MDC Roundhouse 2 truck shay = junk?
William MacDonald
one had a gear train that broke the axle gears after just a few hours of
running. I thought I had screwed something up when I installed the knuckle
couplers. Well, I noticed the second one waddled down the track right out of
the box. I thought maybe it just needed to be broken in, broken being the
operative word here. Its gear train just self-destructed like the first one!
I can't see how I could have done anything to screw up this one and I'll
never by another roundhouse loco. Ignore if you want, I'm just venting
Pacific95
I assume these were both the ready-to-run version........The MDC Shay
CAN run well but needs to be set up VERY well to do so, and it really
needs the NorthWestShortLine re-gear sets to do it. There is a book
(The MDC Shay Handbook) that is GREAT. But, yeah, for what these
cost they should come with better gears. I have a stock RTR that I rarely
run but it seems OK, if a bit noisy.
Find and buy that book. And MDC has a good service dept. Contact them
and they will make good on it.
-John
William MacDonald
for the tips
Frank Eva
news:x9t_b.79011$hR.16...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> They were the RTR version. I'll have to check into the re-gear sets.
Thanks
> for the tips
Even if you get a good one that runs, it sounds like a coffee grinder - even
under DCC!
--
Frank Eva
http://www.trainweb.org/digitalrailroader/
Daniel A. Mitchell
they always make a racket no matter how smooth they run. Careful work,
and NWSL gears, can quiet them down a bit, but I've never seen (heard)
one that doesn't make at least twice the noise of a run-of-the-mill
Bachmann Shay. For the record, the PFM brass Shays are not especially
quiet either!
The Bachmann Shay is altogether a better model ... but it is a model of
a very different Shay than the MDC versions. If you like Shays, and
can't afford brass, you'll probably want both. Maybe a few of each, with modifications.
In many ways the MDC Shay is more typical than the Bachmann Shay. The
Bachmann Shay is a big 80 ton 3-trucker (Cass #5) , but a very early
one. It has a strange long lanky appearance and the early style engine
with the three piece bed (almost three separate one-cylinder engines
coupled together on a common crankshaft). when #5 was built the design
of the Shay as we (mostly) know it had not yet finalized. It was
developmental, not a perfected design (yet).
Dan Mitchell
==========
Waba...@copper.net
--
Stephen
"Keep your rails shiny!"
http://www.allpointsnorthmrrc.org/index.php
"Frank Eva" <unpub...@directory.com> wrote in message
news:7hu_b.36375$_66....@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...
Daniel A. Mitchell
But, yes, they do make a lot of clatter (gear gnash, drive line
clanking, etc.) in addition to all the usual steam loco noises. This is
especially apparent when going DOWN hill, when there's slack in the driveline.
Dan Mitchell
==========
Doug
You know, I consider myself an accomplished model builder but those
MDC Shays are quite a piece of work.
I did see a three trucker running quite nicely one time so I won't say
it can't be done, but man, they are a challenge.
I have one that I spent a great deal of time on and did the NWSL
regear thing as well. I even built chassis to truck bumpers to reduce
the rocking effect.
After all was said and done, I bought a PFM United B3 Shay off Ebay
and repowered the thing with a can motor and flywheel(s).
I sure wish I had done that a lot sooner. I probably have less money
in the brass version and certainly WAY less time. The brass Shay runs
like a top and the MDC unit now sits on the shelf. Every now and then
I get it down and give it a spin just to remind myself why I stopped
fooling around with plastic locomotives and started buying brass.
In my opinion, nothing runs finer than repowered early brass locos and
the current prices of early brass is comparable to today's plastic
offerings.
Doug