Can you guide me to a reasonably priced vendor for an HO Shay locomotive?
You have no answers to this point, perhaps because your question, as framed, is so open to interpretation. The word 'reasonably' might mean to prospective responders as much as the full price for a brass model, meaning $USD900 if new, or nearly new. Additionally, if it IS brass you're looking for, it closes the range of possible vendors of 'Shay' type locomotives.
If you're looking for HO plastic shells, I believe Bachmann is currently the only purveyor of Shay types, and they have been somewhat spotty in recent years for operational reliability. Many had to resort to a regearing/remotoring kit sold by NorthWest Short Lines, an outfit that almost disappeared a couple of years back, but I think it's still in business.
Popular sites for 'reasonably' priced plastic examples of every locomotive include modeltrainstuff, trainworld, hogtrainz, toytrainheaven, caboosehobbies, and about a dozen others that other responders might help you by adding in their own replies.
DennisSCan you guide me to a reasonably priced vendor for an HO Shay locomotive?
Dennis, you first few posts will be delayed by the moderators. This will end soon enough, but it will make your conversations a little frustrating in the beginning. Please stick it out through this and join the conversation.
As for shays...
The best bargains are the old Roundhouse kits. These have been out of production, but some "new old stock" (abbreviated "NOS" on eBay) are still around.
The Bachmann Spectrum shays tend to command a pretty steep price, but searching might find something you consider reasonable.
Another option is to watch for brass models on eBay. These are usually pretty pricey, but ocassionally a brass shay will end for less than $250.00 final price. You need to be flexible on the prototype and be patient.
For an affordable compromise, the Rivarossi Heisler sells for low prices from time to time, and can fill the need, but without all the intriguing "monkey motion" of a shay.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Shays are alluring and pretty neat when they run well. They can be a bear if they don't run and may be beyond the skills of the average model railroader. One fellow who I've not done business with but who has a good rep in the narrowgauge community (he sells and fixes both HO and narrowgauge) is Shayfixer. Just Google him up. He can take care of you and anything he sells is guaranteed to run as advertised.
There are a few other dealers around. I suggest finding one with a explicit return policy, just in case it doesn't perform.
Ebay is a pretty good source in regards to price. There is some protection in Ebay's rules, YMMV. You will certainly find the best pricing there if you're patient. Best bet there, though, is finding a relatively late model PSC Shay or other loco that has a good general rep.
EDIT: One more thing, with the cancellation of National Narrow Gauge Convention in early September and many other shows, this actually may be a good time to shop at many dealers who otherwise had hoped to make sales over the next few months at those venues. Not to mention the generally depressed economy, where some may be forced to choose between the Shay they have and, say, eating.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Good answers so far... Shays are finicky from a mechanical perspective. The Roundhouse kit is difficult to assemble (someone wrote a book on how to do this!) and the finished locomotive will take a lot of tweaking to get it run reasonably well. A brass model will typically run better, and the price will reflect that. I own a Roundhouse built from a kit, and it runs OK, but not as well as my PFM or Katsumi brass models. Still, building the kit got me to understand the mechanics of it. These skills allowed me to fix my brass when they started acting up... I did not hesitate to open them up to change the motors and install decoders. If you don't like to tinker, or if you don't have deep pockets, you might want to consider another type of gear-driven loco, like a Heisler (although prices are going through the roof lately...). They are much simpler mechanically. My Rivarossis are super reliable...
As for the sources, sure, sites like Brasstrains are good and will sell at market prices. Deals can be found on Ebay, but there is always a risk when buying used from that site.
Simon
I have 4 HO Bachmann 3 truck Shays, I picked them up on Ebay. There are quite a few out there, prices vary from $ 100 to over $400. If you are just looking for the plastic models or China built versions. They look really nice, but performance is low. I am a geared steam nut, so I deal with that issue. Brass are much more durable but start at $250 for a good one and go way up in price depending on condition. If you are doing as a collector and not running them not so much a problem finding cheap. If you are building a layout to operate then just beware some brands are better than others. All are out not built anymore to my knowledge. I also run Climaxes and Heislers. Rivarossi, & Bachmann. Just look on Ebay to get an idea. Others sell them too. Cheers!
Marty www.pbase.com/Hejhog
you tube/martyHejhog1
I have several MDC/Roundhouse Shays as well as a later run Bachmann. If you aren’t into tedious work forget the MDC Shays. I didn’t have very good luck with my Bachmann, it wouldn’t run out of the box.I returned it under warranty and Bachmann sent me another one that wouldn’t run out of the box. I returned it for another new one that wouldn’t run either. Rather than return that one I decided to open it up and was surprised at the terrible motor mount engineering. No amount of adjusting the motor worm to axle gear would work after putting the shell in place, terrible engineering. I used some Silicon glue to hold the motor in place (Amazing Goop) let it fully dry over night then resembled the locomotive. That worked great and now several years later it still runs great!As for the MDC Shays they will run very nicely but not without a lot of tedious work. I suggest buying the MDC Handbook by Jeff Johnston.https://www.amazon.com/MDC-Shay-Handbook-Jeff-Johnston/dp/0964752115Using the book to build up the MDC Kit works very good.
I have four very good running MDC Shays, actually better running than the Bachmann.Building locomotive kits and restoring old locomotives is my thing and I wouldn’t hesitate buying an MDC Shay Kit . . . . but they’re not for everyone. They do make a very nice looking as well as running locomotive with some work.I have installed DCC decoders in two of my MDCs using the original Pitman motor.
You can find new in the box kits on ebay.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I'm new to the sport, so I appreciate the eye awakening several offered in regards to repair. Clearly I should seek a compatible model, to begin with, one to simulate a wood working camp, with few maintenance issues to deal with, at the beginning of this process.
Mel, I clicked on the link you provided for the book and I was shocked by the price tag. It would be nice if the author allowed someone to reproduce some of the key pages of the book on the net somewhere. If I recall correctly, there are about 5 key pages in there that basically says it all... I doubt that there is a market for this book so why not make it accessible to the few who want to tackle these old kits?
I didn’t look at the price, holly smoke! I think I paid about $12 or $15 for mine when I bought it many years ago.
My Bad.You might try this link:http://mbooknom.men/go/best.php?id=0964752115I don’t know how much the download costs.I would be happy to copy a few pages and email them to you. It has 96 pages. My book is in better then excellent condition, like new. I treasure all of my model railroad books and treat them with TLC.EDIT:
It will take awhile but I can try to copy the book and post it on my Google Drive. I'll have to figure how to scan into PDF, 96 pages of JPGs would be ridiculous.
EDIT 2:
I found the price on the back page $17.95.
EDIT 3:
It will break the book binding to attempt to copy it, sorry I just can't ding my book.
EDIT 4:
When I shuffle off this mortal coil the executor will probably sell it on eBay.
Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
snjroyI clicked on the link you provided for the book and I was shocked by the price tag. It would be nice if the author allowed someone to reproduce some of the key pages
I bought the kit when it first came out, tried assembley several times and gave up, then bought the book when it first came out. Took a look at the book and put it off again. Finally gave it another try and well, both are sold, the book at a considerable profit.
The author has the rights to reproduce or not. Having read it a couple of times, there's more than 5 pages of material that is of relevance ri getting them running. Yeah, this is a classic and the whole thing is pretty impossible without a lot of help from it or considerable other prior experience - and I consider myself slightly above average when it comes to being handy. YMMV
There are thousands of these out there - both kit and RTR (although there may have been some changes with that, IDK only had the kit) and everyone who has one and wanrs it to run needs this book, plus some patience and effort. There would be a good market for reprints, IMO.
I agree with Mike, pages 41-57 are very crucial.It has been years since I cracked open this book and every page is very good both text and excellent pictures.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I bought a Bachmann 3 truck shay in the 90's after visiting Cass Railway. It really has only been broken in during that time. The gears in the trucks are the problem. I was unaware that there were motor issues.Mine has no issues. I had a Wow sound decoder installed and I have some NWSL gears I picked up on Ebay, before the company changed hands. If it develops a problem, I will install them, but so far it runs fine.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Ok, I dug up my copy of the book. My memory is worse than I thought. Pages 5 to 21 are essential if you are building the 2 truck Shay, in my opinion. The rest can be figured out with the original instructions. The NWSL parts for the MDC Shay are also very valuable and help make it a fairly smooth runner.
If the OP gets a Bachmann loco, there is a Bachmann site with forums, Parts page, loco diagrams, Company reps, etc.
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.
I would get a Bachmann with the understanding that you might have to replace the gears in the truck sideframes. You can do this by purchasing the NWSL replacement gears (a more advanced repair job) or purchase the truck side frames from Bachmann (much easier repair).
I bought three Bachmann shays years ago and they all ran flawlessly out of the box. One has developed cracked gears after 10 years of heavy use. Can't say the same fo my brass shay that hasn't ever run very well or for the MDC that has a whole book devoted to getting it to run well.
As you can see from the replies to this thread, opinions on this vary...
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
I only own one Shay. It was originally DC and was a fair runner with a rather large slide on the black rail. It ran pretty well for as crude as it was. I converted it to DCC, ditched the slide, added wipers on all 8 wheels, and it ran better. Still stalled a bit here and there. I added a keep alive. It not only ran even better in regards to the occasional stalling, but generally better overall. I suppose this is because of the constant power the capacitors offer, but it really made this little Shay run top-notch. Something to consider in judging the performance of brass Shays IMO. Check the contacts to see if they are up to current standards, otherwise upgrade and consider a keep alive if going with DCC.
Be careful of the Westside models Nakamura built shays .Absolute works of art etc .They run fine but have poor pickup but also a vertical torque on the rear truck drive that tends to force try to revolve the truck on its axis and off the track .The three trucks are a bit better as the rear truck drive shaft tends to stabilise it all a bit.I had one and planned to double head it with no motor in it .,it free wheels down the track well until the motor and gears are installed .I have painted most H0-H0n3 shays for customers over the years and all ran well .A PFM one will serve you well and satify your whirry ambitions .I remotored some .The Westside excaped me though .Forewarned .
An English company is contemplating an H0 shay .lets keep our fingers crossed .
An observation about shays...
It seems to me that shays were easier to maintain and repair than other locomotive designs. It looks like most parts were easier to get to, and were lighter.
It is interesting that these same features make them fiddly in HO scale and become a disadvantage.