In spite of the front truck being split in three places, the “Shay” run without having a break for 8 hours on Mark Fielder’s “The Pizza” layout. The Searails PowerMAX! motor is not cheap but, in my opinion, it’s worth every penny.
I enjoyed assembling all the components of this little locomotive. The tender, the cab, and the boiler soldered to the frame:
The two steam cylinders engine is made up of pewter and brass components soldered together:
More small components have been added: chimney, front and rear lights, cab ventilation lid, engine cover (brass):
The “Shay”s are the American locomotives I like most and also one of my all-time favourite steam engines. Soon after learning that one such locomotive was once used on my homeland’s narrow gauge lines, I dreamt about building a small logging layout. With ‘2mm to a foot’ being my scale of choice, I started looking for a kit to build. It wasn’t difficult to find and settle for the “Showcase Miniatures” offering. Compared to the usual bras or N/S kits this is an expensive one and having it delivered to the UK left a rather large hole in my wallet.
The kit comprises of parts cast in pewter (some sort of white-metal) while some details are etched brass. The recommended method of putting it together is by using cyanoacrylate (CA) glue. I tried in the past to use “Super Glue” to build brass or white-metal kits but I always failed: immediately or very soon after joining two parts together they came off. I am very comfortable soldering so I started experimenting with low-melt solder (70°C) and some scrap metal (the sprue holding together the parts of the kit). Setting the temperature controlled soldering iron at 140°C gave the best results so I began to build the kit according to the instructions supplied.
I started with the frames and the drive shaft for the rear truck assembly which will replace the retaining plate of the Searails PowerMAX! motorized truck:
This was followed by the two-cylinder engine (the etched brass crank shafts are located at the bottom):
Two cab versions are supplied in the kit. The prototype I model had a cabin made of wood.
And the boiler:
“The Shay” is one of the very few American locomotives I like. A while ago I learned that two of these delightful machines designed by Ephraim Shay (17 July 1839 – 19 April 1916) were shipped to Europe. What surprised me most was that one of them ended up in Romania.
The engine having the shop number 2504 was built in 20 March 1912. According to the Lima class listings in 1911, this was a Class A (Able), 18 ton, two trucks, and two cylinders. More technical details can be found on the excellent web site ShayLocomotives.com.
The company commissioned to ship the locomotive to Europe was “The Cunard S. S. Co.”, New York City, NY, for “Karl Petrachek”, Vienna, Austria. In the next years the locomotive was sent to different locations in Central and Eastern Europe but she didn’t see much service:
She was tried out initially on the Salzkammergut Lokalbahn but didn’t meet the expecations. Subsequently it was offered to the Cisna-Kalnica railway (now in Poland) and also the Steyrtalbahn without success (source). She was scrapped before 1940.