I was gonna bring that one up as well, Jon! Yeah, a monster, and it’s hard to make sense of even when you’re walking through it. A beautiful beast though!
Cliff and Jon. Where is this. I would like a slew of photos of it. I dont have any intention of making a replica but I want to make a reasonable facsimile.
Cass, West Virginia. Displayed at the top of the mountain at Bald Knob. I probably have a few photos.
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I’d appreciate any you could provide Jon. It will actually be a relatively easy build by modifinying parts i already have Designed
I’ll keep looking. So far, I’ve not been able to locate the pictures from that trip.
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Beautiful model Devon. Where are these going to be available?
Thanks Doc, coming from you that is a big compliment.
They will be available at Mike’s Etsy store.
All of his stuff is currently 7/8ths but alot of it he will print in 20.3 if he can. The logging stuff we are designing now he will offer in both sizes outright. The Willamete he is offering in 20.3 first.
Here’s some I have…(nothing great, as I was just shooting taking pictures of the area and it was rather foggy still)
Those actually help a lot Bruce. Like I said I have no intention of making an exacting replica. That is a lot more work and far too involved for what I am after. This project is a complete afterthought. Our friend Dennis sent Mike a Willamete catalog and in it was one of these giant cableway skidders. It was a joke, “how about this”. Well when I got to really looking at it and others online I realized I already have the bones to make one. With the two and three drum version of the Willamette already created and this really being three independent hoisting systems run by one boiler, I figure with a little chopping and modification on the CAD files I can make a reasonable facsimile.
These pictures really show what I was after which is the boom and super structure. I am thinking I have a lot of Aristocraft flat cars for another project. I may sacrifice one and put some Bettendorf trucks under it (I happen to have a nice set of Kadees- thanks Pete L.) and then build one of theses beasts off of it. Really shouldn’t be that difficult with where I am already. The hard bits and pieces are done.
And building that may give me the excuse I need to buy a geared loco.
You don’t NEED an excuse. Everyone should have at least one Shay…
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Bruce,
Even me, mr prototype modernish era modeler someday hopes to purchase a live steam Shay someday.
I can’t resist a Shay chugging along at slow speeds.
A Shay is VERY cool.
You might want to check with Don Howard - I think he might still have a Live Steam Shay.
If you care, you might want to have a word with him, he’s calling them “my” steam donkey kit in his posts on Facebook:
“Finally finished putting together my willamette 3 drum steam donkey kit.”
Umm Bruce, I enjoy being married and being alive. I think my wife would kill me if I spent a few thousand on a live steam shay right now. Now granted this same wife of mine is trying to get me involved in the 7.5" group that’s just down the road for us. I keep telling her, if I get into 7.5", I’ll want my own live steam Shay… I showed her a price once of a 4-8-4 that someone was selling for just over $100K. She just shook her head and said, yah no! 
Well, the 1:20 Live Steam Shays are WAY less than THAT! 
They are his. Its his store and he is buying the designs. He owns the right to them. I am the behind the scenes guy. I get to brag on here and show people what I am up to. Beyond that its all his. He has been pretty faithful in giving credit where credit is due to the people that it matters to. So I have zero problem with that statement and I hope he sells a million of them.
Here’s a nice side shot:
[later edit: I didn’t take this, just snagged it from flickr]