I thought that was just great. They didn't have to do that. Lee Riley, product development director for Bachmann's international empire, says they did. Cass isn't a museum. It's a living, breathing entity.
People come from all over the world to visit Cass.
Cass's Shay No. 5 is the last remaining Shay locomotive that is still running on the rails it was bought to serve. Built in 1905, the engine was delivered to the Cass area brand-new. Shay locomotives were invented at the end of the 19th century by Ephraim Shay to haul logs out of the mountains. Ordinary engines couldn't handle the steep climbs, twisting turns and poor rails necessary on logging railroads, so Shay came up with a design that spread the engine's weight evenly over several sets of powered wheels. Shays could go where other engines couldn't, and more than 3,000 were built and sold all over the world.