So.... I know that the number of people who have one of these locomotives is small.... thus in that regard, this thread may not apply to many people.
But I have found there is very little information out on the web, so I envision this thread being a helpful permanent reference if someone DOES have one or acquires one. Until now, Spookshow's review was the best info out there- and I provided a good deal of that to him.
So I hope this thread will fill in a lot more detail.
My (short) Story:
Overland released the brass Western Maryland Shay in late 1989-early 90. List price as I recall was $600. Their ad was the back cover of the first issues of the brand new N-Scale Magazine.
But this loco had massive problems. A recall was issued.
Around 1991, I encountered an old gentleman who had a large collection that he wanted to liquidate. I was young and eager and glad to help.
Sold most of his stuff and sent him a lot of money (no fee for me). He had an original (now called a 1st version) Shay that still needed to sell and a bunch of buildings. He said- Ron, why don't you just keep the rest as my thank you for your efforts. Wow!
So I became the proud owner of a 1st version Shay. It ran fairly well and I loved it. I was only just learning to tinker back then.
I do remember that because the main drive worm interfaced with the truck axle that the torque would pivot the rear truck in an unnatural way.
That was so long ago, and I was so green in N scale that I don't remember much more- other than I loved it.
I knew nothing of the recall that was going on about that time. Overland took Shays back and the drive train was completely redesigned. These were returned to the customer and are thus 2nd version Shays.
Sadly, I hit a really rough spot financially with hospital bills and I sold much of my collection- including that 1st version Shay. I sold it to a dealer for $550. And I always missed it.
Several years later, I saw one other 1st version Shay at a show at a private person's table. Test ran it and it ran well- though way too fast. I was VERY tempted to buy it at $250 or $300, but passed. I thought about that for years. Part of me regretted passing.
Fast forward to maybe 2008 or so.... and I saw Shay parts appearing on ebay.
That's when I learned that Keith Wiseman bought all the remaining stock of parts from Overland and he began building them and selling them.
Back then, he said that when he had one fully assembled, he would get about $1,000-$1,200 for one. But the assembly was VERY tedious and he was done. Selling out.
So on ebay, he was listing various Shays as kits- which were all 2nd version parts from the recall. Those that were more nearing completion he sold for about $250 or $300. Those that had a long ways to go he sold for $200 or less. I bought one that was near completion.
So a Wiseman Shay would be a 3rd version. And note: Wiseman Shay's obviously do not come in an OMI green box.
I loved that locomotive- and still have it. Through the years, I probably have put over 100 hours working on that Shay. I got it to run wonderfully. And i bought an empty OMI green box from a guy in Germany!
Then about 3 years ago, an old wealthy guy up north tried to commission me to build two Shays from Wiseman parts. I had some serious doubts- but I figured I had my Shay to go by as a reference. So I did not say yes, but instead a non-committal "send me what you have and I'll decide."
He sent me all his parts (roughly about 2-3 Shay kit parts)- and they were a disaster. His brother had attempted assembling one and had no idea what he was doing. Truck parts in particular were destroyed.
I wrote the guy back and said that I could MAYBE get one working Shay out of all the parts he sent me- and even that was uncertain since I still needed a motor and possibly other missing parts.
He insisted on 2 Shays. Said he would have someone cast the parts if needed. Ball was in his court.
A year went by. His health sadly declined, and he gave up on the project. He finally said- Ron, just keep the parts. I was shocked, but said OK.
And all those parts sat in a box for 2 years.
Recently, in the long cold winter nights, I mixed and matched parts and assembled one working Shay from what I had.
It ran terribly. But over time I painstakingly tracked down all the problems and it runs wonderfully now- even better than my other Shay.
I now have more understanding about these complex locomotives and thus more confidence.
Thus the birth of this thread.
I can now see that Wiseman not only built the Shays, but actually made several modifications which I can now identify and will try to document.
