1 is a three-truck or 'Class C' Shay steam locomotive that was originally owned by the Mount Emily Lumber Company.

[1] Before the engine was delivered to Independence Logging in Aberdeen, Washington, Hofius employees altered No.

1 was sold again to the just starting up Mount Emily Lumber Company and moved to Hilgard, Oregon by the Union Pacific Railroad.

The engine was used to pull log trains from the forests above Starkey, on a shortline between La Grande and Hilgard in Eastern Oregon.

[5] However, the salvage crew in charge of scrapping the former Mount Emily equipment was not informed about No.

[5] The engine was stored inside a Union Pacific roundhouse in La Grande until that facility was demolished in 1958, and No.

[5] At that time UP towed the Shay (with the line shafts still installed) at 10 mph from LaGrande all the way to Portland.

1 was found to be too tall and wide to fit through a tunnel on the way to Washington Park, and any alternative routes were deemed impractical.

1 to be a good candidate to operate in tourist service alongside the Cass Scenic Railroad’s other restored geared engines in West Virginia.

When the long-term loan expired in 1992, the OHS, with guidance expertise and help of railroad enthusiast Martin E. Hansen, reached an agreement with the City of Prineville Railway to have the Shay operate on their trackage around Prineville, Oregon.

1 less and less often, since insurance costs were rising, and growing businesses decreased the amount of available space to park a train to load passengers.

[5] After a decision was made deaccession the Shay, on April 1, 2022, the OHS issued a request for proposals while forming a committee of Railroad personnel to analyze a new owner and a new home for No.

[5] One of those proponents was the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation, which was in search for an active steam engine to use to pull their annual Christmas trains (Holiday Express) on the Oregon Pacific Railroad from Portland through to Oaks Park in Sellwood.

700 for the trains, but their heavy weight and long rigid wheelbases caused wear and damage to the Oregon Pacific trackage, and by 2022, both 4-8-4 engines were restricted from running on the Oregon Pacific Railroad along the Springwater Corridor through to Oaks Park.

Because of this, the Foundation needed a smaller engine that could accommodate the Oregon Pacific Railroad line while pulling the "Holiday Express" trains.

[8] On August 24, 2022, an OHS meeting was held that regarded who was to be the engine’s new selected owner, with all 3 of the proponents’ properties already being examined.

[5] A few days later on September 1, the OHS publicly announced that ownership of Mount Emily No.

[6][9] However, the Shay needs to be re-certified before it could operate along the Springwater Corridor on the Oregon Pacific Railroad to Oaks Park.