Best Of The Overland/Wiseman brass Western Maryland Shay thread

[peteski]

I don't visit TRW for a week and now I see this!

WOW!!

And another GTFO from me.

[randgust]

C'mon Ron, came back looking for a video.... (nudge.. )

Pretty blown away by the slow speed double-worm design, could watch that all day.

[u18b]

Thanks Pete and Randy. 

At some point I’ll post another video or two. 

[u18b]

Max.  @mmagliaro
I needed to get back with you on washers. 

The Atlas thrust washer is adequate but not perfect.
I can’t measure the hole, but it does not fit nice and snugly on the 3/64 crankshaft.  There’s a little gap.

The outside diameter is not that big a deal.

I’m going to need to make an adjustment to the crankshaft, so I’ll take you up on your offer if you want to see what you have.
 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Thanks Ed..... (I think).

(I had to look up what you said      )

I'm an old guy that doesn't know a lot of internet slang.

lol

It was indeed high praise.

[Dave V]

Now this is what the Railwire's all about!

@u18b , you're a damn fine modeler!

[mmagliaro]

Max.  @mmagliaro
I needed to get back with you on washers. 

The Atlas thrust washer is adequate but not perfect.
I can’t measure the hole, but it does not fit nice and snugly on the 3/64 crankshaft.  There’s a little gap.

The outside diameter is not that big a deal.

I’m going to need to make an adjustment to the crankshaft, so I’ll take you up on your offer if you want to see what you have.

Any idea how thick you want the washer to be?  .010" ?  .020"?  Or is it a thin one, like .005" ?

[u18b]

Sorry I forgot thickness. 
The atlas washer is 3.5 mil.
.0035”

That size would be best. 
The left side of the assembly does not matter.  But the right side is tight because I already added that 00-90 washer/spacer. 

.005 might work if that’s the smallest you have.

Thx.

[u18b]

The Final Construction Before Paint

I Changed My Mind

Hmmm.   I guess I can’t make myself stop.

The Western Maryland Shay is my favorite N scale model.

As much as I like these models…. There’s one thing I’ve never done to them.

Superdetailing (other than the class lights I recently added).

Look at the ad for this model from August of 1989 on the back cover of the first issue of N-Scale Magazine.

This is obviously the test sample model that Overland was sent from the factory in Korea.

And I notice several differences from the regular production Shay models I’ve seen.



I see:
-a rope to the bell (actually an error, this loco had no rope)
-extra piping at the air pump up front
-a horizontal pipe across the cylinders
-the power reverse linkage looks a bit different
-the brake pipe from the tender is longer (and probably an obstruction- I can see why they shortened it)
-caps over the lineshafts on the trucks

I decided I was going to attempt to add some extra details to this model.

For planning purposes, I took a couple of photos and drastically altered the brightness and contrast so I could see into the shadows of this black locomotive.





Obviously, there are a lot of possibilities.

I’m not looking at the level of work that Max @mmagliaro so fabulously does….
But when I look at this photo of my model, I feel there’s a good deal I can do.  The areas highlighted are a bit empty.



So I’m doing my research, collecting photos, print them on a handy sheet for reference and get to work.



Hopefully I can take this Shay to the next level.

[Chris333]

I guess this is a little late, but do you reckon this would be handy?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZxAvSDz4QADDs5aR9

Once you open the link you should be able to click on the photo and then scroll to zoom in.

[mmagliaro]

Thanks for the nod, man!
 I like the areas you plan to focus on.  I think adding some free-standing wire details to those areas would make
your model jump from a 10 to a 10+.

[u18b]

I guess this is a little late, but do you reckon this would be handy?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZxAvSDz4QADDs5aR9

Once you open the link you should be able to click on the photo and then scroll to zoom in.

Thanks Chris.  This was helpful.

[u18b]

Superdetailing:  Air tank under steps

As I begin to superdetail this brass Shay, I’m looking for details that mostly pass the 3 foot rule.

Or… details that are pretty significant when you see a photo of this model.

And lastly, improvements that are do-able.   

For example, there is a small pipe that goes from the generator to the boxy part on the very back of the boiler up against the cab. 

That pipe is visible from 3 feet (though small) and definitely shows up in photos.  However, that boxy part is not thin folded metal.  It is a lost wax casting and thus it is thick.  It would be impossible to drill a tiny hole in that without removing that box. And that box is not coming off without other interconnected parts coming off.

So I have to let that detail pass.

And so, I begin with the first detail.

In almost all photos of the Western Maryland Shay #6 (affectionately known as “Big Six”)  there is a large air canister that is located under the cab and behind the steps.

It is visually very prominent.

This tank was not built by Lima.  The railroad added this some time after being put into service on the Chaffee Branch.

Visually, it’s comparable in size to the power reverse.  I took two K&S brass tubes, smaller soldered inside the larger (thus making the pass-thru hole smaller), cut to length and mounted it behind the ladder.

Also, the power reverse was in the way- so I had to removed to have room to work.

At my first try, the hot tank made the ladder get hot and it came off the frame.   With many failed attempts, I discovered this was very tricky trying to hold onto all of this with the resistance soldering tweezers.  The trick was to hold the tank and the ladder together, get it hot, and then touch it to the frame where it will be soldered in place.



It’s interesting, since I backed up the power reverse detail, I had just enough room for this tank.  Once again reaffirming that Overland had the power reverse located in the wrong spot.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

@wm3798 , you still have the Chaffee branch hanging around? Or did that get the viking burial?

[u18b]

Yeah.  I love his engine house. 

All of this is leading to a Chaffee Branch in my future.