Na, i'd be great as a plant switcher. Especally if it had an eight percent grade inside!
Reminder shays are not at there best on flat track.
Do it and prove all the unbelievers wrong. That is what I say. But, if you want small, why not make a 2 Ton Shay........um..................hum.............um..........maybe too small.
I think the Bachmann drives might be a little too big for something around the 8-10ton Climax type. I'm not very familiar with the size of the On30 Climax so I cant say how well it would translate in appearence onto a 20' flatcar, but the loco in your pic has a tiny boiler so maybe it will work. But the 20' flatcar is a good starting point.
My 2nd mini-Heisler was built on one from a junker Bachmann 2-4-2 reusing the boiler (which is much larger that on the On30), cab moved forward about an inch, and tender parts, and using a pair of Aristocraft Centercab drives, but you can see that these relatively small drives take up quite alot of area under the flat, and I know the Bachmann Shay drives are a bit bigger, so space considerations are needed if this is to be a 45mm gauge engine.
Have fun with your trains
seeing that it's impossible to leave the valley to get supplies, I've been thinkin. Bachman makes an On30 shay and climax. I was thinking if I find a cupple of them, and some power trucks, I can disassemble them and mount all that on a custom flat, or a bach. 20' flat, to make like an eight ton shay or climax, like this.
Or this.
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