Ron Tremblay said:
Welcome aboard Tom, Any pics of your engines?(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Ron we have to get you to Scranton. Tom has some really neat steamers and is very talented at building and kit bashing. I always enjoy seeing what he brings to Scranton and always a pleasure talking and running with Tom and Scott. Ron if you come down to Scranton we can run 4 Crickets at a time.
Shawn Viggiano said:
Ron Tremblay said:
Welcome aboard Tom, Any pics of your engines?(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Ron we have to get you to Scranton. Tom has some really neat steamers and is very talented at building and kit bashing. I always enjoy seeing what he brings to Scranton and always a pleasure talking and running with Tom and Scott. Ron if you come down to Scranton we can run 4 Crickets at a time.
Better idea, You, Tom, John, Eric. Come to ct.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
So where is CT, somewhere near Australia? 
Oops, there goes my “well respected”.
If it were im sure the taxes would be cheaper.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
Don’t count on it !
Well… I made a decision to buy Chris Stuart’s Shay he has advertised on this forum and we were at the point of closing the deal when my plans were scuttled. I was researching RC gear for it and saw a forum thread about minimum radius curves for the Accucraft Shays. The two, soon to be three, reversing loops on my railway are R1 2’ radius with no room to make them any bigger. All but 2 of my turnouts are also R1. The Shay apparently needs at minimum 3’ or R2 to R3. Increasing the diameter by 2’ and putting the track over the edge of the retaining wall. I could build cantilevered trestles to get around that but that puts them in harms way…“boof head dog” territory. I would have to do a lot of excavating , jackhammering and have to rip up nearly all my track work and start again. 
I wrote a lot more here but the forum doesn’t like iPad emoticons and it cut my text off here. Anyway what I said was …
My heart said “go for it, buy the shay and give it go”, but my head said “no way, sooo much work”.
I did a little research about modding the shay drive line but that too is not easy or 100% successful.
So I’m now back looking at Regners.
It’s a nice cool Saturday morning here so I’m going out into the garden to do some MOW and maybe do some more measuring to console my heart. If Regner ever sells their Shay again I’m sure it will sell like hot cakes. I for one will be in!
Cheers. Rob
Rob stop your babbling and get a Regner.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)
Roger that. LOL
The Shay will not do 4ft dia curves. You can do a 6.5 dia curve but you have to run it with the drive side to the outside. Im not sure if the Regner shay would do the 4ft dia but I could be wrong. Your best bet is to look at the Regner line. The Vincent, Konrad, and Otto are all great. Dont forget to check out the Cricket. You will get amazing service from Art.
That’s a great video and testament to a quality piece of gear. Thanks for posting.
Ron you’ll be thankful to know I’m on the verge of purchasing a Lumberjack. FYI the agent here in Snoz “Argyle” mentioned there is a new Regner catalogue coming out in a few weeks. Im tempted to wait but the supplier is offering a great deal. Esp as postage downunder is so expensive.
Meanwhile… I have purchased a Mamod T2 boiler and flywheel to start a “Willi” like “Thing” project using gear reduction rather than chain and sprockets… Still very much in the planning stages, see my post about the gear train simulator.
Glad to here Rob, Shawn V had purchased some gears for his lumber jack. To slow it down. I told him to post it when he gets around to it. Glad to hear there is a new catalog coming out.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
While waiting for my Lumberjack to arrive I have been having some fun building a "Huffalot ‘Thing’ " from a Mamod TE1A boiler I found ‘cheap’ on ebay. I have been chatting with people on the Mamod forum so posted my progress there. 
This is my Lumberjack running on my test track. It is 3% grade. Notice the difference in uphill and downhill speeds. Does pretty well w/ stock 2:1 gear reduction. Brick and Water bottle (32 oz) for weight, just to see how loco reacts.
Lumberjack does ok with stock gearing, I am awaiting someone to find “plug and play” gears to drop that to around 5 or 6 to one reduction like Willi has. That will help with climbing and decending grades without any throttle changes. My Willi that I used to have was a sedate and smooth runner, up and down grades all day long. But my friends Lumberjack likes to crawl or stop on grades, then fly down the other side. Not so fast as to derail on R1 curves mind you. But the speed changes and near stalling at times is annoying. That is my only gripe on it. I built his Lumberjack from a kit, with all the extras. He has the Regner headlight, whistle kit and wood towing hitch bar to couple him to a set of LGB disconnect logging cars. He also has the Regner shay that I built from a kit. The shay doesnt like any uneven track work and needs large radius curves to run. Only geared logger that will take R1 curves without complaining are the Lumberjack and any Climax or Heisler’s due to the central line shaft. I wish Accucraft would do a real small, like 18 ton size, class B Climax. Kind of like the ones done by Mel Ridley years ago or the Catatonk Climax done in a real limited run. You will want to get a different gas filling valve to replace the odd one Regner uses. Most everybody has issue with them and replaces them with the Ronson self venting type. Also be aware that Regners like to plug the gas jet a few times when new with crud from the gas tank fabrication process. Its recommended to flush the tank prior to use, then blowing the line and tank clear with some gas before reconnecting the line to the jet and burner. Good luck and enjoy! Mike
I like the way Willi runs to. Thats why I bought two.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif) I own a Lumberjack also. Shawn V. says hes going to change gears in his to make it run better on grades. My Chaloner and Otto and Konrad run great on grades.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Thanks for the Vid Marty. That’s quite a load to haul up 3%.
Mike…thanks for the tip on flushing the gas tank. Im just at that stage of construction of the Lumberjack kit and will do that tonight before finishing the assembly.
Keep in mind that it will take a few runs to “bed” everything in and maximize performance. The first several runs were short and messy as they tell you to open up the oiler more than normal during the break in time. I did several runs on blocks before running on the track. With the optional water top of valve, I have kept his Lumberjack in steam for several hours with just short down times to refuel and refilling of the oil tank. I miss the Willi that I used to have. If another one comes up for sale second hand, I will buy it. Mike
I did exactly that last night and the difference between first run and fifth was markedly different with much less noise coming from the engine. Yes it was like a new born baby… Messy to start with but improved with age
I’ll give it a few more bench runs before putting it on the track in the weekend.
I have seen mention of the top up valve but haven’t yet found it online and how it is fitted. I’m also trying to make a gas filler with a flexible hose as the cheaper gas here in Oz doesn’t fit the Ronson valve.
Cheers.
How is it on your 5%?
I have been also informed on the other forum, that you have to be careful with the Regner boilers as most are made of Brass and not Copper. Brass will dezinc over time and can have issues. That being said, I have never had any issues with any of my friends Regners and both have plenty of run time on them. Mike