Comment by whartung

Funny thing about Shays.

When you see a photo of them, you almost always see the right side of the locomotive, as that's where the pistons and the drive train are. You almost never see the left side of it. The left side is much more uninteresting.

However, having seen them and been somewhat fascinated in them for years and years, when I finally saw one live, it never occurred to me that the cylinders were only on the right side. I simply projected that the other side has a similar set, just like every other locomotive.

Not only that, but the boilers tend to be a bit off center on the chassis also.

Just funny when all you have is one perspective, how someone can incorrectly fill in the rest from other knowledge that seems coherent, but it completely wrong.