I started converting WSRR’s 3 truck shay to battery/RC last week. Well, as luck would have it, I had to order some additional components. While waiting, I decided to go ahead and get started on the other changes that I wanted to make to it. Primarily replace the plastic decking, buffer beams and cab with real wood. Making said changes required taking the engine completely apart.
So begins my first engine bash. Wish me luck, I’m going to need it.
Here is the shay before I started. Yes, yes, I know I have posted this picture in other topics but here it is again for those who may have not seen the other posts.
After a couple evenings, I have been able to reduce it to this.
Throughout the disassembly process, I took photos and kept all the little parts and pieces separated in segmented storage cases. I am hoping that these steps along with the exploded views provided by the manufacturer and my somewhat questionable memory I can get it back together.
Tonight I started the rebuild. The first step was figuring out how to replace the front and rear buffer beam assemblies on the engine itself. If you’ve never taken one apart, these two beams are what tie the frame together.
As you can see, each end of the frame has a vertical Tee beam that slides into a receiving slot in the plastic. Now, how to replicate this in wood! What I came up with is to make the beams in two parts. The first part is a thin beam the thickness of the leg of the tee with slots cut that would slide over the leg.
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The second part is the main beam itself.
On the back, I cut out pockets to receive the cross of the Tee on the frame.
Now, these two are glued together to form a single, front buffer beam.
I’ve got 3 more of these to make, then I can attach them to the frame. I’ll discuss the attachment details once I get to that point.
Until next time …….
