THE CliShay PROJECT
THE WHOLE ENCHILADA
ie all of the chapters
Don
and Dave’s
Big Adventure
It’s mid
May 2023. Kids are counting the days until school is out and parents
are preparing to batten down the hatches.
Don
and Dave, set out to bring the Original CliShay home to Cincinnati.
Its May 15, 2023 8:00 am. Don is the President of Cinder Sniffers,
Inc. and Dave the corresponding secretary.
The
return of the CliShay to Cincinnati
spans
2 countries, 6 states, 170 years, 7 Cinder Sniffers members and 5
owners. It’s a story of unimaginable coincidence, luck and
perseverance. The CliShay is a steam powered 7-1/2” gauge
locomotive designed and built by Bob Maynard in the late 1970’s.
Follow
along as we track Don and Dave’s big adventure aka The CliShay
Comes Home.
The genesis of the story goes back to the middle 1800’s. Europe was in turmoil and opportunities were scarce. More than one million Germans left home. Early emigrants wrote home of the opportunities and readily available land. The trip would take from one to several weeks depending upon the type of ship. At this time, the population of the US was just 24 million.
The Brehms came to the US during this time as did my ancestors. The Brehms entered through New Orleans and settled in the Cincinnati area. They would become an important part of the CliShay Project.
The Brehms stayed in Cincinnati until 1909. While having lunch in Pratt Kansas, the great grandson of Jacob Brehm told us his great grandfather boarded a train in Cincinnati bound for Pratt Kansas in 1909. Other family members remained in the Cincinnati area.
As a side note, it was lunchtime and the great grandson gave us directions to several nice restaurants in Pratt . We opted for the local McDonalds. After we received our order, the great grandson was spotted in McDonalds! We were invited to join him and had a nice conversation.
Now for the actual construction of the original CliShay.
Bob Maynard, one of the founders of Cinder Sniffers, had an idea to design and build a steam powered locomotive which could be built by someone with limited equipment and limited machining skills. When the locomotive was completed, it could be operated by someone with limited operating skills. This was somewhat of a tall task. Building a steam engine with close tolerances and operating a steam engine takes some skill.
As Bob built the CliShay, he chronicled the adventure with articles which were eventually published in Live Steam magazine. Bill Fitt, the publisher of Live Steam had several telephone conversations with Bob regarding simple steam locomotives which were somewhat akin to the logging locomotives.
The logging locomotives of the 1880 era featured vertical boilers,geared drives and vertical or slanted cylinders. They could easily navigate sharp curves, steep grades and uneven track. The Shay locomotive was built in Lima Ohio and the Climax locomotive was built in Cory Pennsylvania. The Shay and Climax were the inspiration for Bob’s creation. Was Bob’s locomotive a ShayMax or a CliShay?
Bob’s work on the CliShay began in 1975 and the first article appeared in Live Steam in November 1977. Doris Fitt, wife of publisher Bill Fitt purchased the CliShay as a Christmas gift in 1975. A cardboard cutout of the CliShay was the gift until the original locomotive was completed and delivered to the Fitts in Michigan.
Bill Fitt enjoyed the CliShay for several years. In fact, several copies of the locomotive were made by members of Cinder Sniffers and others world wide. Bob Maynard published a book about the construction of the CliShay. The second printing is still available on Amazon and many other sites. Maynard estimated 200 CliShays were built at the time of his passing in 2010. A quick internet search for CliShay shows examples in UK, New Zealand and Australia. We are constantly finding additional copies of the CliShay. There is at least one YouTube channel by a young man who is currently building a CliShay. It’s no wonder so many have been built. They are ideal for the novice builder and inexperienced operator.
Then one day in 1993, as the story goes, a member of Cinder Sniffers was reading the classified ads in a copy of MODELTEC. This was long before the days of the internet. Apparently Bill Fitt passed away and his wife and son posted an ad for the original CliShay. It was more than a coincidence that a member of Cinder Sniffers read the ad and arranged the purchase of the original CliShay within 30 minutes of reading the ad. The Original CliShay was returning home. It had traveled 700 miles of the 2400 mile total journey. The next trip will be much longer.
The CliShay was to be enjoyed by a member of Cinder Sniffers and his wife (who had her own CliShay) for several years.
A visitor to the Cinder Sniffers track introduced Darrel Brehm to the CliShay. Brehm was an avid train enthusiast from Kansas. He mentioned a desire to purchase a CliShay if one became available. Brehm had an extensive HO scale collection, a real caboose and a 7 ½” gauge track at his home in Pratt, KS.
What are the chances of two brothers, one from Pratt, KS and the other from Wichita connecting with a hobby shop in Lancaster, OH 950 miles away? The Brehm brothers were driving and listening to NPR. The topic was small business and how they were coping. The NPR host asked the representative of The Smoke Stack Hobby Shop of Lancaster, Oh what was their forte? The response was, “We specialize in selling collections”. The brothers knew they had found a way to dispose of their father’s collection. Lancaster, Oh is southeast of Columbus, Ohio, 950 miles from Pratt, Ks and 123 miles from Cincinnati.
It took several truckloads to remove the collection and the work began on advertising the sale of the pieces. 1200 locomotives and thousands of cars! All but 12 of the locomotives worked! Thanks to the internet, the collection was seen in Cincinnati by Denis Larrick a longtime member of Cinder Sniffers!
Denis was looking at a train collection ad on Facebook. After thumbing through numerous pages of HO equipment, the listing showed some railroad memorabilia and 7 ½” gauge equipment. Along with some riding cars and 2 locomotives was an unusual black locomotive with “100” on the right hand side of the body. In an instant Denis recognized the CliShay as THE ONE BOB MAYNARD BUILT nearly 50 years ago. After a quick converation with one of the former owners of the engine, it was declared to be the ORIGINAL CliShay!
The word of the discovery was sent out to the Cinder Sniffer members in April 2023. The excitement quickly spread. Offers came in to assist in the return of the Original CliShay. One member generously offered to purchase the locomotive and several offered to make the trip to Pratt, KS. ROADTRIP!!!!
We made it to the Ottowa Comfort Inn on schedule and crashed for the night.
The next morning we headed for Pratt. The 3 ½ hour drive didn’t seem daunting. Somehow we managed to resist the temptation to visit 3 of the nearby landmarks. The worlds largest ball of twine, the worlds largest hand dug well and the B 29 museum. One attraction was worthwhile, the other 2 not so much. The ball of twine speaks for itself and largest hand dug well had some use, but the B 29 museum is a part of our history. WWII crews were trained on the B 29 in Pratt. Much of the original airfield is now cattle holding pens. Who knew!?
The GPS didn’t fail us as we saw a sign directing us to the Pratt farm.
We arrived at the Brehm farm in late morning before Steve Brehm. We looked around and saw the 71/2” gauge track and engine house. The engine house has a collection of riding and freight cars. Unfortunately the original Bob Maynard riding car that accompanied the CliShay was nowhere to be found. We took advantage of our time while waiting for Steve. We looked around the farm and then…...
We found it! The Original CliShay could be seen through a window in the barn. Needless to say, we were very excited (and relieved) to finally see the engine. We could also see the partially completed CliShay as well. While looking at the picture of the CliShay, we noticed a cardboard tray for Sam Adams beer! Samuel Adams beer is brewed by the Boston Beer Company, which was founded by Jim Koch. Koch comes from a long line of Cincinnati brewers.
Steve invited us to look around the barn for anything that might belong with the CliShay. There was a lot of pieces and parts on a large table. The table was prepared for the upcoming auction. We found several small piles of parts for the partially compled CliShay. The Original was intact. Very little effort was needed to load it up.
After we loaded up, it was about 2:00. Steve gave us directions to 2 of the restaurants in Pratt. They seemed easy enough to find, but McDonalds was on the way. We ordered and looked for an open table. THERE WAS STEVE! He explained he likes McDonalds but his wife doesn’t. We had a nice conversation. Steve is a local farmer and was explaining how he manages his production expenses from equipment maintenance to crop sales. Steve is a businessman who happens to be a farmer. For 2 retirees, the conversation was enjoyable.
The journey took us from Pratt back to the Comfort Inn in Ottowa,KS. (We didn’t unpack) I’m not going to say the drive was boring, but mundane things like a grain silo became photo worthy.
The fuel tank holds 23 gallons. The gas stations are far between in parts of Kansas. There was an exciting few minutes while watching for anything that looked like a gas station. We almost didn’t make it!
In the middle of nowhere was a roundabout. The only nearby structures were barns!
We made it to our destination in Indianapolis without incident. Traffic was predictible. Don, Rick Weber and Dave unload the CliShay from the van at Rick’s.
Rick and Don wheel the CliShay into Rick’s shop. The cart was made by a member of Cinder Sniffers during the early days of the original CliShay. The cart is adjustable and breaks down for easy transport and included a small bridge section used to load the CliShay into vehicles.
Rick’s shop is well equipped. Here the CliShay spent the next few weeks while Rick went over it. The original boiler had been replaced. Somewhere along the line the boiler ran dry and was in need of repair. Rather than repair it, a new boiler was made by the builder, Bob Maynard before it was shipped to Pratt.
Steve Brehm said he didn’t think his father ever ran the CliShay. Steve and his family didn’t ride his father’s other trains much. After the van was emptied, there were only a few small cinders on the floor that had fallen out of the firebox. If the engine had been operated in Pratt, we would have probably had more cinders and coal on the floor.
Almost home! After many miles, but not much else, the trip was about to conclude. Very few things of note occurred and that was a good thing. Lots of planning, emails and old fashioned telephone calls paid off.
The Original CliShay sits on the turntable at its new home at the Bob and Ev Maynard Live Steam Railroad Park, home of the Cinder Sniffers.
The plaque attached to the original CliShay .
And so the fun begins at the home of the Original Clishay.
A great way to learn how to operate a steam engine.
.