No…just the first three…I ‘borrowed’ the fourth one to replace one that failed on another unit…never put it back…
A progress update.
One of the first things to be done was to clear off the deck and level it up so a new floor could be installed.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba14.jpg)
The new deck and pilot beam are installed as well as the wood blocking for securing the oil tank
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba15.jpg)
The bottom of the back of the tank (oil bunker) casting had a bow in it so I came up with this idea to straighten it as well as fasten it down.
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http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba16.jpg)
The “kit” came with the ability to use either coal or oil in the fuel bunker but the boards were cast into the tank, kind of hard to contain oil with boards. So I covered them with a steel patch.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba17.jpg)
The new tank front (patch) in place.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba18.jpg)
More to come, hopefully.
Thanks for taking a look.
Rick
From what I understand, the oil bunkers were made to just drop in the existing coal bunker, not actually built into the cab…so ya woulda been OK with the boards I think…
Hi Bart,
I know on the class"B" Shay they had a oil tank that would just drop into the existing water/fuel bunker, actually I believe they had at least two different sizes. This makes sense on the class “B” where the water/fuel storage were one unit.
On the class “C” that has a separate water tank on the third truck and a fuel bunker on the main frame it would seem reasonable that a fuel bunker would be purpose built for coal/wood or oil but I have no solid evidence of this.
Do you have any information that would clarify this?
Thanks for the input.
Rick
Just talking to the guys at Cass that converted teh Fether River Shay to No11 from oil to coal…
A little more progress on the oil bunker.
The pictures pretty much tell the tale.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba21.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba22.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba23.jpg)
Thanks for taking a look
Rick
Nice work, especially all the little fixtures. Is that a “bendy straw”?
Ray,
That is a resin casting but the original mold could well have been a “bendy straw” from the looks of it.
No real building progress to report just getting everything tore down and all the original electronics yarded out in preperation for the new AirWire/Phoenix system that is going in.
(ht
tp://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba24.jpg)
Man I have never had a Shay torn down this far before, hope I can remember how it all goes back together.
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http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba25.jpg)
Paint, of all the things one might encounter in a rebuild like this I never suspected that paint would become a major problem, but it has.
All the base painting will be Rustoulem gray primer and Krylon flat black no problem there. For the first weathering coat I wanted to use Floquil “Weathered Black” well that is not made anymore nor is the “Poly Scale” equivalent. I heard that Badger “Model-Flex” paints were now the thing to use, well that’s great, but just try to find them. I finally located some with the help of a friend on here, Gary Armitstead, in of all places Hollywood, CA. So some paint is on the way, thing is having never used it before I don’t really know if this is what I want or not.
Thanks for taking a look.
Rick
Looking good so far Ric.
I’m pretty sure Model Flex is an acrylic. If you plan on spraying, you may want to look for an acrylic spraying thinner. You can thin with water, but it will be very runny. The acrylic spray thinner is alcohol based and evaporates quickly helping to reduce runs. I think Badger makes that too. I have a bottle I can look at if you need info.
What about rubbing alcohol for thinning acrylic?
I’m a noob when it comes to painting so I’d really like to know.
Ive thinned Tamiya Acrylics with alcohol with good results…
Hi all,
Been out of town for a few days but have a little progress to show.
The Model Flex paint is an acrylic and is supposed to be air brush ready direct from the bottle.
But I don’t know for sure as I still don’t have any paint in hand.
Checking the deck alignment and spacing.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba26.jpg)
A couple pictures of the water and fuel bunkers pretty much roughed in. All the black parts are from the donar 2 truck.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba27.jpg)
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http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba28.jpg)
Thanks for taking a look.
Rick
Looks great Rick. Can’t wait to see this ready to roll.
Hi all,
Not much progress to report as we have been mostly away from home the last 3 weeks but do have a couple of update pictures.
If you go back and look at the prototype drawing of #15 in one of the previous pictures you will see a wooden tool box on the water tender top. I wanted to model this detail and it became a very useful addition.
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Here with the top removed you can see it is an ideal place for the switches and charging jack since almost all the electronics will be in the water tender. The on/off switch and charging jack are both part of the BIK kit that I got, along with the rest of the electronic gear, from Jonathan at Electric Model Works. More about that when I get to the actual install of said electronics.
http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba30.jpg)
On to the next bits & pieces.
Rick
On edit I can’t seem to get that middle picture to go away.
Back with some progress.
One of my gripes about sound systems in large scale locomotives, especially when videoed, is seeing the locomotive go by with no sound then the tender passes by with all the chuff, whistle, and bell sounds. Just doesn’t seem right, granted when in person and standing 10-20 feet away it is not that noticeable but on a video it sure is. I think I have found a solution on this project, hopefully it works out.
The fire box in the Shay is pretty large and contains a lot of the factory electronics including the firebox “flikker”. I yarded out all the factory stuff and didn’t intend to use the flikker effect so had a perfect spot for the speaker. This pict shows the stock cover with the reflective foil and anchor screw posts.
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http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba31.jpg)
After removing the foil and mounting posts I cut a hole for the oblong speaker through the plate and mounted it with bolts, sandwiching a piece of vinyl insect screen between to protect the speaker.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba32.jpg)
All mounted up the fire box makes a perfect sounding box for the speaker. A side note; The speaker that came with the Phoenix sound system was round and about 1/4 inch to big to fit in the fire box. I sent Jonathan ,at EMW, an email asking about changing to an oblong speaker and a new one was in the mail next day. That’s service!
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba33.jpg)
A final view showing the addition of mounting rails to hold the new speaker plate to the firebox. The firebox is so low on these shay’s hopefully the bolt heads won’t drag on the ties 
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http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/rick_marty/3truckbuild/3tba34.jpg)
Thanks for taking a look,
more fun stuff to come.
Rick
Great idea on the speaker mount. Wish I had thought of that when rebuilding my 2 truck.
Many congrats on your effforts thus far - over here a few Shayists are looling in front to seeing the final result. I, too, looked at one of the conversion kits, but by the time it got through the excise men here it was going to be around $780, so I bought two of the Bachmann 3-truckers for $600 instead.
You really shouldn’t have to pay QUITE so much for the fun of doing it yourself.
tac
Rick,
If you really want that locomotive to sound more like a locomotive than a spam can, make an enclosure to cover the back of the speaker and then double the height. Make the enclosure with no openings except for the wires which you seal after installing. The reason for the enclosure is to stop any air movement behind the speaker which will cancel out a good portion of the sound. All the smaller scales, O scale and down, use this system and really makes a big difference.
I’m surprised by the fact that nobody does this in the larger scales.
Chester Louis SA #64 Hampshire County Narrow Gauge
Tac,
Yes, the Iron Creek Shops kits were quite pricey, that is why I never bought one prior to this. I just lucked into this one during a conversation with Jonathan at EMW. Although it wasn’t a complete kit, no drive shaft assembly or truck, the price was more than reasonable. I don’t think you could get two 3 truckers to your door now for $600, probably cost just a little more.
Chester,
You are absolutely correct. If you look at the pictures there are only 2 holes in that compartment for wiring and they will be sealed on final assembly. Also the ash pan doors will be sealed with double sided tape creating the sealed chamber I hope.
When I did my Connie conversion I built a sealed chamber for the speaker using a round piece of PVC pipe. I tried out the sound system before I put the “lid” on the speaker enclosure and then after installing the “lid” big difference in sound quality.
Thanks for the input.
Rick
Nice work as usual …if you want to try and play around with sound depth and tone you can add some pillow batting or fiberous material within the enclosure.