The common PFM/United 2 and 3 truck Shays are, in my opinion, hands down the best Shay on the market if you plan to operate it much. The gear issues of another plastic Shay are well known and the old MDC ones are coffee grinders. Here is my common B2 two truck Shay. My motor of choice is the Canon CN22 as once mounted on a thin film of clear Silicone, the shaft alignment is spot on for the worm gear. I use a short piece of 2.4mm shaft material for the worm and connect it to the motor with a short piece of soft rubber tubing. Zero issues with the worm torquing the rubber tube out of alignment, even with a big load on the Shay. She slips out before any issues arrise. The motor just fits, partial under the bunker and in the cab. A decoder can be mounted on top of the motor biased toward the front and above the motor's shaft if DCC were being installed. I do not use DCC, so only a basic directional light circuit will go there. Once the Silicone cures(24 hours), I will start fabricating the wheel wipers to give the Shay 8 wheel electrical pickup. These two modifications gives my Shays a smooth stable speed and sure footed electrical pickup while going thru insulated switch frogs.
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
emdmike...fabricating the wheel wipers to give the Shay 8 wheel electrical pickup.
Yeah, while many recent models of steam do feature all-wheel pick-up, older ones, including brass, can benefit from increased current collection.
Just recently, I added all-wheel pick-up to this Bowser A-5, which I built for a friend...
The wheel wipers are made from .020" phosphor-bronze wire...
Twelve wheel pick-up on an 0-4-0 ensures that there are no stalls, even on long turnouts. It was also my first DCC installation, and she runs like a dream.
Wayne
Nice job Wayne! Looks great. The Shay runs well, well enough that my current throttle on the layout needs swapped out as it cannot go low enough voltage wise to really make the Shay crawl. My benchtop throttle can though. Mike
Mike,I had the United Models Class B 2 Truck Shay back in the early 60s and on my MRC "Golden Throttle Pack" that engine would creep from tie to tie with ts Pittman DC 70 motor. That was my second brasss steam engine.The first was a United Santa Fe 2-8-0.
I saved my lunch money,allowence and money made from cutting grass and other paid chores to buy this engine. At 14 with two brass engines I felt like a rich kid. I bought the 2-8-0 when I was 13 by the same method.
Wayne,That A-5 looks great! I thought it was brass when I first looked at the photo.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Thanks for your kind words, guys. There's some in-progress photos of the A-5 build to be found HERE.
That 040 really looks good. Makes me want one althogh I am not a Pennsy fan.
emdmikeThe common PFM/United 2 and 3 truck Shays are, in my opinion, hands down the best Shay on the market if you plan to operate it much
I have a couple of PFM/United locomotives (not shays), and they are extremely well built. From what I have seen, United builds a heck of a rugged locomotive.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
The United Brass shays are the best, rugged, reliable and look great. It had a canon motor, and of course I painted and added DCC with LEDS.
Geared Steam : A "new to me" PFM/United brass 2 Truck Shay.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
I have quite a few United engines now and yea I have to agree they are incredibly durable. Only thing that would go bad are the open frame motors and rubber tubing both of which are easily replaced.
Weirdly enough I actually prefer those to my Samhongsa engines even though they are supposed to be nicer .