I just took delivery of my latest acquisition a Spectrum Shay with sound.

I had previously upgraded another shay with a DCC decoder.  Due to the small space available I  did not even consider adding sound. I, myself would not attempt to add sound to the Shay, I thought I might sometime in the future I might have a professional add sound to a Spectrum Shay.

Came across a great deal on a Spectrum Shay with the sound installed and went for it.

I am amazed at the quality of the Bachmann sound decoder, fantastic sound as far as I am concerned.

I have been lucky with the other Shay as far as the "gear" issue goes.  Does anyone know if Bachmann has addressed the gear issue?  Have  any of the current models have been  reported as experiencing the same gear problems as the earlier production models.
Either way now that NWSL has come up with replacement gearing I am assured of repairs.

I have seen a real one in Elbe, washington.It always amazes me how locomotive manufacturers manage to reproduce their machines replicating BACHMANN so faithfully 

Pacific Northern,
I actually have the sound decoder, speaker, and baffle to install into the Shay.  I contacted tony"s, who sent advised me as what to buy.  I also have never had a gear problem. (Knock on wood) Now that being said, Tax Refund IS on the way,,,,  I do have my eye on the sound installed unit.... 
Even though the GN did not have a Shay, the UP did have one in the mines of Utah.  Therefore I can have one....  or two...  or three...

I just received a Spectrum Shay(Cass Scenic RR) with sound.

I was surprised by the very slow speed. At a throttle setting of 50/128, the Shay speed

is WELL less than one half of  my 4-4-0 at the same 50/128 throttle setting.

Is this normal?

I realize that the Shay was slower than a conventional locomotive, but

I was still pretty surprised.

Will

  They couldn't do 20 mph unless they fell off a cliff

Yes, your shay sounds normal to me based on what you said, but your not alone many people are surprised at how slow it is.

Quote from: pdlethbridge on February 24, 2010, 04:22:28 PM
  They couldn't do 20 mph unless they fell off a cliff

Quote from: ABC on February 24, 2010, 04:40:23 PM
Yes, your shay sounds normal to me based on what you said, but your not alone many people are surprised at how slow it is.

Thanks guys. I suspected that, but I wanted to make sure.

I have a nice video of a Cass Scenic Shay and it didn't look like it could set any records.  >gr<
















,

Here is a link about calculating the speed of your loco. Store the link.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~trains/rroperat.htm

One big issue is how we modelers get preconceived notions on how railroads operate and try to apply that to our model railroads.

Below are three links about the Shay with speed mentioned in the articles.

http://tinyurl.com/yzax3wd

http://tinyurl.com/y9josee

http://tinyurl.com/ybcyqag

Lex

Quote from: lexon on February 24, 2010, 07:55:30 PM
Here is a link about calculating the speed of your loco. Store the link.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~trains/rroperat.htm

One big issue is how we modelers get preconceived notions on how railroads operate and try to apply that to our model railroads.

Below are three links about the Shay with speed mentioned in the articles.

http://tinyurl.com/yzax3wd




Thanks, Lex.

I stored the first link and read the referenced sections in the other links.



http://tinyurl.com/y9josee

http://tinyurl.com/ybcyqag

Lex