H0 or 00 gauge shay locomotive

[Ben Haigh]

Hi all! New to the model railway world but really enjoying it so far, have acquired a fair bit of track and locos so far but I am looking specifically for a shay geared locomotive to suit H0 or 00 gauge as the title states. Does anyone know where I could find one? Preferably in the U.K. and possibly not too expensive if that is such a thing?! Lol

 

look forward to chatting to you all

 

regards

 

Ben

[steve1]

Ben,

 

You won’t find a RTR  Shay in 4mm/OO. Bachmann have done them in 3.5mm/HO but not in their current range, as far as I know. 

 

Available second hand so that’s your best bet.

 

steve

[Ben Haigh]

Ahh what a nightmare, is that due to the intricacy of them? 
 

when you say I won’t find an RTR shay in 00, does that mean you can buy an engine but you would need to adapt it to run on dc etc?

 

regards

 

Ben

[cctransuk]

5 minutes ago, Ben Haigh said:

Ahh what a nightmare, is that due to the intricacy of them? 
 

when you say I won’t find an RTR shay in 00, does that mean you can buy an engine but you would need to adapt it to run on dc etc?

 

regards

 

Ben

 

Because they were not a UK prototype.

 

The UK uses OO scale / 4mm. : 1ft.

 

Most other countries - including those that had Shays - use HO scale / 3.5mm. : 1ft.

 

CJI.

[Oldddudders]

No. OO is 4mm to the foot scale, HO is 3.5mm to the foot scale. Both run on 16.5 mm gauge track. No-one makes an RTR OO Shay, but one or two US manufacturers have made HO models. 

 

By and large OO is only modelled in UK-prototype models. Shays have not been numerous in the UK. 

[friscopete]

Careful about buying shays .The Bachmann   HO three truck  80 tonner has gear issues thatcan be solved .you can find  HO Model Die Casting kits ,bits and  ready builts but they are often non runners that need attention .Brass shays are H0 too and expensive .Avoid brass Westside shays  as their running gear is atrotious on some versions with far too much torque twisting  the truck off the track .PFM make great shays mainly but could be old and knackered .KR models are going to make one soon a two truck  which should be reliable All these are HO but as the US has a larger loading gauge and bulk they still look OK  so  it doesnt really matter.The UK had only one shay imported ,a class B two truck. I include a photo of a   Bachmann three truck  in H0

Edited October 3, 2021 by friscopete
appaling spelling

[Jeff Smith]

Bachmann has produced a two truck narrow gauge Shay in its On30 range.  It is US O scale (1/48) but runs on 16.5mm track.  I think there is also a G gauge one.

[scottystitch]

KR Models are proposing a Shay in HO:

 

https://www.krmodels.ca/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=68

 

Best

 

Scott.

[pH]

9 hours ago, Ben Haigh said:

Hi all! New to the model railway world but really enjoying it so far, have acquired a fair bit of track and locos so far but I am looking specifically for a shay geared locomotive to suit H0 or 00 gauge as the title states. 

 

Do you specifically want a Shay, or do you just want a geared locomotive?

 

There are other geared locos; Heislers and Climaxes are the other common ones. I think they’re as interesting as Shays, and there’s action on both sides of the loco, not just on one side as with Shays (and Willamettes).
 

5 hours ago, friscopete said:

Avoid brass Westside shays  as their running gear is atrotious on some versions with far too much torque twisting  the truck off the track .

That’s another advantage of Heislers and Climaxes - the drive shafts to the trucks are on the centreline of the loco, not on one side, so less of a torque on the trucks.

[RodneyS]

I think the MDC kits had the trucks driven by shafts on the centreline and the 'waggly' bits just went along for the ride.  I have read that it was difficult to get then to run smoothly.  Certainly a friend of mine had a kit and never managed it.

Rodney

[Phil Parker]

Like the OP, I've always liked geared locomotive. Years ago, I picked this HO scale model up from a second hand stall for £20.

 

At the time, it was non-working but I took a punt anyway. A few minutes with some superglue saw the drive shaft re-fixed to the motor spindle and it worked. The loco has then sat in a box for years with glued-on details gradually falling off. One day, I'll strip and repaint it with something better than tar.

 

According to the Post-it note label, it's a Roundhouse model, but I can't verify that (can anyone?).

[Michael Hodgson]

Can't be sure but it looks like an MDC Shay to me.  MDC and Roundhouse seem to be the same thing.

[friscopete]

I got the MDC/Roundhouse ( same company ) shays working oK .You can let the shafts run on one geared wheel  per truck and also fit NWSL gears though a bit pricey .Shays are fascinating to watch.

[chris-shay]

For those interested in more info on Shay’s, there are a couple of good books… 
“Modeler’s Handbook - Shay “ by Single Shot Gallery publishers.

 

”The MDC Shay Handbook” by Jeff Johnston published by Oso Publishing.

This second book is an excellent work on how to tune the model to get the gears all running as they should. 
 

well worth it! 

[DCB]

The Bachmann On30 range have great potential for conversion to OO scale American outline locos with a bit of judicious pruning to chimneys and cab roofs.

Some 4mm scale American outline locos are part of my plans for a fictitious Isle of Skye railway and the Bachmann On16 look just about perfect.

 

[DavidB-AU]

On 04/10/2021 at 05:10, cctransuk said:

Because they were not a UK prototype.

 

As far as I know only two ever came to Europe and one to the UK, built in 1900 for the Staffordshire Steel & Ingot Iron Works and scrapped in 1912.

 

Of the 2,767 Shays built, the overwhelming majority were in the USA. About 100 were in Canada, 58 in Australia (mostly narrow gauge), 5 in British Honduras and one each in British New Guinea and British North Borneo. 

 

Cheers
David