Mr Bach-man, wonder if you could do me a favor...
A bit over 2 weeks ago, I placed (or tried to place) an order for some Large-Scale Shay parts. If you remember the video I had posted on the 3-truck Shay shortly after it became available, a few weeks after that (about Feb. 12, 2007), the 3-truck Shay developed a serious :o valve gear jam (it actually locked up the entire drive train solid! >:( ). I finally traced it down to a couple of small plastic parts that hold the Stephenson links against the driveline eccentrics; they had fractured & one had gotten itself tangled in the U-joint at the front end of the engine assembly. :( I had posted a detailed description of the problem on Mylargescale.com at the time, here's some pictures from it:
This first one shows the engine cylinder assembly removed from the Shay:
(http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/TomLapointe/3%20Truck%20Shay%20Valve%20Gear%20Jam/Removed_Cylinder_Assembly.jpg)
The second is a close-up of the broken part (I'm calling it a Stephenson link retainer); this shot is viewed from the backside of the driveshaft:
(http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/TomLapointe/3%20Truck%20Shay%20Valve%20Gear%20Jam/Broken_%20Link_Close-up.jpg)
I had my oldest Shay (Pardee & Curtain #11) laid up on the bench at the time waiting for me to replace a bad DCC decoder, so the parts were 'borrowed" ;) from it. This restored the 3-trucker to operation; with a LOT of projects in the fire all the time, I basically forgot bout replacing the parts on the 2-trucker.
THEN, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed THIS at the end of a day of running outdoors :o -
(http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/TomLapointe/3%20Truck%20Shay%20Valve%20Gear%20Jam/Protruding_Stephenson_Eccentric.jpg)
Those darn little retainers (& the tiny Phillips head screws that secure them) had fallen out AGAIN! >:( (Although at least this time the valve gear didn't jam up).
My normal work schedule makes it a bit difficult to contact Bachmann parts dept.; but on April 18th, I had a vacation day from work, & tried calling parts to get enough of these to restore BOTH Shays back to operation. When I first called, I was told that your large-scale Shay parts expert (I believe his name was Irv, if I remember correctly) was on another call & would get back to me. (He did - but when he called me I was 1/2 way through a 33-mile bike ride). :P
I obviously DIDN'T have the part numbers with me while I was out riding - but after about 15 minutes on my cell phone at the side of the bike trail, finally got across to Irv what I needed, & that he'd send them out the following Tuesday (which should have been April 22nd).
They haven't shown up here yet :-\ (& Massachusetts isn't THAT far from Philly! ;) ).
I'm wondering if you could double-check for me if that order actually went out ??? The part #'s I got off the Shay mechanical drawings were: G811X-0YE01 for the Stephenson link retainers (my term for them)
and SCREW-10635; I had ordered at least a dozen of each, to get both Shays running again & give me a few "spares". ;) Tom
Hi, Tom-
I'll see what I can find out...
Best,
the Bach-man
Thanks! Appreciate it! :) Tom
Mr. B., any further word on this ??? It's been another full week, & I've $1000 worth of Shay's sitting idle for $ parts. :-\ Tom
Hi Tom-
I'll try again Monday...
the Bach-man
Still no parts or news - I've left several messages on customer service answering machines - with no replies. :( Could you contact me via e-mail regarding this??? Tom
Hi, Tom-
I thought this was done- I'll be in touch.
the B
ALL SET, FINALLY! ;D - The parts arrived Monday, just before I went to work! :D
It seems the "magic bullet" in getting this resolved was using the SERVICE / PARTS e-mail link, referencing this post. :) I sent out the e-mail on Thursday of last week; Friday morning my cell went off just as I was waking up (working 2nd shift, I am definetly a "night person") ;) ; at first I was wondering if the number I saw on the cell's caller ID display was a wrong number, but my curiosity got the better of me & I answered it. It was Irv, & talking with him, we finally figured out what happened with this order. Turns out someone else had placed a similar parts order but never got back to him with all the information - hence the confusion with my order. :o Just one of those "stuff happens" :D things. At any rate, I've got the parts to get both Shays running again now. (Over the weekend I suddenly realized I had forgotten about the retainers in the middle of the Shay driveline that were still on my laid-up Pardee & Curtain #11 - they were quickly "scoffed" 8) & trasferred to the 3-truck Shay, which was back "mashing tonnage" ;) on the garden railway this past weekend. Now with the new parts I should be able to get P & C #11 back up & running by next weekend. Thanks for your help on this, Mr. B.! ;D
Tom
Dear Tom,
Outstanding!
the Bach-man