Shay locomotives

[rwclarry]

If you follow other N scale forums,you'll see folks talking about how badly Atlas has dropped the ball getting these locos in production and in the hands of us eager model railroaders. So...how about Bachmann stepping up to the plate? This company did a fine job with small diesels like the 44/70 tonners and I'm sure it is capable of taking on a project like the Shays. And while they're at it,Heisler locos would be welcome too.

[kewatin]

don't think you will see a n scale shay from bachmann,as atlas has released another run,just delayed shipping. bachmann does have another run of HO SCALE 50 ton 2 truck shays coming according to their web store.i agree it would be a natural for bachmann as all they would have to do is scale down the drawings to n scale as well as the tooling,still an expensive outlay of money.considering atlas is doing another run. i just don;t think their is enough market sales with 2 mfg's  in the same niche market.these are my views and i have been wrong before,but it sure does look good for the n scale market as their are more product  coming out every day.its a good time to be in n scale.
regards&later kewatin

[Bucksco]

The magic eight ball says "Outlook not so good".....

[brokemoto]

B-mann did Climaxes of Heislers (I forget which) in HO.   No one has done those in N. The Atlas Shays were a major disappointment.  None of mine run well.

[ACY]

The problem is that building the models in HO scale and On30 is much easier. Scaling down the models to N scale would be exponentially more difficult and expensive to develop than their HO and On30 scale counterparts.  Bachmann had enough trouble getting everything sorted out on their HO models let alone concern themselves with attempting an N scale model. There is a reason the Atlas model leaves something to be desired;  incidentally it is the same reason Bachmann isn't going to attempt any of these locomotives in the near future.
Even if they could make a mechanically successful model at the moment, the cist of doing so would not be feasible,  as few people would pay $400-500 for such a locomotive to cover all their costs.

[brokemoto]

For the purposes of model construction, a geared steam locomotive is essentially a steam locomotive shell on a diesel chassis.  There is the matter of the drive rods, but other than that, the model construction should not be difficult.

One of my Atlas shays does have the drive rod problem.  That part of the mechanism did have problems. 

The problems that my other two are showing is constant stalling.  This should not be a problem given modern standards for model diesel power chassis construction.  The power chassis for a geared steam locomotive is essntially a model diesel chassis.  The current collection in the Atlas shay trucks is archaic:  wipers up against the backs of the wheels.  Modern construction methods provide far more reliable current collection.

[TJ]

I think Randgust has done the Climax Locomotive in N-SCALE ..

http://www.randgust.com/prod01.htm

http://www.randgust.com/prod02.htm

Then again how hard could it be to Kit Bash a Heisler    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisler_locomotive from a pair of either BACHMANN or ATLAS / RIVAROSSI 0-4-0's?

TJ

[ACY]

There is the matter of the drive rods, but other than that, the model construction should not be difficult.
One of my Atlas shays does have the drive rod problem.  That part of the mechanism did have problems.

This is the main reason that I was referencing previously, although I realize that I never explicitly mentioned it.

[spookshow]

I've owned a couple of the Atlas Shays, never had any problems with either of them. But I sure wouldn't mind seeing a Climax or a Heisler from Bachmann. They do small locos very well.

Cheers,
-Mark

[SFREAK]

Hello - Mr Bach Man,
Bachmann has nice running Ge 44ton & GE 70ton  Drives -
its simply to build a C Class Climax & a Boxcab Loco - Shell for this Drive - i  MUST HAVE two of them
and when this drive come back ...
I take a GE 44ton with A.T.S.F. (Zebra Stripe) colors...
in the moment - i  take a z-scale DC märklin Trafo  for my layout ...
and no chance to  buy a E-Z Command ® Digital Command Control System .. in Germany
- when came it back ???