May I ask how many have Shays and how many have shays that don't move? I know I have a bad one and at least one other poster here. The "other place" is remarkably silent on the shay. I wonder if it is censorship.
Mark: I have three Shays and they all run well with the decoders that I recently installed in them. It's amazing that's there's little or no discussion of the Atlas Shay on the other forum considering that you can't find one now on the open market. Stay cool and run steam....
But a post picking the new athearn sd70/75 engines is left alone.Hmmmm me thinks there is something else going on.This is the 5th shay I have heard about with problems.Glad I don't model anything that might need one. [ 14. January 2005, 12:15: Message edited by: Ed Pinkley#2 ]
I think that speculating on other forums' posts is a bit like throwing darts at the moon. It might be fun for a while, but the neighbors will eventually call the police.
There has been a post or two about dead shays on the railwire. It's probably censorship or self restraint in action on the manufacturer owned forum.
...censorship ? HA HA HA !! censorship you say, hey the only place with censorship I know is (censored) ! I have a Shay and my Shay is running like a Swiss Watch !
I didn't take it as being derogatory against the "other" forum, or the forum would have been named. I took the comments to be asking about the shay engine model having some problems. Perhaps the problem has already been discussed, and solved on the forum. The thing you could do, is go over there, post your problem and ask for solutions from the factory and members. Then you will know the rest of the story. Keep in mind these little engines are not toys, they are almost like a fine watch, and almost as complicated. The tolerances must be tight, and have no interference, none at all. The least bit tight anywhere and it builds up heat, and rubs off small chips that prevent smooth motion. Having worked with wrist watches and other fine parts, it doesn't surprise me that plastic parts tiny enough to look anywhere close to the shape and detail of an 'N' scale shay would have weaknesses. The main thing I see is that people expect too much from such tiny complicated assemblies. As I understand, the little crankshaft is molded plastic. The 3 piston rods are now plastic also. (The only one I saw had etched brass piston rods. It froze up because the hole was not reamed smooth after etching, which made them "file" the plastic crankshaft journals down so much that one of the piston rods wedged the works tight). I imagine plastic rods would run awhile on a plastic crankshaft if well lubricated, but if one got dry, it would gall up. This would be especially true if the engine was run wide open. The heat generated in such a tiny assembly could cause the parts to weld together. Go to the other end of the piston rod and you have the reciprocating action sliding in the cylinder that would act on any flash, dust, or dry part, and could seize there also. Run them slowly like the real ones did. Stay below 10 mph, even down to 5mph was not uncommon for them. While on vacation, my Dad and I saw a shay come down the mountain and stop to take an injured lumber jack to a doctor. The crankshaft and drive shaft journals were smoking from running the engine wide open! Dad asked the engineer why the bearings were so hot, and the engineer told him he had to run her wide open to save the man's life, but he was able to get her up to nearly 15 miles an hour! He was pretty proud of attaining that high speed! This is just my opinion, so it isn't the only possibility. [ 14. January 2005, 06:32: Message edited by: watash ]
There is no censorship on the Atlas forum that prevents CIVIL criticism of Atlas products. Go do a search for "Shay" and "Problem" to see what's been said so far. It's not quiet at all over there.
Pete, I love that phrase. Thanks for sharing. watash - Thank you for explaining it so well. I really agree. I cannot afford a swiss watch and if any loco motive was 100 percent perfect I would not be able to aford it either.
PowerSteamGuy1790: Whiat decoder did you use in your shay, where was it placed and please detail the installation procedure.
Chris- Although I stop in over there once in a while, I have found this board much more hospitable. I do not want to start a flame war between the advocates of the two boards and offer apoligies if that is how it has been taken. I have, previously, been censored there, without the courtesy of an explanation. I e-mailed Atlas' service department several days ago without response and a board administrator two days ago with the problem without response. I was interested in a response from the members of Trainboard, since many Atlas members post here, as well. It was felt that a reasonably accurate count and opinion could be had without "poking around" on the Atlas board.
Seems like about five bad ones here. Not too bad out of the total number sold. Nevertheless, some type of quality control may need to be overhauled. Seems like such a delicate engine! I am sure Atlas will make good the defective engines.
I also have one shay with a problem. The center cylinder threw the pushrod off of the crankshaft. The lighting does not work properly. BTW, I was running the shay at a slow speed as they are designed to be run. All in all I have to commend Atlas for attempting and completing such a complex, for n scale, locomotive. I should have known better than to purchase one of the first runs but then there might only be one run. Atlas has instructed me to return the locomotive. [ 14. January 2005, 15:38: Message edited by: Carl Sowell ]
Fother - I too sent e-mail to Atlas a couple of days ago and cc'd the dealer from whom I purchased the shay. I have , to this day, not heard anything from Atlas. I know my e-mail went through because the dealer also forwarded my mail to Atlas and then Atlas gave the dealer instructions for me to return the loco. [ 14. January 2005, 15:47: Message edited by: Carl Sowell ]
I visit all the boards. When I see a topic & have something to say I post. Just happens more often at Atlas. I have never heard of them censoring unless things get out of hand. If you post facts and the facts are that your shay is broke, there is nothing wrong with that. You might want to try and call Atlas, the service dept. The one or two times I e-mailed them I got a response. No biggie.
\ Ira: I posted the Lenz 521W decoder installation on the N scale board and DCC board on Trainboard. It must not be an important issue as there haven't been any responses in either location. Stay cool and run steam....
