[Gerd]

Hello live steamers,

some weeks ago, I started a long term project while building a 2" scale live steam Shay. As this engine will be "large scale" and live steam, I wounder if some of you will be interested in a building and progress log here in this forum.

As sneak preview, I attached a photo showing the finished wheelsets beside a Bachmann engineer.

Cheers, Gerd

 

[Mark Scrivener]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Yes! Very interested.

Did you cut the gears and the wheels? Or were the gears commercial? Details please.

 

[placitassteam]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Beautiful! Yes, keep it coming. What gauge will this be?

 

[Guest]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Hi Gerd, I have been following your work for a while now nice. The gears are off the shelf from a German firm, check the link is on Gerd's site.
Dan

 

[Gerd]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Well, here's another preview of the actual progress. I'm working on the pedestals and on Sunday, I milled the uprights to form the right side pedestals that will fit around the crown gear.

I'll tell you some more details this evening. BTW, I bought the gears as also the wheelsets, but both has to be machined on the lathe to match. The gauge will be 5" (127mm).

When you're intersted in more informations and pictures, check out my website www.shay.de.ki and read more about this project.

Cheers, Gerd

@Dan : nice to see you here too ;-)

 

[Gerd]

Hello,

it's time for a progress update.

The pedestals are neraly complete since I've assmbled the last one yesterday. Only the journal and gear cover are missing. I ordered the journal covers as laser part so I'm still waiting for them. Here are detail photos of both style pedestals.

While I was waiting for new thread taps, I spend time on the axle driven water pump. The excenter ring was made from brass as also the whole pump. Two stainless steel balls are used for the valves. After the pump was finished, it was tested in the kitchen and works fine. You can see it at Youtube => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Is5XUhN-hk

Finaly, I start work on the lower bolsters by cutting the raw material to length and machining the first parts.
Normaly, those early type Shays had wooden bolster instead of steel. I know that the bolster is "very heavy duty" for my little Shay, but it brings approx 4 more pounds of weight to each truck so this helps me to reach the final minimum weight of 100 pounds. The story could be, that the roundhouse crew has replaced the wooden bolster after a train wreck in reason of a brocken bolster.

Detail photos of the bolster during construction will be added with the next report. For today, I'll close with two mokeup photos, showing how all will come together.
Oh, the wheelsize is 22" and the wheelbase will represent 36". I guess this will match with a small 10 to 11 tons Shay.

Will be continued.

Bye, Gerd

 

[Mark Scrivener]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Lookin' good Gerd!

 

[CapeCodSteam]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

2" Scale, what does that work out to in ratio? And will this run on 45mm track?

 

[Gerd]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

The scale ratio is 1:6 and the gauge will be 127mm (5").

Gerd.

 

[Guest]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Hi Gerd,
I see you decided on an axel feed pump. You really need a larger crew to move those heavy duty parts around. I hope the guy ridding the 4 jaw chuck was holding on really tight.
Dan

 

[Gerd]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Hi Dan,

yes you're right. After some thoughts, I think this will be the best solution. I'll also add an injector and a hand pump.

Cheers Gerd

 

[tony23]

Hi Gerd, do you think it's worth having the axle pump as the loco will drive so slowly maybe you should consider 2 injectors and the hand pump that will be sufficient. Most people building 5" in the UK don't bother with axle pumps now as injectors are so reliable. I own a 5" Torquey Manor and am making a crosshead pump but it will only be to look at although I could make it work.

 

[Gerd]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Hi Tony,

my first steamer in this size has also a axle pump and I'm very happy with this design. I had always trouble in operating an injector while driving, so a simple and easy feed system will be worth a lot. But that's my opinion and also my experience that I made.

It's also a question in boiler size. As smaller a boiler is, as more importend is a good feed system. While a larger boiler will run one lap on a layout, a small one will only do a half lap before the water level will reach the lower level. The next problem is, that the steam source on a small boiler is also limited and most steam will be needed to keep the engine running, so there's no in many cases there's no steam free to operate feed systems while driving the engine.

I take a look on google for the Torquay Manor and the boiler will be near twice the size of my Shay boiler.

Bye, Gerd

 

[xo18thfa]

Hi Gerd: Looking very nice. Would like to see more of your progress. I like the wood faceplate you used to secure the pump strap. Wood works very well for "one off" set-ups like that.

How are those "shop helpers" working out?

Bob

 

[Gerd]

Hello and good morning ;-)

@Bob : they are doing a great job. But meanwhile, they need fork lifts and cranes to handle the growing truck. But step by step....

My girlfriend was working this weekend (she's working as nurse), so I had a lot of time for my second girly Abby *hihi*

First I build the bolster stands (I don't know if this name will be correct) from chanel, flatbar and threaded rod. On the rear, I mounted some 10mm square bar as guide for the spring plank.

Next I screwed the lower bolster together and milled it to final shape. The bolster for the rear truck got also a special grove to hold the axle pump. After milling the spring pockets, the bolster ist neraly complete. I also added the pivot points for the break rigging. Remember, that the Shay will get a working steam break.

Finally, I cut the spring planks from heavy flat bar and installed them on top of the springs. When the Shay will be finished one day, I've to adjust all the spring work to the final weight of the locomotive.

But these was only the work from Saturday... On Sunday, I started with the next chapter, the archbars. I raw cut all bars and started to bend them by using a chisel and hammer on top of an old vice. This works very well even on 4mm thick steel flat bar.

I stared with the lower frame with only a few bends to test this method.

Then I've gone ahead with the upper arch bars. I printed a 1:1 side view of the trucks to control each bend .

To get a feeling of the growing trucks, I started assembling of the front truck by adding the lower frame and upper archbars. That looks pretty good for the moment.

Still missing are the middle archbars. While this bends are very sharp (approx. 70° ) I used 15x3mm flatbar for this. The first two have been bend in the same way as shown above.

Now stay tuned => the first truck rolls out yesterday in the very late evening !!! But no photos yet and the truck was hold together by clamps. But it rolls and that was a very great feeling. Unnecessarily to tell, but I sleeped very well last night.

Some more pictures of several other steps can be seen on my website.

That's all for now but will be conitnued...

Cheers, Gerd

 

[placitassteam]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Gerd,
Those trucks are really looking great! I am amazed that you can bend those bars so accurately with only a hammer, chisel and vice. Thanks for the postings. I love your little workers as they give a sense of the size of your parts. What scale are they?

 

[Gerd]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Hi, the guys are typical G-scale figures. The left for example is an engineer from an Bachmann 2-4-2 Lynn. Bye, Gerd

 

[Guest]

Hi Gerd, Nice work, the part that guides the bolster is called the truck column in the Lima Shay records.

Did you estimate the total weight of the locomotive to size the springs or it is it just a guess that might require different springs in the future?
Dan

 

[Gerd]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Hello Dan,

at first thanks for your gratulation and also for the hint for the columns.

To size the springs, I guessed the total loco weight to approx. 55kg (120 lbs) and substraced the trucks weight with 9kg (19 lbs) each. The rest was divided by the number of springs (16) so each spring will carry 2,3kg (5 lbs). With this data and the needed minimum length, I used a tool from my spring dealer to find the right size. So the springs will be the final one.

What I'll have to do when the loco is finished, is to adjust all the springs by drilling the pockets deeper. So I can change the free length and pre-loading to bring the whole loco into balance in length- and crosswise.

When I'll be back at home, I'll post some pictures of the front truck with pedestals and wheelsets in place.

Cheers, Gerd

 

[Gerd]

RE: Are you interested in 2" scale shay building log?

Here are the pictures I mentioned above.

Enjoy the pics, Gerd