As you all know the vacation was last week and we went to Cass Seniic Railroad. I have been looking for manifacturers of shays in ho scale and have found only Bachmann. Are these the only shays made for HOscale?
MDC made a 2 and 3 truck shay in kits and as RTR…You might be able to find these at train shows.Of course if you have deep pockets you could shop around for a brass shay.However…I would try a Bachmann Shay…I have seen these on lie for $119.00
There is also the Keystone Shay kit. It is a non-motorized metal model of a 20T Shay, made in HO, HOn3, and HOn30 versions. NWSL made (past tense, currently out of production but still available in the usual places) a motorizing kit for the Keystone Shay. NWSL advertised the motorizing kit as “not for the faint of heart”. I have seen some truly magnificent models made from these craftsman kits. Total cost ranges from $90 to $130, depending on source.
Size-wise, the Bachmann is the biggest, the Roundhouse is in the middle, and the Keystone is the smallest.
yours in gearing down
Fred W
Yes. Several manufactures made brass units. Don’t be afraid of the Bachmann. I had an HO model before I went to On30, and it was mighty fine. I have the On30 units now and they are every bit as good.
I have to echo GearDrivenSteam’s sentiments. I have one of the Bachmann Spectrum Shays, and it’s a great little runner. These are NOT the run-of-the-mill trainset Bachmann locomotives. I’ve also had one of the MDC Roundhouse Shays. It was a kit and although it ran well, it was a noisy little sucker. My suggestion of the two? The Bachmann. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
The Bachmann Spectrum HO Shay is a gem, nicely detailed, smooth running-at prototypical speeds (15 mph max). See CPR 5903 on lease to the Grizzly Northern - http://www.modelrailroadphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=780&cat=500&ppuser=2155
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| I have a roundhouse HO 2 Truck Shay that I built from a kit in’84.It is a little tricky to assemble,but she runs great.You can find the kits on E-bay from time to time. |
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I have built two Roundhouse Shays, a three truck standard gauge and a two truck HOn3. They are tricky to get running smoothly and yes are a little noisy but so are the real ones. Got to see one in Tacoma years back. Sure different than a rod loco. TARP
I have two of the roundhouse 3-truck shays, the first one I put together runs like a watch. The second one I have fooled with until I could scream and its still not dependable. The Spectrum 3-truck shays are extra nice, the first one had Dcc and sound when I bought it and really runs and sounds great. I just installed a sound kit in the second one and it sounds better than the first. I have several brass shays and I think that the Spectrum shays runs and looks just as good. Spectrum also makes a neat little climax locomotive that runs great. Cass is one neat place isn’t it! Just my [2c] worth. Jim[:)]