If anybody is looking for a small 2 truck brass shay, my Hillcrest shay didnt sell over on that auction site. Contact me offsite if interested. She is painted, lighted, engineer in the cab and 8 wheel electrical pickup. Due to job loss, she needs to go to a good home so we can keep ours. Neat insite and reading on lines that had shays that I would have never thought of. Cheers Mike
LHS mechanic and geniune train and antique garden tractor nut case!
Don7
NIce looking Shay, I like the cowcatcher, that's something you don't normally see on a geared loco. Makes her look sweet.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Here is a pic of my little 25 ton shay. Cheers mike
Everyone needs a shay.At least for the excursion train.
And it's fun!
Wolfgang
Pueblo & Salt Lake RR
Come to us http://www.westportterminal.de my videos my blog
wedudler Everyone needs a shay.At least for the excursion train. And it's fun! Wolfgang
Is this the one you mean Wolfgang ?
http://westportterminal.blip.tv/?user=westportterminal#1409574
How did you get it to smoke and who makes the small passenger car ?
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
This is what Atlas says about their very up and coming 2 truck N scale Shay:
"Modeled after the Two-Truck Shay Locomotive that was built in the 1920s, this type of engine was used by many lumber, mining, quarry company railroads, other industrial railroads, a few common carrier short lines and major railroad systems for service in the logging and milling industries. This new model features a diecast frame and boiler, drive shaft detail, operating drive-shaft, directional lighting, all wheel drive and electrical pick-up, separately applied grab irons, prototypical painting and lettering, AccuMate(R) knuckle couplers, DCC-capable motor isolated from frame. Like the prototypes, these locomotives can negotiate very sharp curves down to a minimum radius of 9-3/4".
It confuses me a litte that they're heralding 9 3/4R curve when that's the N scale standard minimum. My (Atlas) GP9 can go around that.
Now they just need to drop prices. The 2-truck N in DC will be 200 bucks. Bachmanns 3-trucker with DCC and sound was 424. I forgot to write down the price of the straight DC. As a comparison the Bachmann 2-10-0 Russian Decapod in HO is going for 180 in DC, 335 in DCC w/sound (I'm looking at getting one for my collection). Why can't they make the 2-trucker Shay in HO? I think the 2-trucker looks better. The N is more affordable, but remembering how small my GP9er is and then thinking the Shay would be smaller than that.......
C&O Fanwedudler Everyone needs a shay.At least for the excursion train. Wolfgang Is this the one you mean Wolfgang ? http://westportterminal.blip.tv/?user=westportterminal#1409574 How did you get it to smoke and who makes the small passenger car ?
wedudler Everyone needs a shay.At least for the excursion train. Wolfgang
I've meant this train with shay. I've installed the Seuthe smoke unit ( 5 mm diameter ) into the stack ( 6 mm diameter ) . With blood and tears!!!
Those combine I bought used.
MILW-RODRThis is what Atlas says about their very up and coming 2 truck N scale Shay:
Milw, that model has been out for several years now, there are several members here (Lee) that have them. As for pricing, no one pays list prices, at least I didn't for the HO Bachmann (they are selling non-sound for $79.95 at Micro-Mark)
As far as the Atlas N, I see a new run is scheduled for Dec 09, I also Googled "Atlas N scale Shay" and reserve pricing is $135.00, seems like a good price to me. You know you want one.....
As for a 2-truck in HO, yes I wish Bachmann would produce one (with NWSL gears ) It may be difficult to squeeze the board, decoder and a speaker in a single tender vs the larger tender on the 3-truck and still have a quality sound. (just guessing).
MILW-RODR ....Like the prototypes, these locomotives can negotiate very sharp curves down to a minimum radius of 9-3/4". It confuses me a litte that they're heralding 9 3/4R curve when that's the N scale standard minimum. My (Atlas) GP9 can go around that. Now they just need to drop prices. The 2-truck N in DC will be 200 bucks. Bachmanns 3-trucker with DCC and sound was 424. I forgot to write down the price of the straight DC. As a comparison the Bachmann 2-10-0 Russian Decapod in HO is going for 180 in DC, 335 in DCC w/sound (I'm looking at getting one for my collection). Why can't they make the 2-trucker Shay in HO? I think the 2-trucker looks better. The N is more affordable, but remembering how small my GP9er is and then thinking the Shay would be smaller than that.......
....Like the prototypes, these locomotives can negotiate very sharp curves down to a minimum radius of 9-3/4".
Geared locomotives, especially Shays and Class B or C Climaxes, have always been more expensive than ordinary steam locos, which are in turn generally more expensive than their dismal counterparts. You have an exposed drive train that has to be made as close to scale as possible while still providing great performance. Tiny gears, universals, line shafts, cylinders, and valve gear are needed for a proper working model. And, additional gear reduction is typically needed to bring the model's speed range more in line with the prototype's.
A model Shay has more problems with tight curves than other geared locomotives or diesels because of the off-center line shafts. The off-center shafts have to have telescoping sections to allow the shaft to shorten or lengthen itself when on the inside or outside of a curve. There is a practical limit to how much telescoping can be fitted, which in turn limits the curve radius of a Shay.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
I've run my Shay down to 8.7'' at my "Pizza layout".
I've been reading this thread with interest and finally feel inspired to chime in on a few of the comments that have been brought up.
Regarding the Atlas N-scale Shay, I have a friend who has an HO scale module (modular club layout) that includes a mine. He bought the Atlas N-scale shay and put an HO scale cab on it, and he made a few other cosmetic modifications - he uses it as an HOn30 loco for the mine. It looks great and runs very well; at shows he runs it constantly for days and it has held up great. I do kid him about having such a tiny 3-cylinder two truck (class B) shay (if there were a prototype it would likely be a two-cylinder engine).
With regard to where they were typically used, one of the great advantages to shays (and other geared locomotives) is that they track equally well in both directions so the need to turn locomotives is eliminated with them. They also do fairly well on rough track - in fact, on some logging railroads they actually used wooden poles for rails and replaced the wheels on the locos/rolling stock with some that looked sort of like pulleys. It would seem logical to use Shays in any rough track situation and when there is no option for turning locomotives.
Regarding the evolution of geared locomotives, I believe that Shays were the first commecially successful geared locomotive type, but speed was always lacking. The Heisler and Climax were attempts at getting the advantages of a Shay with a little more get up and go. The Climax was not popular among the crews because it had an annoying level of vibration. I've read that Climaxes did have a two-speed gearbox, so you really could put them in high gear.
My ex-brother-in-law is a live steamer. He says that they have one club member who runs a Shay. When this guy shows up at the club track everyone else packs up and goes home, because his Shay is like a moving road block and it's no fun to be stuck behind him on a Mogul, running at a snail's/Shay's pace.
As for me, I love 'em and have 4 brass Shays and a brass Heisler. They all run well, but the NWSL Shay did require some tinkering. They do take a special mindset to run them, because they should be run slowly to apper like the prototypes. I built a Roundhouse kit. I'm disappointed in the way it runs, and I plan to do some research and then rework it to make it better.
Finally, I'll close with a picture:
My NWSL 18T Shay stops for water in Blackwater, Oregon. Geared steam, you gotta love it.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
shayfan84325Geared steam, you gotta love it.
On the Climax locomotives, only the early class A locomotives have the 2 speed gear box, when they switched to the class B machines with the canted cylinders, they didnt get the gear box. Contrary to many opinions they do not "shake" themselvse to death. Only if the crankshaft is worn or bent do they vibrate, other wise they are as smooth as any other standard steam locomotive. While Climax was 3rd behind Heisler, it wasnt because it was a bad design, most lines that ran them loved them and bought more. But the Climax company of Corry PA was a small company and thus you have small production totals. They were also a late comer to the whole geared steam ballgame. Heislers were made in Erie, PA, some of the factory is still standing. To bad Bachmann's HO Climax kind of flopped in the quality dept. Many were hoping for a 3 truck version in a couple years after the first one came out. They really need to address this issue of popping gears and other line shaft parts. They are not "aging" thier delrin plastic correct affording to the folks at NWSL, so when its on a metal shaft as it ages it splits. Many early brass diesels have this issue, along with Athearns USRA Mikado and early P2K diesels. My little shay is off to a new home now, she was just to small for the logging branch at the local club, my larger PFM Climax handles the loads much better. Cheers Mike
Geared Steam As far as the Atlas N, I see a new run is scheduled for Dec 09, I also Googled "Atlas N scale Shay" and reserve pricing is $135.00, seems like a good price to me. You know you want one.....
Edit: Ok I've looked all over (20+ pages on google) and couldn't find anything (not even the Class D 4-trucker diagram i already have) with Shay dimensions.
Does anyone know the size of 2-truck N scale and the 3-truck HO scale? Lenght, width, truck center, coupler length, all those fun little things that I can put into XtrckCAD and run.
Hi Climaxpwr
Weird coincidence.
There's someone in your town with an engine that looks just like yours. He's getting rid of it or trading for a different reason. He's changing railroads and not trying to keep his home.
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13801
Springfield PA
Mike,
Glad to hear that your Shay found a good home.
And the answer is!
My Shay arrived today,thanks to hamltnblue and I am a happy camper, thanks everyone for talking me out of buying one................ Now if I just had my layout complete so I could run it.