Thanks for the kind words!

Dennis, thanks so much for the kind words!

Mike, no, I bought the replacement gear set some years ago, most likely on eBay. I wish I'd bought 2 or 3 sets now, but at the time I only had one Shay so one set seemed like enough. Now, like you, I cannot find any more. I check eBay every now and then but so far without any success. I'm guessing that most, if not all, of them have been installed in broken Shays by now and NWSL is no longer making them. Good luck to all of us!

@@CarlBrainerd , thanks Carl. I thought that might be the case…wishful thinking. I did send NWSL an email to see if they were going to make another run. Best wishes, Mike

@@CarlBrainerd Carl, I did reach out to NWSL yesterday, and got a reply back…They said the Shay Gears should be available in 3-4 weeks…YEA!

@@michaell.maloney4026 Good news! There must be a lot of pent-up demand out there. I'll be watching!

Thanks for the sharp eyes. I will be looking closely at the tender trucks sometime soon because I think the whole tender body is sitting too low and possibly shorting out between the rear steps and the track. Once, so far, I have actually seen a spark there. So a new look at the tender is coming as this long drawn-out saga continues.

Great! Glad we can benefit from the "crossover"!

The structures are all kit-built. They came from various manufacturers. The primary ones were Micro-Scale Models and Master Creations for all the "large" buildings, i.e. the sawmill, engine houses, and industries.. Others were JV Models, Precision Lasercraft, Evergreen Hill, plus one from Fine Scale Miniatures.

Thank you so much for the kind words!

Thanks for your note. Yeah, I'm done with Bachmann, too, unless they start using metal gears, and even then I'd be wary. My next big project may be an MDC Shay with can motor replacement and NWSL replacement gears. I have all the parts on the shelf (for the last 30 years, ha!). Just a matter of getting to it. That darn geared locomotive bug bit me, too. Not an easy road......

Yeah, it seems pretty likely. I have started watching eBay for anybody selling the regear kits, but so far there don't seem to be any out there for sale.

@@CarlBrainerd contact NWSL and ask if they are making more. I did last night, they said it’s being considered but no eta. If more people ask though, more likely I’d bet. They have a contact section on their website

@@tcepilotGood idea! I also sent them a note and told them every Shay Bachmann ever made probably needs this kit. I also suggested they make the hole in the gears a little larger....

Two of my three Shays were also essentially NIB, too, with minimal running time. I got them at an estate sale. You may find those old gears already split out of the box. I hope not, though, so you can enjoy a little running time before they fail.

While temperature does indeed affect size of metal parts, my gut feel is that the difference here is a lot greater than such a temperature difference could deal with. But I didn't even think of trying it.....

No, the universal joint function is not affected by gluing the joint "fixed" end onto the shafts. The little square rod that sticks out still articulates freely, and that is where the universal joint function happens. So the joints between trucks still operate normally, i.e. they slide in and out as needed for going around curves. Each truck can still be removed individually.

Geat! Appreciate the quick response! Scott H.

Hi, Louie. Thanks for commenting. I was 69 when I started building the railroad (77 now). You can do it! I don't have a book, so my videos on the my KZfaq channel will have to do. You might want to check out the one about building the railroad. I used Micro Engineering code 70 #6 turnouts. My flex track is code 70, whatever I had on hand (I think mostly Shinohara/Walthers). I used Blue Point turnout controllers connected directly to knobs on the fascia via dowel rods. For the "pine" trees I used material kits from Coastmans Scenic Products. They probably cost more than using Caspia fern branches from the craft store, but I think they went together a lot faster. Good luck on building yours.

Dick, glad to help. My engine house (the main engine house near the sawmill) was a kit from Micro-Scale, so the dimensions were fixed. The track centers are 2" apart, laid to fit the kit dimensions. This worked out fine, but there was little room between the tracks inside the engine house for adding detail. just a narrow strip of detailing stuff. The height of the doors is 2 3/8" above the railhead. One thing to pay attention to is the door width. Mine are 1 3/4" wide (the opening). I found out that the cylinders on my Heisler (Rivarossi) stick out the side so as to make it my widest locomotive. It just barely fits through the doors, so the placement of the engine house had to be very precisely centered on the tracks to avoid contact with those protruding cylinder heads. Since you're scratch building, you have the luxury of adjusting this stuff. You might benefit from an extra quarter inch or so on the door widths. My other engine house, the smaller one in the log camp, was a Master Creations kit. It also was built around 2" track centers. The comments above about door width apply here, too. This particular kit, being smaller, turned out to be not quite long enough for either a 3-truck Shay or a 3-truck Heisler to fit into completely, so they hang out the door. Good idea to double-check the length since you're running a 3-truck Shay. By the way, my Shays are the Bachmann models. They all have suffered driveline gear failures. Right now I am struggling with trying to install a NWSL re-gear kit into one of them as a pathfinder for my other two. It's not an easy swap. Wish me luck!

Carl, Thank you so much for the information it will be extremely helpful. Yes after watching the video at the end when that Heisler pulled into the stall i was saying to myself wow thats close!! I will certainly give the doors a 1/4” extra on the cylinder side. My Shay is a Bachmann Spectrum and the Heisler is a Rivarossi also.i haven’t had any gear issues yet but after seeing your work and detail on the Clear Lake Timber layout I’m sure you’ll have no problem with the gear kit!! Good luck and thank you again!

Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm so glad it came out halfway decent.

No, I didn't notice any such effect, although I recognize it is mathematically/theoretically possible. Even with a 5% grade, I guess the climb angle is still pretty small trigonomically speaking. So, no noticeable problem.

Yes, actually there was quite a bit of moving the layout sections and the whole thing once assembled, due to the need to get behind it to work fasteners and also the limited dimensions of the room. But with wheels on all the legs and a hard floor (ceramic tile) to roll on, it rolled pretty easy and I did it all without help. It hung up a little bit when wheels rolled into the grout lines, but a little "persuasion" got it rolling again. Then there was a final move into the final position. Now I find that it's easy to accidentally move it a little bit if I lean against it.

Sounds quite workable, and not unlike my situation. Good work!

Super! I hope it works out well for you....

I'm trying the opposite approach. I leave the ceiling fan on low speed all the time in the hope that keeping the air moving will discourage dust from settling. The jury is still out on this. I do think that having the overhead "sky" installed probably helps cut the dust, too. They do collect some dust on their top side.

It's not fancy, but gets the job done. A support structure made of 2x4s with a plywood top, including 1x2 edging around it to give it a border. Swiveling casters at the bottom of the legs. Finally, a high shelf overhead which holds lights, and also provides more storage space. I put in a simple light block to keep the lights from shining directly in my eyes. I made the top deep enough to hold a small airbrush paint booth and still have working space in front of it.

Thanks! They were made from a material kit from Coastmans Scenic Products. They have a lot of good stuff for modeling Pacific Northwest forests.