Three Truck Shay - Speed

[Barney R]

Hi Everyone- I just bought a Bachmann 3 truck Shay and the previous owner said that it ran a bit slower than his other trains. Well, He was correct. This Shay operates at less than 1/2 the speed of my other Loco's. Maybe as slow as 1/3. I expected that it would be slower because of the design of the Shay, however is this speed normal?

[WoundedBear]

Yes, by design, the slower speed is normal. Don't expect to win any speed contests with a Shay.

Sid

[Barney R]

Thank you Sid-Barney

[pdlethbridge]

if they went over 20 mph, it would have been a very steep down grade. They had very small wheels and were geared and designed for pulling and going over rough track, not speed. So you would never see one pulling the 20th century limited

[ebtnut]

The top end for a typical prototype Shay was about 15 mph, and the model is designed accordingly.  Like the Climax and Heisler, these engines  were geared down for maximum traction at low speeds and operation on the rough, uneven track typical of logging and mining lines.