Looking good Darth!
Again, great thread. I like those metal line shaft gears, looks like real quality components.
I’ve now made the final modifications to the gearbox area.[:D]
Not much visible in the cab,
or from the sides,
but it can still be accessed easily for maintenance.[:D]
Ok, I just got all the problems worked out with NWSL. The website listing was incorrect about the included motor, so they gave me $10 credit. So I get to keep the square motor, and I’m basically getting $10 off the full price of the other motor. They’re also sending the missing worm assembly free, and aren’t charging for shipping either.[:D] So I should have my full kit soon, and I get to have an extra motor.[:D]
That looks like some wicked-awsome fun! Thanks for sharing.
David B
After looking over the soft Keystone side shafts, I decided I would follow the suggested replacement of the Keystone ‘crankshaft’ with a strait rod. Even thought you have gotten them to run smoothly I have some serious reservations about their ability to hold up under higher rpms. The piston connecting rods won’t go up and down but that’s a price I’m willing to pay in order to keep the tiny loco in service. I bought mine planning on using the parts to build a vertical boiler critter to shuffle log buggies around the sawmill. That little Keystone 2-truck Shay is so cute I’ve decided to build it then buy another NWSL kit for my vert. boiler plans. I too was disappointed with the open frame motor but they told me up front that’s what I would be getting when I ordered it from NWSL. I found a good web page that deals with building and tuning the diminutive Keystone/NWSL Shay and it suggested the strait shaft modification. I am happy that you will be posting your construction progress- it will probably save me from making mistakes when I get around to that job. I’ll be delaying building mine until this summer when it’s too hot in the garage to work on the layout (and I get the benefit of seeing how you’ve dealt with those kits).
Roy
Ok so if I get this right the kit no longer has a can motor or the good sideframes? I just want to make sure. I did one of these a long time back and just want to make sure what we are talking about.
Doug M
LooseClu, the straight rod in place of the crankshaft will be stronger and longer lasting, but I still wanted the motion to go with it.[:D] If it ever starts wearing out, I’m sure I’ll find a way to fix it (probably with brass rod on each end, mounted on shrunken original shafts). I’ve also found a few webpages with tips and tricks for building the Keystone Shay, and I’ll probably follow a couple suggestions. I hope you have fun with your kit(s).[:D]
DouglasJMeyer, the new kits don’t include the harder sideframes (Keystone’s fault), and the motor is a cheap open-frame type. The cheap motor is still a decent runner, but it’s not as good as a higher quality can motor. If built right, I’m sure the soft stock sideframes will still last a while.
I’ve gotten one of the trucks assembled and working![:D]
It works pretty smoothly, but it will need grease in the gears and break-in time before it’s perfect. But I’m pretty happy so far![:D]
The other truck is now assembled and rolling smoothly.[:D]
I cut off the front truck’s square shaft and replaced it with brass wire. Things weren’t working smoothly with both trucks connected to the engine, so only one truck will drive it. I don’t have the worm assembly for the front truck yet, but with only the rear truck driving, the Shay works pretty smoothly on a 9" straight track.[:D]
This is as far as I can go until the new wormshaft and motor arrive from NWSL. I think they shipped the parts on Thursday, so they should get here soon.
Loose Clu and Darth Sante Fe, Would you guys mind sharing your websites concerning the mods to these little shays,Please? Great thread by the way. Wish I could see more of this kind of thing on the forum. BILL
Here’s someone else’s topic on another forum. It has some good tips in it:
http://www.cardmodels.net/forum/showthread.php?t=100607
And here’s another website that sems to be the most common reference for making the Keystone Shay run well:
http://www.mrollins.com/keyshay.html
I can’t find much more information than that online. There may be other websites with tips on building, but I found these two to have the most in them.
I’m watching an MDC Shay on eBay right now, so there may be another progress topic coming up eventually.[:D]
Darth, even though I’m an N scale modern era diesel nut, I can’t help but look at your build threads and marvel at your work. Thank you for posting your progress so far and please continue to do so,a nd excellent work so far!
I got the rest of my parts from NWSL today![:D] Both trucks are now powered, and I’ve got a good motor running it.[:D] On just a 9" straight track, the Shay runs smooooth.[:D] Low speeds aren’t great yet, but they should improve a lot once I get it to the point that I can run it on my layout and break it in. I don’t have any pictures yet, but I’ll be sure to post some later.
According to NWSL, the 10x25mm can motor has a 3-pole skewed armature, and the armature’s diameter is around 15% larger than other motors of the same width, giving it more power (stall torque = 0.3 oz-in, which is a lot for this motor’s size).
New update![:D]
I’ve now mounted the pilots and coupler boxes on both ends. I used Kadee’s Whisker coupler boxes for this. They didn’t fit at first, but modifying them was pretty easy. I used the Whisker boxes because they use a snap-on cover, and the entire box sits in the frame. The couplers are scale size #58s, and sit about 0.5mm above the correct height (not nearly enough to cause worry).
The NWSL can motor. It’s plenty strong for driving the Keystone Shay, and it’s fairly quiet.
The front truck now has its wormshaft and universal in place, so all the wheels are driven instead of four.[:D]
The motor is mostly hidden by the tender. It shouldn’t show up so much once the whole engine’s painted and assembled.
I put in temporary wiring from the rear truck to the motor to test it on the layout. It runs along nice and smooth, but the metal gears will need plenty of time for getting fully broken-in. Realistic speeds are up to about 5.5V (about 10 scale MPH, I’m guessing), and beyond that the engine’s crankshaft spins too quickly to look realistic. It’s still a nice runner, however.[:D] NWSL provides super flexible wire for the trucks, which I’ll use for the final assembly and wiring.
Since the Shay’s running pretty well now, I’ve decided to start with the detailing,[:D]
It’s hard to find any good pictures of this sort of Shay, so I’m using other Shay models and pictures for reference. Some of the detail parts will be left off during painting to simplify masking. I think this is going to look pretty nice when it’s all done.[:D]
Very nice indeed, Darth! Can’t wait to see her in paint! [:)]
Have you seen http://www.shaylocomotives.com/? I found it quite useful when building one of these for a friend of mine in HOn3.
It’s looking pretty nice already. [tup]
I have seen that website before, but thanks for the link.[:)] It’s still hard to find photos of a Class A, but from what’s there it looks like I’ve got most all of the basic piping on. Nobody seems to take many photos of the left side of the good ones, do they?
That’s really cool! Good luck on the project and here’s hoping you’ll post more pictures!
John
What is the reddish wire that you’re using?
John