# Bachmann spectrum shay question



## sedfred2 (May 16, 2015)

I am considering buying a spectrum 3 truck shay, i heard that there are issues with the plastic gears though. But the question is, is this a problem on all the shays or just the early runs? if i got a blue box one would it be fine? Is it only the black box ones i have to avoid? thanks.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Replacement gears for the Bachman Shay are available from Northwest Short Line (NWSL).
I haven't heard if they're good or not, but I'm sure if you Google the problem, you'll find a forum discussion about it.


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## Wisdomwalker (Nov 11, 2017)

I don't know off hand what version it is, but I have one. Other than being a bit noisy, I have not had any issues. I love that locomotive. It came in a black box. What's the difference between the blue and black?


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## sedfred2 (May 16, 2015)

The blue and red boxes are later runs, which means that certain issues might have been fixed, as is commonly the case. So i'm wondering if later run shays are better than the black box ones


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## Wisdomwalker (Nov 11, 2017)

could be, mine is pretty noisy, like I said.


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## Wisdomwalker (Nov 11, 2017)

Here is a photo!


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## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

I have one also. When I first got it I had gear problems and Bachmann did send a replacement set, but they no longer do this. As latestarter mentioned, replacement gears are available from NWSL. 









After replacing the gears with the ones Bachmann sent, I haven't had any problems at all with it. It is a very smooth running locomotive and mine is extremely quiet.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

View attachment 368289


i was led to believe that earlier models came with the plastic gears, that were noisier, and sometimes led to problems, were replaced in later models with metal gears ...
i have no idea if NWSL gears are the same as later Spectrums though .. ?


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## b12brother (Jul 4, 2010)

sedfred2 said:


> I am considering buying a spectrum 3 truck shay, i heard that there are issues with the plastic gears though. But the question is, is this a problem on all the shays or just the early runs? if i got a blue box one would it be fine? Is it only the black box ones i have to avoid? thanks.


Maybe I can bring some light into this.
No matter what color the box has the gears are always plastic. I bought 9 of those shays. The ones that came in the black box are early runs and chances that the gears are already split are 2 of 3. I had to replace them before they would turn a Wheel. The blue box ones did hold longer. After nearly 10 years most of my shays have at least one truck with the NWSL (metal) gears. Replacing them is not rocket science but you have to be careful not to break Something (don't ask how I know that). On some I had to solder the metal gears to the axles as the knurled portion were the gear would sit would not hold it in place.

Another issue one these engines are the shafts. Because the inner part of the shaft is metal and the outer made of plastic binding can occur. Not on all of mine this did happen but when a truck lifts on a curve even on a large radius one, then the shafts are binding. It took me some time to figure that out, so I made shafts out of brass and these work flawlessly.

Rare but worth mentioning is a bad motor. Even when doing a long break-in the motor still sounded bad. Replacing the motor was the only solution. 

Second thing are axles "out-of-square". This will show up with a wiggling truck. This can be cured by removing the axles and turning one wheel on the axle about 90 degrees (at least this worked for me).

A truck that does not sit right on the rails (one axle in the air) is tightened to much to the frame: loosening the screw to the frame helps.

All in all the B-mann shay is a nice machine for that price and runs well if all the parameters are correct. I converted some to 4-truck shays (based on the Hassinger and El Paso shays) and one to a 2-truck 6-axle one (based on a Willamette drawing).

The 6- axle shay:






The 6- axle and 4-truck shays:






If you have any more questions, go ahead. In my opinion the B-mann shay is worth buying, it is cheaper than the brass ones and makes less headaches than the MDC.

PS:I also had a Precision scale 36 ton brass shay. It ran like a car without wheels. Always binding shafts/trucks, the shafts were too short, couldn't take a large radius curve and was noisy as hell. The scrapyard took care of it.


Alain


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## alaska railroad (Oct 20, 2015)

I too have one of these extremely beautiful locos. It is a black box , but was still in wrapped box, new. Before I knew about the split gear problem, I put it on the track, and it sat there with the motor turning. That's when I asked the kind people on this forum about the problem, and they told me about it. In fact I was thinking last week about ordering the gears and getting her going. However never would I regret buying it, even though I have yet to see it move in 3 years. Lol. To me it's one of the best looking locomotives ever built. I do have to say I'm kinda scared to do the gear change. I can already see myself breaking the trucks, even though I'm very careful.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I've had a black box shay form several years not and had heard about the plastic gear problem and when Bachmann had the replacement parts with metal gears, I bought a set, but have yet to do the replacement as it does not seem to need it. A great looking locomotive!


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