{"nrhp_refnum":"78000360","name":"Hetch Hetchy Railroad Engine No.6","other_names":["Engine (Locomotive) No. 6","Shay No. 6"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"CA 140","address_restricted":false,"city":"El Portal","county":"Mariposa County","state":"CA","lat":37.67504579800004,"lon":-119.78038112399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-01-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-truck Shay steam locomotive, Lima builder's number 3170, built in 1921 and displayed at El Portal, Mariposa County, California, as part of a National Park Service transportation exhibit.","why_significant":"It was the last, heaviest and only Shay locomotive purchased by the Hetch Hetchy Railroad, which served the Hetch Hetchy water project for San Francisco. It later worked on the Pickering Lumber Company logging railroad. It is one of three surviving Hetch Hetchy Railroad locomotives, and its significance is considered independent of its location.","narrative":"Shay No. 6 is a steam locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1921 and now displayed at El Portal, California. Its three-truck Shay design uses vertical pistons and a drive shaft to climb steep grades and round sharp curves, at a top speed of about 12 miles per hour. It measures roughly 40 feet long and weighs 198,000 pounds. The engine began work in 1922 hauling cement trains up Priest Hill for the Hetch Hetchy Railroad, a line built to supply the Hetch Hetchy water project for San Francisco. It was the railroad's last and heaviest locomotive and its only Shay. Sold in 1925 to the Pickering Lumber Company, it worked that logging railroad until retirement in 1958, and was moved in 1960 to a National Park Service exhibit. Only three Hetch Hetchy locomotives survive. The engine was listed for its transportation history, independent of its site.","period_of_significance":"1921-1960","architect_builder":"Lima Locomotive Company (Lima Locomotive Works)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Moved in 1960 to a National Park Service transportation exhibit at El Portal; condition listed as good and unaltered, with the road number plate missing and minor alterations made during logging use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.25442-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000360.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000360/e390ecf083-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000360/e390ecf083-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Eric Polk","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hetch_Hetchy_RR_engine_9.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Eric Polk</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hetch_Hetchy_RR_engine_9.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859746","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hetch_Hetchy_6","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12059981"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/mariposa-county/hetch-hetchy-railroad-engine-no-6-78000360/"}