html?id=inu:inu-mntb-0005794486-bk
This “ghost” is not a translucent figure floating through the woods, but a product of man crafted from iron, steel, and wood. It once inhabited the mountain when the steady rhythm of crosscut saws and double bit axes still echoed through the hollows. Tradition holds that it never left..
The legend begins with Daniel Bebelheimer, a lumberman from Port Carbon, PA who came to the Seven Mountains in the early 1900’s to cut what timber remained amongst the rugged ridges and hollows. As part of his operation, Bebelheimer utilized a narrow-gauge railroad that ran from Milroy, Mifflin County westward into Huntingdon County. He then purchased a small second-hand Shay locomotive to transport the timber from the mountain. Shays were unique steam locomotives that used a series of gears rather than rods to power the wheels, a design that produced the immense torque required to haul heavy loads up steep grades. Where the Shay came from is unknown, but it was reported as being second hand.
As legend tells, one day while the Shay was in the woods, it suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure that stopped it in its tracks. As there was no way to tow the locomotive all the way back to Milroy, the crew had no alternative but to leave the engine where it was. Other lumbermen who were supposedly there reported that the engine was rolled off the tracks to get it out of the way. In a cacophony of hissing steam and shearing metal, the wounded engine tumbled down the steep mountainside, parts flying in all directions. Whatever the ending may have been, the engine never made it back to Milroy.
With no engine, Bebelheimber’s operation came to an abrupt end. The tracks were pulled up and nature was left to reclaim the denuded mountain. While new trees and vegetation began taking root in the years after the loggers left, the question of what happened to the Shay planted itself in the minds of the curious. For generations, many have searched the mountain for the lost engine. To this day, no one has ever found even a trace of it.
So is the old Bebelheimer Shay still out there somewhere in the Seven Mountains? The following is my dissection of the legend. At the end I will offer my thoughts on whether or not you should lace up your boots for the hunt...
First up is the basis of the story, lumbermen leaving an engine out in the woods due to some sort of accident or mechanical failure. Has this actually happened? The answer is yes. Equipment that was not worth retrieving was written off if costs of recovery exceeded the financial value. Did it happen often? Not really. Locomotives and related equipment represented investments and were often the most expensive parts of the operation. As such, they would be retrieved with the help of backwoods ingenuity and raw muscle. Even if equipment was abandoned, it was usually stripped of valuable parts to recoup some of the monetary loss, which is why rolling the engine down the mountain makes no sense from a financial standpoint.
Has anyone actually found the engine? To date, there have been zero reputable accounts of locating the locomotive. Stories of its discovery are the same ones that have been recycled over the decades. Many repeat the same basic story. A well known version involves two men who were cutting over the mountain back to Milroy. Along the way, they happened upon a completely intact engine encased within a dense thicket. However, as darkness was quickly approaching, they didn’t have time to study it. Since the location lacked any discernible landmarks, the two men could not pinpoint where they had spotted the locomotive and it remained lost.
All of these so-called “discovery stories” share this commonality. Nowhere have I found a story that mentioned some sort of landmark or rough location. For the men taking the shortcut, this doesn’t make sense. If they had enough familiarity to cross over the mountains, especially so close to dark, then one would think they’d be able to name the closest trail, ridge, hollow, or stream that they evidently had some knowledge of if they were using the route as a shortcut. Oftentimes, the men in the story are substituted for hunters, yet any hunter worth their salt would be able to provide these details. All these concocted stories do is provide enough details to intrigue and persuade others to take on the hunt.
A trade publication from January 5, 1905 that I discovered while researching this topic may finally put this legend to rest. A small advertisement within it seems to point towards a less mysterious ending for the locomotive.
The ad was for a complete logging outfit up for sale in Milroy by a salvage company. It lists various pieces of track, a portable sawmill, and other equipment indicative of a small logging railroad operation. On the list is a 20-ton Shay locomotive. The size is about right for the Bebelheimer Shay and so is the gauge. According to renowned logging railroad authors Thomas Taber III and Benjamin Kline Jr., no other logging operation in the area at the time had a Shay locomotive. That leaves only Bebelheimer’s engine as the subject of the advertisement.
The date of the ad also matches the year the Bebelheimer reportedly ceased operations according to the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters. If this ad is indeed referring to Bebelheimer’s Shay, then evidently it made it out of the woods under its own power or the lumbermen found a way to move it. There is no mention of it being damaged in the ad. Where this interesting story originated from or if any factual aspects are present will probably never be known.
The date of the ad also matches the year the Bebelheimer reportedly ceased operations according to the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters. If this ad is indeed referring to Bebelheimer’s Shay, then evidently it made it out of the woods under its own power or the lumbermen found a way to move it. There is no mention of it being damaged in the ad. Where this interesting story originated from or if any factual aspects are present will probably never be known.
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| The ad that may finally solve the mystery From: The Iron Age January 5, 1905 issue |
Is the Shay still out there? I don’t believe so, but stories like the Bebelheimer Shay will always enchant us with their themes of the unknown. Across the state, there are many other lost engine legends with a similar progression of events. Are some of these true? Only research and exploration will slowly dwindle the list. Regardless if these tales have any validity, they are part of the rich history of this storied region.
*If anyone can produce evidence or documentation to support that the Shay is still out there, I would very much like to see it.
Information Retrieved From:
Kline. Benjamin,F.G.,Jr.(1971). Pitch pine and prop timber. Lycoming Printing Company.
Pennsylvania Department of Forestry and Waters (1910). Report of the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry for 1908-1909. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=iK5UAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Taber, Thomas.(1987). Railroads of Pennsylvania encyclopedia and atlas. Retrieved from http://books.northwestern.edu/viewer.html?id=inu:inu-mntb-0005794486-bk
the kline books layout the timeline of kulp selling out and leaving , as 1905 , and selling a shay .and tracks , 1905 was before bebelheimer started . so db probably bought kulps shay and track from milroy
ReplyDeleteKulp had a shay at his Lewisburg operation but not at his Milroy one. See Klines book no 2 logging series.
ReplyDeleteKline (author of book no 2 logging series) does state that Bebelhiemer had a second shay engine in a distant location.
ReplyDelete