lionel Shay puling power

I have the WM shay #6 from an earlier model that I had converted to Proto 2 or 3 (I do not remember which).  Louie who did the conversion indicated that all the geared motors (shay, climax, hesler) need to be run slowly (I keep them below 20 smph usually 10-15 smph) and should have a very light consist. The 4 truck shay I purchased at York had all the gearing broken (my fault for not unpacking it before purchase and checking the linkage) and it took $500 to get it running. Also my understanding is that the Lionel shays are one of the few engines that must run only on the O54 or greater that is specified.  Running on smaller dia curves will result in the drive mechanism falling out if the drive mechanism  is on the outside of an O42 or derailing if it is on the inside.  I run all for of my logging engines with the 4 cars as the maximum number of cars and I have not had any issues.

"...indicated that all the geared motors (shay, climax, hesler) need to be run slowly (I keep them below 20 smph usually 10-15 smph) and should have a very light consist."

Certainly the complex and precise prototypical designs of model Shays (etc.) does admit the possibilities of issues, versus the motor/driveshaft/gearbox of a model rod engine, but I have never heard of them (the models) being delicate in general. My K-line 2-truck is not, but that is not a scientific sample.

It would be a shame, and truly absurd, if modelers were only able to use their geared steamers with light loads on broad curves, as these locos were designed, by definition, to pull heavy loads around tight curves. If that is true, I'll use an 0-6-0 instead.

A Shay (etc.) model made using a typical vertical can-motor drive (a la diesels) and showing some convincing but fake gear/shaft drive always seemed like a good idea to me, until I realized that the "fake" gears and shafts would probably cost almost as much to engineer, build and install as the ones that actually do the propulsion.

So, never mind.

okay thanks i ll remember that

The MTH 4 truck shay does run on 042 and the Lionel Heysler and MTH Climax run on smaller dia curves.  The Lionel Shay is limited to O54 or larger unfortunately.  The light load recommendation is from Louie at Engine House Hobbies and he has repaired a large number of those geared engines. 

ours is in the shop right now for this same reason.

imo lionel should have had the gears for show and not do all the work.

I've had to shim several of them to get the gears to mesh correctly and not have excessive play.  After that, they seemed to be fairly solid.  I doubt they'll ever be as robust as the typical Lionel steamer design, way too many moving parts in the actual drivetrain, not to mention the extra stuff that's just eye candy.

I love these little geared steamers, the 1999 version of The West Side Lumber Co, and it’s really fun to watch side rods work....This is the little engine that Could or Should....The newer version is nice to...

i ll just be careful of speed and load on mine its a nice engine

Gentlemen,

   I have a Lionel Legacy Shay (Meadow River Lumber Co.)  It arrived via UPS in a non functioning manner, gears had been jarred around.  Lionel repaired it at no cost under the warranty. It has been running perfectly ever sense I got it back from the Lionel Repair Dept.  I run her at the M level on the Cab2, at about 45-55 pulling a fair sized tin Plate consist or a big WAG logging consist with lots of cars  She is one of my favorite engines!

PCRR/Dave

The Legacy Shay has decent pulling power even for the big 800 series Tin Plate and numerous Crane Cars.  Remember because of the gear engineering these Shay Engines were never to be given fast, they are geared for mountain logging work, not speed.

I just got a Legacy 2-truck Shay.  Do they have the same gear issues as the 3-truck Shays?  And I understand the 2-truck can do O36 curves.  Is all the gear noise normal for them?

I run my 4 truck MTH shay at ludicrous speed (for a shay) with a heavy, real log load on O36 curves. I think the more trucks the better because they don't get the same amount of twist in them that a longer drive assembly needs when negotiating turns. Also, I have yet to try and run the drive assemblies on the inside of an O36 curve as it seems like it would bind immediately. I also keep to the lubrication schedule. The housing that keeps the drive gears meshed with the gears on the wheels seems pretty beefy and that might be the big difference between the MTH and Lionel.

Sinclair,

   Unfortunately my Legacy Shay would not pull a conventional Consist load thru 036 curves, Coupler on the Shay is actually to short.   I had to customize the back Stairs of the Legacy Shay to make it happen properly.   If you do an OGR search I posted a thread on just how to modify the stairs to actually have the Legacy Shay accommodate 036 curves with a conventional consist.

After the Lionel Repair Shop worked on my Legacy Shay, the Gear noise is not very noticeable.

PCRR/Dave