Hello, I just got my new On30 Bachmann Shay & Climax both with Tsunami sound this week. I do not have a DCC system as of yet, but running in DC, and I usually run N scale, here are my impressions. 1) I was surprised that they do not run very smooth in low speed. I think a lot of my N scale steam run smoother. do these not have big enough flywheels? do they need a lot of "running in" 2) in DC the sound is not in sync, very far off especially on the climax. as in the sound is running at a lot faster speed than the loco/running gear is moving. I have a PCM Goose that seems wonderful running on DC. 3) While the sound is nice, it is not as great sounding as expected from such a large model. The Goose has a lot better sound quality. I'm hoping running on DCC they might be a lot better, but so far, I'm glad I only paid about $155 a piece for these, I cringe at the thought of paying the $399.99 price that local hobby stores charge for these. they are nice enough, but not $400 nice. also, the PCM goose looks kinda strange, as it looks too small next to the Shay & Climax. and the Shay and Climax are not known for being large sized locos.
My Shay (straight DC) is also not the smoothest. But it only has a bit of test track time. Smoother backing up, than going ahead. I can't recall whether I have seen a tip on these. In the corners of my mind, it seems as though I have? I know we have someone here who is very experienced with those Climax locos. But he's away working for the summer. Won't be back, unless he can possibly check in, until some time in August. Boxcab E50
eBay. Seller is "Favorite Spot" out of Texas USA. He has been selling Bachman for cheap for years. I have bought a lot of N scale and On30 from him. The Tsunami's he only bids out like 2 or 3 times a year. one of those times just finished about 2 weeks ago. otherwise they are $220 Buy it now.
The PCM is scale (I have one in On3). While the shay and climax are small, the geese weren't exactly large either. Keep in mind that they were built from limo bodies (and later, #3, #4, & #5, as PCM modeled them, at bus bodies)...so they aren't very tall. The bus bodies were as tall as the cabs on locomotives...but the cabs sat quite a bit higher. Also, while the passenger bodies were merely the freight boxes with holes cut in the sides, I've always that that they appeared larger...which affects the perspective. Interesting that they are having trouble on DC; I'd bet that they'll perform better on DCC. I do not know if they are equipped with flywheels, but the PCM geese are. I've heard of pickup issues with the B-man climax, perhaps that is part of it. Michael
There have been people who did change the wheel contact system in their Bachmann Shay and Climax. One fellow was manufacturing a set of special pickup wipers for the Shay. But is no more. I have also heard a mention of two of a slight burr in gears, etc. Boxcab E50
A few people have experienced cracked plastic gears. NWSL has replacement gears for the HO Shay and is looking into making replacement metal gears for the ON30 Shay and Climax. Some people get replacement trucks with cracked gears from Bachmann. I follow the Bachmann forums. Some people in the Trains.com forums have Shay's that jerk going down a hill. One person added a little plastic compatible grease and loosened the gear box cover screws a little. lexon
I have both a shay and two climax from the FS. Both Climax run exceptionally smooth at low speeds. They run and sound great. You can program the chuff rate to whatever you want. I did not like how my Tsnami was set up (break squeal, volume, etc.) so I changed it ASAP. You can download the Tsnami instructions from the Soundtraxx website. Of course you will have to have DCC to program........... My shay does not run as smoothly. It does not back down steep grades (7%) worth a darn, bucking bronco, and I would not have purchased it with this knowledge. It runs fairly well now on level track to 3% grades, still not as smooth as the climax loco's. Neither of them use a flywheel. Many have posted elsewhere that performance improves with run time. Keep in mind that these are not Large locomotives, you could get a bigger speaker in an HO tender rod locomotive. They both use a 1-inch speaker in the tender. Mine sound great. I operate all of mine with DCC and have never operated them on DC. I have heard that the sound quality in DC is not as good but do not have personal experience. DCC better? Hhmmm. Depends what you want out of it. DC is sure simple and easy. DCC gets complex and expensive quickly but it can do things DCC just can't. I will certainly not go back to DC but have had many frustrations with DCC and its equipment. There is a lot to be said for simplicity.
