Which loco the Heisler or Shay is better to watch run around on a layout?
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In my opinion there is no contest in the model or real life world: the Heisler is way better.
1) The Shay has cylinder, crankshaft and drive line action on one side with nothing on the other. The Heisler has visible action on both sides (actually underneath, but visible from both sides).
2) The Shay has tiny cylinders with pistons that move quickly to turn the drive shaft. You don't get a chuffing sound very much at all. The Heisler has 2 large cylinders like most steam locomotives and produces a nice chuff sound.
3) Because of the tiny and fast-moving pistons, the smoke from a Shay comes out of the stack in an almost constant stream. There are no towering blasts of smoke from individual chuffs. Smoke from a Heisler does have these individual blasts.
On my last visit to Cass, the train before ours departed with a Shay in the lead and a Shay behind. It pulled away and disappeared almost in silence. I was talking with one of the employees assigned to our train and he apologized that, "One of our Shays is in the shop so we'll need to use the Heisler on your train. It's noisy, smoky and smelly." Well darn! The Heisler was at the rear and put on a great show of sound and smoke all the way up the mountain.
Of course this is personal preference, but I really enjoy the Shay with its three pistons moving up an down along with the shaft that spins along the whole length of the loco. The key with the Shay is to make sure the gear side is facing the viewers since the opposite side is blank with no mechanical movements visible.
hands down shay
StPaul posted:hands down shay
Absolutely! I'll second that.
My favorite narrow gauge railroad, being Uintah Railway, bought six 2-truck shays from Lima and made a seventh from parts of three of the first six, leads me to favor shays.
The Meadow River Heisler is the overall best. You can see the rotation under the engine.
The Shay has all the operating parts on one side. If you are not on that side, you see nothing. I like my Westside Lumber Shay, but I love my Meadow River Heisler, except that the Heisler windows are falling out of it. Hello Lionel Service.
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As a native of the Buckeye State, and growing up about half an hour from Lima, I gotta go with the Shay! LOL
And then there's Climax
The Shay hands down! and the Milwaukee Road owned several of them!
Interesting that somebody besides me favors the Heisler. I would think the Shay would be high maintenance with more moving parts than the other two. Shays do appear to have been more popular, and RR cost accountants went after bang for the buck. There was the Dunkirk, too. I also favor the Heisler to be different.
Shay is what I like for looks but not speed, HEISLER rolls pretty quickly
Big 6 pushed my wife and I up to Bald Knob at Cass. Also, being from Michigan my vote goes for the Shay. What a machine! Place the cylinders of the Shay so you can watch the show as it creeps around the layout.
Hmm, no one mentioned a Climax. It is designed for the same type of service, steep grades and rough track. It does have motion on both sides. There is a very nice one just down the road from Cass at Durbin. I think Cass has one being restored too.
All three prototypes probably have about the same speed capabiility. They were all built for logging and mining use more than anything else.
For me it probably depends on which day of the week. I like shays, they wer the most common and it is easier to find prototype information. However, that Climax in Durbin is a real beauty too. The heisler is more unique and interesting for that reason to me.
Its like asking which end of a banana split is best!
I like the rods of the Heisler wheels.
The positioning of the Climax cylinders.
If you have odd the offset boiler on the Shay might be an issue. But that's what makes me grin most on a Shay.
colorado hirailer posted:I would think the Shay would be high maintenance with more moving parts than the other two.
All those moving parts are on the outside and easily accessible.
Rusty
My vote is the SHAY all the way! the cylinder sounds are great! The Heisler just had the regular chuffs... great details on both though.
My vote......a living monster......
no tiny cylinders here.....no tiny anything!
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If forced to pick on, I'd say the Shay. But I love all three types of the logging locomotives, Shay, Climax, and Heisler, and I plan on getting one of each to run trains with. They are all different and have their own charm.
I'm biased towards the Shay.
The Shay at IRM (J. Neils #5) is the first steam locomotive I ever rode on, was also the locomotive I learned to fire on and was also eventually an engineer on.
They are fun to run. You may not get loud chooga-chooga sounds out of a Shay, but where else can you feel like you've reached escape velocity at 10MPH?
Fortunately for me, PBL went and made an S scale model of #5, though in St.Regis livery (who bought up J. Niels) so now I can run her any time I want.
Rusty
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Shay...Heisler...Climax: Love them all and I have models of all in O and On30. If I was forced to sell off virtually all of my O and On30 collections and had to restrict myself to just one category, I imagine I would hold on to all of the geared locomotives and the appropriate rolling stock to go with those engines.
Cass Scenic Railroad Number 6. A monster Shay!
Rusty, you lucky lucky b*$+*&%. I had no idea that's what you got to run. AND they paid you?
I have a relative that hit the Ohio lotto for millions twice. You guys should hang out.
Adriatic posted:Rusty, you lucky lucky b*$+*&%. I had no idea that's what you got to run. AND they paid you?
I have a relative that hit the Ohio lotto for millions twice. You guys should hang out.
Also ran this thing, which is why I always carp about MTH not doing one in Frisco:
:
At IRM I got paid in sweat and soot. Wonderful stuff and all tax free...
Rusty
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I love my shay
I have both, but I like the Shay's most 
If somebody offered a small, logging sized Heisler in three rail, and it wasn't priced like a Big Boy.....l'd be after a couple.
I have a couple of Shay's a 2-truck Legacy and a 3-truck TMCC, and also the MTH Climax. I'd like to add the Heisler to the mix. I do love to run the Shay with the driveshaft and pistons facing the viewing side of the layout, lots of cool action there.
In my view, the heisler.
IF it makes any difference, most Heislers were built in Erie PA and Climax locos were built in Corry PA not too far south of Erie.
After watching that video, I wonder whether Heislers or Clkimaxes chugged like that model. Having ridden behind several Shays, I would say that Shays do not.
Can anyone tell me how to pull off the body of a mth 3 truck shay?There are so many screws to take off. HELP.
when I bought the Climax I saw the Shay on display;
so of course you know what happened next!
@santa fe posted:Can anyone tell me how to pull off the body of a mth 3 truck shay?There are so many screws to take off. HELP.
@santa fe When I was changing out a 9volt to BCR, I thought this thing would never come apart. After getting all the screws out, gently keep trying to separate the shell. About the time I thought only a sledge hammer would do the job, poof whatever was sticking released. No issues to put back together, but be careful of all the wires, not much space in there. ---- I just looked, mine is a 4 truck shay. Also the MTH manual for 20-3191-1 does not show the location of the body mount screws. Should be 6.
