Aster Western Maryland Shay #6
Charlotte Metro Area, NC
G Gauge - 1/32 Scale Gauge One Brass Model Train from Aster Hobby Co. Inc. (1986 Run)
$3000 OBO
Built in Japan
Brass Construction
Limited Production - Serial #036
Factory Painted (There are some minor scuffs from handling but it has not been used much)
Real Wood Front and Rear Pilot Beams
Track Tested and Runs Very Well
Operating Directional lights
Good In-Cab Detail
It has functional Sierra Sound
VIDEO of it running: https://youtu.be/q9gNiFFWm0w
Original Box Included - Some of the corners are split
The Shay geared locomotives were named after the inventor, Ephraim Shay, and were developed in the late 1870’s to meet the transport requirements of the ever-growing lumber industry. A more flexible type of engine was needed, one powerful enough to negotiate sharp curves and steep grades in the backwoods lumber sites. In this design, a two or three cylinder vertical steam engine, similar to that used to drive a steam ship is mounted on the side of the boiler, and the connecting rods coupled to a crankshaft are connected to the drive-shafts by universal and slip joints. Small pinions attached to the drive-shafts engage with bevel gears on the truck wheels. In this way all the trucks are powered and more flexibility on sharp curves and rough roadbeds is obtained.
Aster has modeled a 1/32nd scale 1945 Lima-built Western Maryland Shay, the largest three-truck Shay ever manufactured. The Western Maryland used it on a coal mining branch near Chaffee, West Virginia. It was designed for regular operation on a 7% grade with occasional stretches as steep as 10%, and it could haul 156 tons at 10 mph on the 7% grades. Previously preserved at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, it is now in service at Cass, Virginia.
