Not on the last production, gears are fine, and if you get a model with bad gears, you fix it for 30 bucks, and the gear issue is resolved for good, still much cheaper than most brass shays.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
DigitalGriffin Out of curiosity, why not go with the Bachmann 3 Truck Shay and super detail it? It's highly reliable, low current, and cheap.
Out of curiosity, why not go with the Bachmann 3 Truck Shay and super detail it? It's highly reliable, low current, and cheap.
And some come with cracked gears or develop cracked gears.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Measure the current at 12 VDC, first. No way would a 750 be used in this loco.
Bachmann Shays are known to develop cracked gears. I see this quite a lot in these forums, other forums and the Bachmann forums. NWSL has developed a set of steel gears for this loco, there was so much demand. Bachmann does ell replacement trucks with the plastic gears.
Investigate replacing the motor if the current is too high. No doubt, that loco weighs quite lot more than the Bachmann.
Dave at NWSL could help with a motor if needed. He has helped me a few times.
Beautiful loco.
I haven't dismissed the possibility. For reasons I won't enumerate here, I have an opportunity to spend a good wad of change on a train, and I would like to get a brass shay. The layout I have planned is large; there'll be room for both.
Streamlined steam, oh, what a dream!!
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Thanks guys, all very valid points. Maybe it's worth shoehorning a tsu-1000 in there vs. the 750; that extra 1/4 amp could make all the difference in the world.
Cheers!
Stu
x2 on the potential for current draw to require R&R of the motor. In fact, if it's open frame, you're risking frying that TSU-750 right out of the blocks.
Not only is the -750 sensitive to heat, they can generate a lot of their own. Be sure it's got ventilation and, even better, a heat sink to cozy up against on that brass somewhere.
Your biggest challenge will be getting more contact wipers onboard. No experience with Shays myself, but IIRC they tend to pick up on one side of the truck like a lot of brass diesels do. If you can get wipers on the opposite side of each truck, you'll be much happier with its sound being reliable, rather than stuttering. I've done three Tsunami installs on conventional brass steamers and they are pretty darn equal to my other, Blackstone HOn3 locos in reliability.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
You'll have to see how much current it draws, micro tsunamis are very sensitive to heat. If it's got a modern motor in it, it shouldn't draw too much, but if it's an old open frame motor you will probbaly have to either repalce the motor magnets with rare earth or replace the motor.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Gah! Stupid link didn't work. Here's a pic:
Dang. Think I'll just sit here and look at it for a while...
Anything I should know about installing a tsunami tsu-750 in a brass shay (probably an 80 ton three truck)?
This is the one that's caught my eye:
http://www.caboosehobbies.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=209225
I'm perfectly willing to rip things apart and put them back together (I'd better be if I'm forking out for unpainted brass). I'd be quite happy to mount a goodly-sized speaker in the tender and stuff the decoder in the boiler. How hard is it to isolate the motor so you don't let the smoke out of a $100 sound decoder?
Many thanks,