I received my new to me Bachmann 36 ton 2 truck Shay and I need to install an on/off switch in it. This is a complicated loco, and before I go taking it apart to see what goes where, does anyone here have any suggestions? I use analog track power. TIA
BTW, it runs great. Smooth, strong, and easily goes through my R1 switches. I am very pleased with it.
Joe,
There should be an ON/OFF switch inside the smoke box door on the front of the boiler.
But
What is it that you want shut off???
Dan DeVoto said:
Joe,
There should be an ON/OFF switch inside the smoke box door on the front of the boiler.
Dan,
I wish! There is only the smoke unit on/off behind the smoke box door.
Sean McGillicuddy said:
But
What is it that you want shut off???
Sean,
I want to be able to shut down the loco on a siding/spur. My layout has no electrical blocks.
It would be easer to cut a rail and add a switch to the siding!
Sean McGillicuddy said:
It would be easer to cut a rail and add a switch to the siding!
That would be the easiest solution.
Something like this, in a waterproof box, looks sufficiently “railroady” to live trackside.
I used them when I had track power. I got the idea from an article in GR. I ran the wires in conduit, just to support the box in an upright position.
My entire railroad is on a cement slab. No way to hide wires on top of it, so I made no electrical blocks. Instead, my other 11 locos have, or I installed, on/off switches. This Shay is a lot more complicated than my Big Hauler 10 wheelers or my Porters, so I thought I would seek the assistance of my LSC brothers before I dive into it.
Joe Zullo said:
My entire railroad is on a cement slab. No way to hide wires on top of it, so I made no electrical blocks. Instead, my other 11 locos have, or I installed, on/off switches. This Shay is a lot more complicated than my Big Hauler 10 wheelers or my Porters, so I thought I would seek the assistance of my LSC brothers before I dive into it.
Well, Joe, that puts a whole 'nuther wrinkle on it. Dunno what to tell you, ‘cept that the two truck Bachmann Shay is an electrician’s nightmare. Most folks who start fussin’ with the wiring usually end up gutting it and starting over, from what I’ve been told.
Joe Zullo said:
My entire railroad is on a cement slab. No way to hide wires on top of it, so I made no electrical blocks.
We are only talking about using a hacksaw to cut a slit in the rail (no need to remove anything) and a small switch that you could easily hide next to the track.
Joe, If I recall the boards I pulled from a 2-truck shay I just gutted, the power from the trucks feeds into the PC board into the bunker in two places–one from each truck. (red and black wires, next to the orange and green wires).
If you cut both red wires, you can wire them to a DPDT switch to interrupt track power.
Check your Shay to see if what I describe looks like what you’ve got with yours. I don’t remember if I still have the board in the workshop or not to double-check.
Later,
K
Kevin,
I took the bunker off and it looks like you hit the nail on the head! That is where I will cut in a switch. I’m off to Radio Shack this morning to get a switch. Thanks.
Kevin,
Wow, it wasn’t as easy as originally planed. My Shay has the die cast trucks, and as such they have a much different top cover than in the past. I consulted George Schreyer’s tips page and finally came up with a solution. It involved removing both trucks so I could open a trace on the top cover PC board in each truck, and add a wire to each one. Then I had to snake the wires through the loco to the bunker and make all the necessary connections. Viola! I have my on off switch. My switch shuts off motor power instead of track power, so the lights still work with the loco “parked”.
Here is George’s instructions…
(http://girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/091013_girr_mtn_shay_bolster_rewired_7780.jpg)
“This is the new bolster after it has been modified to separate the motor and power pickups. I drilled two small holes and cut two traces. The motor wires that were already in the old bolster were fed through the holes and soldered to the, now separated, motor contacts. The wires that came on the bolster were spliced onto the original power pickups wires, insulated with shrink tube and stuffed back into the loco body. I did not have to actually open the loco body to make this change.”
Cool! Glad you got it working. I like the idea of just cutting out the motors, too.
Later,
K
You only need to cut one power lead and use a small on-off switch (SPST).
Dan,
I deviated from George Schreyer’s instructions slightly. I DID only cut one trace on the pcb and add one wire to each pcb.
What is weird about this new truck configuration is that with the bolster cover in place the truck will run independent of the loco! The contacts are such that the track power is routed directly to the motor. BTW I used a DPST switch.
