# Bad News



## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

I think I caught the Shay bug!

They are very interesting and way out of my price range!

I'll have to start dropping hints for my birthday!


Does anyone online have any good images of Shays?

Aaron drool drool drool pass the napkins


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Try these websites:

This one has anything you want to know about shays: http://www.shaylocomotives.com/

This one is a video of my Bachmann Spectrum G scale 2 truck shay:http://www.youtube.com/user/SantaFe158#p/u/16/90Js7FsyqJk

Here's another video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SantaFe158#p/u/15/6_i-hvVmrv0

My dad and I were in the same boat, it took us a few years and one night I found the shay in the videos above on ebay cheap and it had like 15 minutes to go, it was a battle to win it, we put our final bid in at literally the last second and got it for $250, so if you wait, you might find something, the O scale ones are ridiculous in price, the HO ones aren't too bad, what scale are you looking for?


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

I would be looking for HO or Hon3

I will have to save my cash and wait for the right moment.

they sure are interesting !

Thanks for the info


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

aionta said:


> I think I caught the Shay bug!
> 
> They are very interesting and way out of my price range!
> 
> ...



Thats bad news?
It's only money enjoy spending it while you can.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

I picked up this one, shortly after my dad passed away...we always meant to ride the Cass once, just never got the chance...



















...Bachmann Spectrum 80 ton shay...


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Nice Loco!:thumbsup:


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## Bman (Aug 24, 2010)

Funny thing, I have a really awesome LHS and they have a couple of these sitting in the display case. I often wondered what they were, I don't recall the description saying "Shay". I never asked about them (don't know why) but they look pretty cool. I think they've been there for a while because the price is marked down on them.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

OK ... I'm a bit embarrased to ask, but what is the definition of a "Shay"?

Is it a generic term for a direct-drive (i.e., driveshaft and geared powertrain) loco, such as a Climax?

Niavely yours,

TJ


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> OK ... I'm a bit embarrased to ask, but what is the definition of a "Shay"?
> 
> Is it a generic term for a direct-drive (i.e., driveshaft and geared powertrain) loco, such as a Climax?
> 
> ...


Don't be embarassed, you have to learn somehow  , the term "shay" comes from it's inventor, Ephariam Shay (I think that's how it's spelled) The shay has three vertical pistons on the engineer's side of the locomotive which power a horizontal, flexible. driveshaft, also on the engineers side which powers all the wheels through gears.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Bman said:


> Funny thing, I have a really awesome LHS and they have a couple of these sitting in the display case. I often wondered what they were, I don't recall the description saying "Shay". I never asked about them (don't know why) but they look pretty cool. I think they've been there for a while because the price is marked down on them.


Other locomotives like the shay were the climax and heisler, could be one of those, or a shay  They were all geared logging/mining/industrial locomotives.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

As pointed out, the shay was designed to run off of two or three cylinder engines mounted vertically and to one side of the locomotive, coupled to drive shafts that turned beveled gears on each drive axle. Highly successful for their brute strength and ability to go over track that would make a bed wetter out of a mountain goat, the last one built (and the largest) was Western Maryland #6, still running on the Cass.

Climaxes used centrally mounted vertical engines or outside mounted cylinders run to flywheels with a drive train similar to a car's...the shafts ran to differential-like mechanisms in the center of the truck.

Heislers used two opposed cylinders perpendicular to the rails, similarly connected to a drive like a Climax, but with rod connected drivers.


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

*nice loco Shaygets*

on the bachman do the pistons and all the gears move?

That is a very nice looking engine. 


Have you ridden the Cass since?

Thanks for all the great replies

Aaron Once bitten twice shy man


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

SantaFe & Shaygetz,

Thanks for the definitions! Quite clear, though I'm intrigued to learn of the differing cylinder setups that were developed way back when.

So on a 2- or 3-cylinder true Shay, were all cylinders working off the same steam pressure, or was it more of a compound setup, with steam discharge from the first cylinder being introduced to the second, and so on?

On the Shay in the photos above, I'm assuming that the tender is articulated from the main loco, and yet still has wheels that are gear-driven from the main propulsion system? One connecting shaft with differentials on both ends ???

I've ridden the Climax (or its cars, really) at Clark's Trading Post in Lincoln, NH. That old girl certainly pumps out some power. The drive shaft / gearing underneath the frame is pretty impressive. I recall (vaguely) a small 3rd cylinder under the frame that operates a breaking system, too.

Thanks, guys ... interesting stuff!

TJ


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Yes, all the pistons and gears move on the bachmann engine, very fun to watch


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> SantaFe & Shaygetz,
> 
> Thanks for the definitions! Quite clear, though I'm intrigued to learn of the differing cylinder setups that were developed way back when.
> 
> ...


Well, if you haven't figured this out yet, the two cylinder shays were smaller, (narrow gauge?) I'm just guessing but the three cylinder shays were standard gauge, possibly with a few exceptions. 

As for the shay in the pictures above, the rear tender just contains water and is separate from the main locomotive and is powered by the drive shaft and more gears.

The shays came in a few different sizes, two and three trucks and I believe some railroad's actually used parts of scrapped shays and added a fourth truck to extend the water tank.

Overall, they are a cool locomotive with a neat history.  :thumbsup:


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

I just love to run mine, just to watch the monkey motion of the rods and listen to it crank out 12000 rpms, only to be crawling like a snail.

The tenders had gear drives as well to take advantage of the added traction from a filled water tank. The pipe you see was used to pump water from local streams into the tender, eliminating the need for water towers. Most were wood burners, coal and oil were used in industrial models, though there were exceptions to the rule. The cylinders were all steamed together, compounds require much larger cylinders that wouldn't track well in the woods. There were 2, 3 and 4 truck models.

The most beloved shay was the Michigan California Lumber Company's #2. It weighed in at less than 12 tons, was built a wood burner and changed over to oil. It was 2 cylinder, 3' gauge, owned by several companies and ran for over 60 years before being retired to a museum. Interestingly, it had only one engineer the whole time, a man named Tom Jinkerson.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks for the technical / historical shay info, guys ... much appreciated! I've enjoyed the classroom learning!

Cheers,

TJ


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

*Thanks for all the good info*

Thanks to everyone for all of the good info.

Aaron - shay beginner


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

You're welcome guys...shays have been my favorite for many years. Never really studied them, just picked up bits along the road, my model of Mich-Cal #2 eludes me but I pursue it like Khan pursued Capt. Kirk...

It tests me...it tests me and I shall have it...


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

but...is it safe?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

shaygetz said:


> ... my model of Mich-Cal #2 eludes me but I pursue it like Khan pursued Capt. Kirk...


Too funny! :laugh:


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Reckers said:


> but...is it safe?


If you have a Mich-Cal #2 in your roster...no.


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

*Many Thanks to Bman*

Thank you very much Bman

I called the hobby store this morning and purchased the Bachman 80 ton 3 truck shay. It should arrive in a few weeks !

Kewl!

Thanks


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

aionta said:


> Thank you very much Bman
> 
> I called the hobby store this morning and purchased the Bachman 80 ton 3 truck shay. It should arrive in a few weeks !
> 
> ...


Talked you into it eh...


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

Thanks for talking me into it !

Now all I have to do is wait !

I am already replanning my layout - which I am just starting.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

shaygetz said:


> If you have a Mich-Cal #2 in your roster...no.


 I was referring to your av---looks like the Nazi dentist from Marathon Man!


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

aionta said:


> Thanks for talking me into it !
> 
> Now all I have to do is wait !
> 
> I am already replanning my layout - which I am just starting.


Wow, this project sure is growing  Good luck, I always hate that wait, first there's the excitement of ordering or bidding on the item and then you have the wait that seems to last forever. :laugh:


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

aionta said:


> Thank you very much Bman
> 
> I called the hobby store this morning and purchased the Bachman 80 ton 3 truck shay. It should arrive in a few weeks !
> 
> ...



You got just one?
It's like eating potato chips your not satisfied with just one.:laugh:

Post a picture of it when it comes in please.


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

Will do!


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## jbsmith966 (Jun 19, 2010)

How about a movie of the REAL thing?

56k alert! Cable and DSL ok.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbsbcZKCWDY



Got bit by a bug too,,,for a Mikado.
A Mikado that does not cost Arm&Leg and a claim to
my first born plus a pint of blood for deposit.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Neat video.

I was curious to see how the steam pistons are connected to the main drive shaft. Cranks are oriented 120-degrees apart (120 x 3 = 360 = full turn), as one might expect, such that the torque transmitted to the drive shaft is as quasi-constant as possible.

Seems like that's a nice feature of the Shay setup ... near constant drive torque at low RPM.

Cheers,

TJ


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## Stillakid (Jan 12, 2010)

Watching that vid makes me remember Johnny Cash!


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