Regeared Bachmann 80-ton, 3-truck Shays with NWSL metal gears

[Ken Huck]

Just finished regearing 3 out of 4 of my Shays.  WOW !  It's a lot easier than it
looks.  A high quality needle pliers is an absolute must.  The performance of
these engines can't be beat.  Super slow crawl, up steep grades, short radius
turns, and traction out the yingyang !  Don't be afraid to dive in if you haven't
already done so.  I'm glad I did.

[rich1998]

i think someone else here mentioned that also. sounds like good news. i see in a couple other forums that some people are gong to buy the spectrum shay since they know nwsl has some nice gears in case theirs goes bad. some where hesitating buying this engine because of what they see in some forums. this would have been difficult to happen without the internet and the forums. I remember the days of writing to magazines about stuff. It was really difficult.
lex

[jerryl]

Seems there is something wrong with this picture.  More people are going to buy a Shay because for another $25 & an hour  labor, they will have a good running loco?
  Seems like buying a new car because for an extra $4,ooo you can get a good transmission & have a good running car.
  Bachmann should take some responsibility for the issue.  They won't replace ones with defective gears because they know they will be back again.  Maybe buy up a bunch of gears & sell them to Shay owners for a discounted price.
  I hope NWSL makes the Climax gears available before mine fails.  Maybe in the future Bachmann could strike a deal with NWSL to make their running gear.        Jerry

[rich1998]

bachmann is doing something about. they will never tell us though. good subject for those who like to rant
getting someone in china to find better plastic or whatever will not be a quick thing. that is the reality we live in. there are two or three other manufacturers who have the cracked plastic gear issue also. it is not only bachmann.
i believe at one time athearn genesis locos had cracked gears. the loco will become available next year as a roundhouse 4-6-2 that is a retooled genesis.
lex

[CNE Runner]

I sure wish NWSL made new gearing for the Bachmann Plymouth WDT. This is a nice little locomotive that is a 'growler' even after an extensive run in and careful lubrication.

Ray

[Pacific Northern]

Not only is NWSL providing replacement gearing for the Bachmann Shay it is also working on providing gearing for the Bachmann Climax as well.

The Bachmann Climax must have had the least production of any engine put out by Bachmann. It was extremely prone to gear failure.  Gear failure on the Shay is spotty, a lot of Shay owners have never had any problems, others were. With the Climax nearly all had problems. 

[jerryl]

I realize other mfgs. have had problems. The point is that they did something about it. I got new "improved" gears for my P2K engines free with no shipping charge. I onlty needed 1 set at the time, but they asked me how many P2K locos I had & they sent me enough for all of them.
  You may think this is a rant, but I don't think it's too much to expect a $200 engine to run for more than 6 months...especially when it's a "Spectrum".       Jerry

[ABC]

I realize other mfgs. have had problems. The point is that they did something about it. I got new "improved" gears for my P2K engines free with no shipping charge. I onlty needed 1 set at the time, but they asked me how many P2K locos I had & they sent me enough for all of them.
  You may think this is a rant, but I don't think it's too much to expect a $200 engine to run for more than 6 months...especially when it's a "Spectrum".       Jerry

One of the gears in my Proto 2000 GP-35 (or was it GP 30) broke and they refused to send me a replacement because another manufacturer was telling their customers to lie to them and say you have a Prtoto 2000 engine to get the free gears, to fix a problem with a different manufacturers engine. They were requiring that I send the engine in to prove I had I Proto 2000 loco and pay for shipping both ways.

[jerryl]

It's a shame that a lie can ruin it for everyone else.  I guess I must have contacted them before all this started.  By the way I did hear that the free gear offer did stop.  They really didn't have to replace any because the problem originated with the cars when they were owned by LifeLike & not Walthers.  Plastic is a great product for the bodies & detail parts..but not so sure about the running gear.   Jerry

[Hellhound]

I have had several locomotives from more than one manufacturer with split plastic gears. Some of them no longer had parts available so they are now static displays. Had to replace all four axles on a P2K BL-2, all of them had split gears. My Brill trolley now has the 'click of death' and will have to be repaired.
  All of the locos that I owned in the 1970s had metal gears. They never had any gear problems, even with all three of us kids running them almost constantly.   

[kevin2083]

Where are you getting these gears from? I can't seem to find them anywhere........I guess I'm not looking in the right places. I don't see them on the NWSL site.....

[kevin2083]

nevermind. As soon as I asked I found them myself.