My father loves trains. And, perhaps as a consequence, we've built more than a few over the years. His passion for trains runs deep - we have laid over 500 feet of track around the shop with more to go. Steam trains, of course, are his favourite and he is particularly fond of shay locomotives. The shay has a system of gears which sets it apart from the direct drive system commonly seen on steam trains.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that long before we ever built a shay my father was drawing them. In fact, my father's fascination with the shay locomotive dates back at least to 1978.

I can't claim this is my father's oldest shay but it is certainly the oldest in my collection.