CVSRy Shay #5 utilizes a home-brew Li-Ion pack built in two sections…
The 3 batteries with the PCB are crammed into the boiler…
And the 4th is hidden in the air tank…
Thanks, Jon. Clever locations. I’m not sure I’m ready to tackle making my own Li-ion packs yet. So far I’ve managed to get the batteries in the coal bunker of the Shays by putting the speaker in the fire box. I will need to get clever when I start the two Climax engines, though.
All done except installing a cab light and closing up the bunker.
Since I was short on the proper size heat shrink tubing and I had lots of these tinned hole perf boards on hand, I decided to make a junction board rather than splice all the wires. It also includes the resistors for the LED head and tail lamps…
The plug in the foreground is for the LED on the bunker shell. And this is about where the board will live once I’m ready to button things up…
I’m still trying decide on how to do the cab light. The factory screw fixture is still there, but I abandoned the wiring when I restored this loco years ago since I didn’t have a way to control it remotely - Then.
I put the loco on the indoor and ran it around for a while. Nice and smooth!
If the Shay ULT sound supports the chuff trigger it certainly doesn’t do it correctly. I tried setting the sound both with external trigger and by voltage control. I actually prefer the voltage controlled chuff as it doesn’t start too early. I did not try adding load, or tweaking the start/stop times.
And DONE!
Closing up the bunker shell was a real challenge. I needed to remove even more plastic around the coal bin opening and away from the bottom of the load. Even with the additional surgery I had to coax wires out of the way. It took several attempts, but I finally got it closed up. This shot was taken before the load was set back in place…
You can see how tight it is at the front fireman’s side. I did manage to come up with a plan for a cab light as well. I just ran wires covered in black shrink wrap across the floor and up the back left corner of the cab. You can just see a little glimmer of the tubing by the rear wall at the fireman’s seat in the above shot.
Here is a shot from below where you can see the cab light in action…
Good enough for railroad work 
And finally, the side view shot for the RailPro controller…
Actual edit for the controller…
With #5 back in service the C.V.S.Ry. now has 4 in-service steam locomotives and two in-service diesels all running RailPro. At maximum capacity, I can have 6 short trains out on the line at once, so I guess the remaining locomotives both storage and mid-project are surplus.
Nicely done, Jon. Glad to see #5 back ready for revenue service. When you have a moment, a short video of her on the indoor would be awesome 
Nice work, Jon!
As I recall, your lettering is vinyl, correct? Sure looks good!
Thanks Bruce. Yes, all my lettering that isn’t factory is vinyl.
Would the oil burner tank have given you more room ?
https://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=69_143&products_id=9635
Possibly, but I didn’t think of it and I wanted to finish up. That, and I like coal!
Well Dan, I’ll have you know that it’s your fault that I spent several hours last night setting up and shooting video, then an hour or more today trying to figure out how to get Windows Movie Maker back i
on Windows 10. The result is this short Vimeo video celebrating Shay #5’s return to service…
I hope it meets your needs
EDIT to add: The sound files in use are Shay ULT for the steam sounds, NW Hooter ULT for the whistle, and Bell Jupiter for the bell.
Impressive work Jon!
I saw that you even kept the firebox flicker! (I ended up removing mine, since you could NEVER see it outside!). I must confess, I never ran at night! 
Many thanks, Jon. I am pleasantly surprised by the sound, especially the horn. I think it sounds as well or even better than the Phoenix P8’s I have in my 2 Shays. Appreciate the time you put into documenting this installation and making the video
What is really impressive is MUing all these different locomotives together. With the exception on the Porter 0-4-0 #3, I had 5 locos all operating together tonight. With Shay #5 leading to set the pace, C-19’s #8 and #345 followed with 45 Ton M-11 and M-10 at the rear. It’s so cool to watch them go by and see the couplers go slack between units as real-time speed matching is happening. I truly believe that is RailPro’s dominant feature over all other Large Scale systems. It was really loud too!