Nachoman's EOY 2010 challenge

[nachoman]

I got the chassis assembled and test ran. Things seemed okay, so I placed the boiler and tank on the frame and took a mockup photo.

[nachoman]

I've managed to squeeze a little more work in despite being busy with other things right now. First, I realized I had installed my couplers too low . Fixing them meant removing the scratch built coupler boxes front he end beams, carving a deeper notch into the end beams, and re-installing. All in all, fixing the couplers was a relatively painless task. I also added some piping details for the injector on the fireman's side, and some details to the cylinders on the engineers side. I'd like to have more detailed to cylinders, and while it is within the realm of my capability it is NOT in the realm of my patience. It's one of those "good enough" compromises. I've been looking at the photos on this site as inspiration:

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It's a 3-truck shay, but it is a 3-foot gauge shay, and has the general look I like.

[Ralph]

Its a beauty Kevin! Nicely done!
Ralph

[Gary S]

Looking good!

On the drive train, does the electric motor send power to the trucks, then the trucks make the crankshaft on the side turn?

[ezdays]

The results are well worth your effort. Good looking shay.

[nachoman]

Looking good!

On the drive train, does the electric motor send power to the trucks, then the trucks make the crankshaft on the side turn?

Yep. The MDC shays were more like a diesel drive train, with the outside drive shaft just for show. The Bachmann shays are different, and use the outside drive shaft to power the wheels. I can't say which is a better system. I guess one can say the bachmann is more true to the prototype, but then again how true could it be given it is powered by electricity and not steam. The MDC mechanism required a ton of tweaking just to run right, and the Bachmann (I have heard) has problems with gears wearing out quickly.

[Gary S]

Thanks Kevin, that's how I figured it worked from the photos. With all the gears and shafts, does it run smoothly?

[nachoman]

I did a little weathering, got the headlights hooked up, and I think I will call it good for now. I still need to install my engineer and add window glass, but I like to wait a while to make sure I am happy with everything before I do that.

To answer Gary's question: It runs well now, but the low gearing makes it noisy. I put in a NWSL gearbox and a new motor, and modified the fake side driveshaft to reduce binding. As designed, the MDC mechanism runs quite poorly.

[ocalicreek]

Nice work, Kevin! Another steamer on the roster is always a good thing.

Galen

[nachoman]

Nice work, Kevin! Another steamer on the roster is always a good thing.

Thanks. I'm happy with the way it came out, especially considering what I started with - an MDC 3-truck shay kit. After much tinkering, I decided there was no way I could get that third truck to work right - so I cut it down to two trucks. Right now, it runs pretty well. I get the feeling it will run even smoother once it gets a few laps on the gears.

[Gary S]

Thanks for the answers, Kevin. I like the loco alot, the black color came out good. Now when do we get to see it pulling some cars on its maiden voyage?

[nachoman]

Gary - right now half of my layout is closed because of scenery construction debris. Hopefully I can get that done within the next week and unveil a whole new scenicked part of my layout.

[Gary S]

Sounds good Kevin, looking forward to seeing the scenery. I should be out in the layout room working on it, but instead I am sitting here working on the SLC mechanical reefers.

How about some "in progress" photos of your scenery work when you get to that?