Warren - I notice that your loco also has the mis-aligned cylinders and slide-bars, just like mine all had. See the posts on mls about the Shay on e-bay under ‘Rolling stock’.
And for those who don’t look over there -
Quoting myself -
'Sir, as I understand it, being a model engineer and all that stuff - the early plastic LGB mikes had an annoying habit of stripping gears at the drop of a hat - do a search and you’ll see what I mean. That is exactly what happened to my numerous White Pass models. After the first one, on rollers to have a gentle run-in, lasted just 30 seconds before seizing, I put all the subsequent replacements on rollers, too, just to be sure they were going to work. And remember, here in UK this thing was around $5000 - we don’t get the enormous bulk purchase discounts you do over in the USA.
Number two lasted 38 seconds. The third one lasted just one minute and fourteen seconds. I wrote a letter to LGB here in Nurnburg, and copied it to Mr James Tapper of LGBoA, in which I explained that I had carried out a detailed weight distribution test on all axles, and came to the conclusion that the problem lay in the basic design of the articulated chassis. In other words, the mechansim was not up to hauling the extra weight around.
You see, the plastic mike superstructure weighs in at around 3 lbs, but the all-metal ASTER superstructure weighs around 12 lbs. This weight presses down on the extreme ends of the chassis, and any play in the central articulation joint is exacerbated by the downward pressure - this explains why even my fourth and final model has the second and third wheels out of contact with the track…
This problem, plus the self-destructing gear train, made many of the ASTER/LGB models into shelf-queens, including mine. In spite of getting a letter from Herr Richter, that he would ‘stand behind’ the product, I have my heart in my mouth every time I can be bothered to run it - not a good feeling, I assure you. That is something that makes me very bitter whenever I look at it. For that kind of money I could have had the ASTER live-steam mike, factory-built - a real working loco.
Instead I have a big impressive crock of ****. And a model that nobody else makes…yet.
Oh yes, neither Mr Tapper of LGBoA, nor the customer service department of LGB/EPL in Germany could be bothered to respond to my explanatory letter.
Last time I looked in a certain store here in UK there was a pallet-load of them in the corner. Still with the empty spaces where two of mine had been taken out to replace the previous one.
In spite of spending much time in Tokyo, and, like my friend Zubi, privileged to have made the acquaintance of ASTER’s inestimable Tamada-san, I have so far resisted embarassing him by asking what ASTER think about all this. But it cannot have done their previously untarnished reputation for excellence any good at all, especially among those who were unaware that they had nothing to do with the drive mechanism and unaltered LGB drivers of the incorrect diameter.’
About three years ago I wrote a detailed write-up on this loco in mls, and measured it all by comparison with the real thing’s drawings I got from Carl Mulvihill in Skagway. Apart from the wheels, the thing was just about exactly right-on, but then ASTER did the drawings, NOT LGB.
tac
Ottawa Valley GRS
I also own a Bachmann Connie and an Annie. There’s more to me than a bunch of dismals. Note: Last time you were in my basement you were standing beside the Annie…right out in the open…
