4 truck shay

[WTierce1]

What if bachmann made a ho 4 truck shay?

[Doneldon]

wt -

I'd faint.

   -- D

[J3a-614]

It would probably cost an arm and a leg for tooling, as usual, and only 20 such engines were built by Lima (plus one conversion of a 150-3 to a 200-4, this was the famous GC&E No. 12), but the 150-4 was used by several railroads.  Biggest user was Chesapeake & Ohio, with something like 17 engines for special branch work (one of which was a three-trucker); two of those wound up on the Greenbrier, Cheat & Elk Railroad (Cass Scenic predecessor).  One of these engines later would be sold to the Western Maryland, where it became No. 5, its last years spent as a running mate with the famous No. 6, the last Shay built, which is still with us at Cass today.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgielocomotive0533.jpg

Western Maryland No. 5 was actually the second 150-4 to be owned by the WM.  The first was an engine inherited with the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg, delivered as their No. 900; it wound up on the Mexico Northwesern Railway.

The Carolina & Northwestern had one that would be sold to Red River Lumber in California.

Two of C&O's engines (14 and 15) were purchased second-hand from the Southern Railway; they had been Nos. 4000-4001 on that road.

Norflok & Western No. 56 was later numberd 156, and was used on really steep coal branches in the Bluefield area.  This engine supposedly pulled up the branches very well, but it gloriously tied up the main line going to and from the branches with its typical Shay speed.  It later ran on the El Paso & Southwestern and the Red River Railroad, being No. 99 on both of those roads.

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/dataframe.htm

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/owner/OwnerSearchFrame.htm

Now, what about going the other way, with the most popular Shay, the 42-ton two-trucker?

[Pacific Northern]

As the number of 4 truck Shays was rather limited I would rather Bachmann produced a number of 2 truck Shays.

These engines were much more numerous and could be found just about everywhere.

[hotrainlover]

PN,
What type of Shay did the GN Have?

This is the info I just found:
3100     Great Northern Lumber Co., #1, Leavenworth, WA
3004    Great Northern Lumber Co., Leavenworth, WA

[J3a-614]

Way to find out is to use the two links together, preferably with both running at the same time.  One link is a list of owners with the construction numbers; the other has a list of construction numbers listed to specifications, some with photos.  Clicking on the constuction number in the second list (column on the left) brings up what is shown here for your numbers:

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/dataframe.htm

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/dataframe.htm

Note that this is the  Great Northern Lumber Company, not the Great Northern Railway!

A thought: there had to be a number of other Shays that were similar to Bachmann's engine that could be offered with nothing much beyond a paint job.  One such engine, with three identities over its lifetime (which is still current, by the way) would be Sierra Railway No. 12, which was sold to Standard Lumber to become No. 12 there, and it ended its working days as Pickering No. 12.  As noted, the engine is still around, and in a safety-orange paint scheme to boot:

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/owner/OwnerSearchFrame.htm

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/dataframe.htm

Second suggestion:  For both the existing 70-3 Bachmann makes, and the 42-2 proposed a little earlier, it might be worthwhile to consider a different engine/cranshaft mounting to represent older and newer engines.  Older Shays had three individual crankshaft bearings mounted with the cylinders on individual brackets.  Later engines had four bearings in a common bearing case, like Western Maryland 6, Cass Scenic No. 4, and Great Northern Lumber No. 1.

WM 6:

http://johnsmurrayphotography.homestead.com/photo101231.html

Cass Scenic No. 5 (Bachmann's prototype):

http://www.johnsmurray.com/photo101509.html

[J3a-614]

Found another Class I with Shays--Union Pacific:

http://www.utahrails.net/articles/tintic-shays.php

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/dataframe.htm

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/dataframe.htm

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/dataframe.htm

Also did a check on the two-truck Shays, specifically the 42-ton two-trucker (reportedly the most popular version), and for comparison, there were 252 of this one size built, vs. 20 150-4s.  This is 42-2s only, and doesn't include what would likely be very similar engines, such as 40-2s, 45-2s, and 50-2s.  I have to agree with Pacific Northern; this certainly suggests that if Bachmann or anyone else would be interested in another Shay, the 40-something ton 2-trucker would be the way to go.

http://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/owner/OwnerSearchFrame.htm

Enjoy!