Thomas1911's Shay Project

[WoundedBear]

it's killing me how really cool this is, I mean TRULY this is an amazing idea

Glad I'm not the only one who is impressed with this. I agree whole heartedly....this is an amazing project.

Thomas, did you put the NWSL steel pinion gears in the trucks? I've done the conversion on 3 of my Shays now....it's a major improvement and well worth the bucks spent.

Sid

[Thomas1911]

Yes, I installed the steel gears on this one and also my other "regular" 3-truck Shay. Nearly all the gears on both locos were already split when I pulled them from the packaging.  Bachmann sent me two replacement trucks for my first Shay, but unfortunately the replacements had split gears also. 

Are the gearboxes on your shays noisy?  Both of mine sound like they have sand in them, a gritty sound.  I think both are from a production run from 2002.  I've been meaning to open them up to clean and relube them, but haven't got around to it yet.

[WoundedBear]

I have one that sounds like a grinder buts runs fine. It's probably from that same time frame as yours, yet it's still got all it's original gears. The others are quieter......but the beauty is the one factory sound equipped Shay I have. Even muted, she is absolutely silent.

I found the gear problem to be spotty.....like I said....some had 5 of 6 cracked, that other one is still on it's originals....weird.

Sid

Sid

[Thomas1911]

Definitely weird.  I'll have to tear into mine before long and see if I can figure out what's going on.

[Thomas1911]

Did some measuring of the frame last night and have come up with a design for extending the front pilot.  Fairly straightforward I think.  Material required will be some 1/8" C-Channels and several thicknesses of sheet.  Planning to do this with styrene.
 
As I mentioned in the original post, I'm looking at extending out 7/8" (roughly 6' 4" scale measure) to clear the 3rd axle on the truck.  Still toying with the idea of relocating the front bolster rearward by some amount to reduce length of extension.  I expect less than 1/8" change could be had, so may not be worth the effort.

[Thomas1911]

Making progress with extending the front pilot.  Have it fitted to the frame, but not attached.  I'll move on to the rear pilot modifications then attach both to the frame at the same time.







That extra 7/8" doesn't look as long on the model as I thought it would.

[Thomas1911]

Been a little tied up with other projects, but have made some progress on this.  The rear frame is now modifed by splicing the water tank frame to the rear of the main frame.  Still trying to decide exactly how I want to do the new tender body.  Planning to build on the existing water tank to add the coal bunker, just not sure how it should look and how I want to attach it to the frame.  Need to get a decoder ordered soon to get this thing running, also.

[trainboy6936]

Dude that is got to be one of the coolest shays I've ever seen that is sweet.

[Doneldon]

Thomas-

That looks great to me. Refresh my memory, though. Are you planning a third truck in the middle or just a long drive shaft? A third truck seems the most likely but I suppose one could have an extra long two truck Shay as a novelty. Maybe one truck was irreparably broken so the railroad just fashioned the long shaft to keep the loco in service. A fine model either way.

                                                                                                                           -- D
                         

[WoundedBear]

Doneldon....

The 3 steam cylinders and crankshaft still need to go in there.....that's what looks odd to you. To me it looks like Thomas hasn't moved the position of the front truck, and the rear truck is located where the center truck of the stock model was. I don't think he should need to do any driveline mods.

Sid

[Thomas1911]

Sid, you are correct. 

In the photo, I had the cylinder/ash pan assembly removed to avoid damaging i while cutting on the frame.  It will take up the space befween the trucks, no modifications.  The modified trucks are installed to the original front and center bolsters.

[Thomas1911]

Finally able to find some time to work on this project, starting modifications to form the tender body.  Decided on a plan to join the original coal bunker and water tank.  Not much yet, but have the coal bunker cut down now.  Need to determine how much to cut off the front of the water tank, then join it to the coal bunker.  Once joined, will just need to add some trim-work and details.  Hope work on this some more over the next few days.

[WoundedBear]

I've said it before and I'll say it again..........this is an impressive project! Hopefully you won't have too much rivet detail to redo. I've been using the rivet decals from Micro-Mark....have you tried them yet? I like them better than others I've used in the past.

Keep going Thomas....I'm enjoying this.

Sid

[jward]

it reminds me of a steam version of the sd40-2

[Thomas1911]

I've said it before and I'll say it again..........this is an impressive project! Hopefully you won't have too much rivet detail to redo. I've been using the rivet decals from Micro-Mark....have you tried them yet? I like them better than others I've used in the past.

Keep going Thomas....I'm enjoying this.

Sid

Thanks, Sid.  Haven't tried them yet, but I plan to order some soon.  There is a few other odds-n-ends I need to order from them as well.  I expect there will be some rivet details that I will need to add or replace.

it reminds me of a steam version of the sd40-2

I'd say that's probably a fair comparison, Jeff.  Maybe I'll start calling this locomotive "Shay-2".