This review is on Bachmann’s HO scale Spectrum 3-Truck Shay.[:D] This review was delayed over a year due to split gears, and I’ve finally got new NWSL replacements put in. Performance should be the same as with good Bachmann gears.
Bachmann’s Shay is pretty much a masterpiece in the detail department.[:D] The boiler, cab, oil bunker, and tender are all cast metal, and they’re all as clean and sharp as the best plastic available. The only seam is one that’s going across the top of the boiler, but it appears to be intentional. To match different prototypes, many of the parts, like the cab, fuel load, and smokestack, are separate so that different parts can be used for different models. Mine is an oil burner, so it has a straight smokestack, a steel cab, and an oil fuel bunker. There are also other slight detail variations from other models, but I can’t name them all. Most of the details are metal, adding extra weight and giving more durability. Only a few parts are plastic, and they’re all thicker parts that won’t break easily. Some of the detail parts are optional (like the tool boxes) and have to be put on by the owner. The cab has a full interior with a backhead and glowing firebox, and the walls are all painted green. Bachmann uses a realistic driveline, with the power starting at the cylinders, going through shafts to the trucks, and finally driving the wheels with gears on the sides, just like the real Shays. Because of this, the underframe is fully detailed and doesn’t have a driveline going through like with the MDC Shays. The 3-cylinder “engine” on the right side has brass-level detail, and is fully functional with the main rods and valve-gears (9 rods total!). The left side of the Shay, which is r
That looks and sounds good. You might try posting this same message on the Bachmann forums as people there have the same issue. The photos are great.
There are at least two Bachmann forum members here that might post a link to this message. The fix might bother the “Bachmann powers to be” but this fix is a great help to the modelers. It might even help the Spectrum Shay sales. It is a win win situation.
Imagine trying to accomplish something like this without the 'Net.
i’m glad you like your shay but i have to wonder what is so great about buying a locomotive and then not being able to use it for a year? you said you spent hours adjusting it and that you had to buy parts to make it run from another source. did bachman pay for them? sounds more like it was “just a little bit pregnant” i would never buy one based on what i have learned from your post.
reminds me of a buddy years ago who bought a jaguar automobile. it was a beautiful car but when i asked him about body integrity such as wind noise and water leaks he said, “water leaks?” “if it’s damp enough to rain this thing won’t even start!!”
remember back when there were a lot of local shops with a test track right up front on the sales counter? i guess if they did that today, they would miss a lot of potential sales when the prospective buyer tried to make it run.
Wow, talk about a grump. Go back to your rocking chair. This is a hobby. He had no idea that the Shay had a cracked gear issue. He and others have had this issue. This 2009. The hobby is evolving probably not what you like. Bachmann has tried to make good but the stuff is produced in China. It can take time to correct an issue like this. Some of the replacements had cracked gears or cracked shortly after people received them. You have not followed this issue. Dave at NWSL, a USA owned model railroad comapny bit the bullet and solved the situation much to the surprise of many people. Dave bought out the comapny and moved the comapny to the state he lives in. No small feat.
True, the cracked gear issue has probably hurt sales a bit. But there are only 3 options for 3-truck Shays in HO right now.
Buy a brass model. May run beautifully, may run like a coffee grinder.
Buy an out of production MDC/Roundhouse kit, and spend far more time building what won’t be nearly as good of a model (although you’ll get massive satisfaction in the end because you made it).
Buy a Spectrum that may or may not have cracked gears. If it does, buy some NWSL gears.
or
Forget the Shay and buy a perfect Rivarossi Heisler.
Cracked gears or not, the Spectrum is still a good choice.[:D] And besides, a like fixing things![:D]
Thnaks for the efforts! I thought this Shay was out of production, got mine several years ago. If it is indeed not currently available then the review could be more or less wasted.
The part about replacing the gears is good to know, in case I need to do mine. Mine doesn’t get operated much as I only have portable modules that I run with our club a few times a year.
A suggestion: When writing a long essay like your review, break it up into smaller paragraphs when you change subjects. Makes reading a lot easier!
A quick Google search would reveal that this model is far from being out of production, but the Rivarossi Heisler is.
To grizlump,
Darths review is one persons experience, I have two that are 3 years old, no gears problems at all. Still, for less than $150.00, it beats the pants off the MDC version. I would rather spend $25.00 on upgrading a Bachmann than $100.00 on an MDC who’s detail is still not in the ballpark compared to Bachmann. The brass shays that are available, to my understanding, need some “tweaking” to get them to operate properly.
The Shay is a difficult engine to produce simply because it has all of the animation that goes with it. Bachmann did a superior job and if the only problem was a split gear, good for them. It’s much easier to produce powered boxcars than a shay, you might want to give Bachmann and leave the critiquing to those of use who actually purchase and use geared locos.
Lastly, I don’t see the need for a review on something thats been out for years. Reviews in my experience are on new products, and nothing that was said in the review was “breaking” news. What issue exists with the model, has already been solved by NWSL.
It has been out for a few years now and been reviewed by all the major magazines. I don’t base the ones I do here off how long something’s been out, though. I like doing it so everyone can get another person’s opinion on the old and the new.[:D]
Yeah, but the Bachmann Shay is a MUCH better model of a Shay than the Rivarossi Heisler is of a Heisler. In my opinion. But you knew that. The opinion part. That it’s mine. And maybe not yours.
I’d kinda like Bachmann to do a Heisler, actually.
I’ve had my Bachmann Shay for awhile now and have run it for several days. I have the “other” problem in that the horizontal plastic shaft disengages (usually when picked up) but it’s been easy to reinsert by hand and with Bachmann’s lifetime warrantee I don’t worry as much as I would with other companies. So far no cracked gears and I agree that between the warrantee and the excellent detail this is an awesome little guy. I have the Micro Mark sold model with Tsunami sound and I wish I could afford another one. Thank you VERY much NWSL for making the new replacement gears. I may need them some day. I’m so glad that the new owner(s) are keeping this company’s fine and long standing tradition alive. I know 4 other layout operations sessions guys who have one or more of these 3 truck Shays and they have had no problems so I think Bachmann overall does a great job at less cost to the consumer than Proto. etc. (The posters who do not indent paragraphs may not be ABLE to. My Safari and other programs won’t allow that on this forum.)
I have had a Bachmann Shay for several years now without problems. I have bashed it to represent McCloud River No. 16. However, I am glad that NWSL has replacement gears. I also have a Rivarossi Heisler and a Bachman Climax. I sure would like to see a small ( 45 ton) Heisler come out.
