Made a start on my 7 1/4" Shay

Weldsol · Feb 26, 2009

Well Iv'e made a start converting Kozo's 3 1/2" Shay into a bigger one using his conversion factors
I have made one of the trucks and all the parts for the second one
Iv'e also changed the engine crankcase (fabricating from black mild steel ) to one in keeping with the origional, to which I'm now fitting the bearing blocks.
The crank is turned between centres (7 each end) from 303 stainless steel Iv'e not incorporated the ecentrics as I want to be able to adjust things later so will make split ones
One thing with this model is there will be no castings used so all will be either fabricated or from solid (loads of swarf !!)

Paul

IMG]http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/ss113/weldsol/DSC00144.jpg[/IMG]

hitandmissman · Feb 26, 2009

I'd say that is a pretty good start. Nice job.

DickDastardly40 · Feb 26, 2009

Paul,

Good luck! I don't know if you will have perused this Japanese gentleman's website previously however, he shows many different methods of manufacture in his description of building a completed locomotive and now well into his second.

He alludes to Building the New Shay (A 1920s Shay in 3/4" Scale) by
Kozo Hiraoka.

His craftmanship is superb as are his descriptions and pictures especially as English is not his first language. Hope anybody else looking enjoys it as I do; I often go back ansd see bits I missed before as well as his monthly update.

http://mokei-jouki.hp.infoseek.co.jp/e-Wiltop.htm

Al

Bernd · Feb 26, 2009

Paul,

Very nice work so far.

Here's a site that you may not know about. Nelson's Locomotive Works. He has built a Shay using Ken Shroder castings. Nelsons site has a wealth of information in it. Just another source of info on building a Shay. He is now designing and building a Heisler. Thought you might find this interresting.

BTW, I was in the process of building a Shay also. I have the castings but haven't got any further than that.

Good luck on building your Shay and keep us posted as to your progress. It'll be a long build and it looks like you've got a very good start on it.

Regards,
Bernd

Weldsol · Feb 26, 2009

Hi Bernd
I have looked at that site but there are a lot of differences betwteen his one and the Hiroka one
also the scale on his is for 7 1/2" and not 7 1/4" so the castings would be a bit larger that's why I have got the machine from solid route.
Good luck with your Shay

Paul

Bernd · Feb 27, 2009

Weldsol said:
Hi Bernd
I have looked at that site but there are a lot of differences betwteen his one and the Hiroka one
also the scale on his is for 7 1/2" and not 7 1/4" so the castings would be a bit larger that's why I have got the machine from solid route.
Good luck with your Shay

Paul

Ah do you mean track gauge instead of scale. They are both 1 1/2" scale. So the only difference would be in the axle width. In the US some clubs use 7 1/2" gauge and some use 7 1/4".

Of course if you are building a 2 1/2" or 3" scale then it would be a narrow gauge engine. The trucks would still be close but the rest of the engine would be bigger.

Bernd