I figuer HOn3 is enough off topic...

[Bad Droid]

20240622_070545.jpg (2.85 MiB) Viewed 45609 times

While I await impatiently to my return to steam in the garden, I have dug out a few of my old HOn3 kits. 2 Nasty white metal Keystone Shays, both were meant as static displays but some Sadist at Northwest Short Line thought it would be fun to make a retrofit powering kit for them. So I have a 2 standard gauge Shays and one narrow gauge power/truck kit.
So that's my thing right now, and I also found some box car kits and an idler flat.
Thinking maybe an indoor garden shelf layout or something.
Anyways these kits have been out of production for years, thought I should at least attempt the Keystone/NWSL kit bash, it's rated one of the most difficult kits ever in its scale.

[LNR]

If I'm seeing things right, it looks like a shay with a climax drive down the centre. You're a glutton for punishment
Grant.

[Bad Droid]

Yes, the majority of these small scale model shays were powered in this manner. Some had a can on one truck and everything else was for esthetics.
My older Model Die Casting Shay models were all center shaft driven as well, similar to my current model. Real fun on those three truck units lol. Timing the trucks and shafts to run smooth along with the electric drive was time consuming at best, but I have learned a few tricks. Dang, that was 30+ years ago....
I've contemplated using the can to directly drive just one power truck, then make the rest of the shays 'drive train' operate optically but not geared internally in second truck.
I have two of the shay kits so I may experiment a little before I start notching the frame(s).

[Old Man Aaron]

I've heard about these. Looks painful. I'm intrigued all the same!

[Bad Droid]

I've heard about these. Looks painful. I'm intrigued all the same!

I'm in no hurry, but I did finally open one of the NWSL packets and completed step one. I drilled the king pin locations on the frame and tapped them for a 10-32 which is what the king pin sockets take. I also fitted the shay motor mount. It's what the cylinders attach to and is my main concern on this build. The "motor mount" part number is the only shay kit part that had a different part number between the standard gauge and narrow gauge models. Obviously the trucks are different but they're not used, the trucks we use come from the NWSL powering kit so no concern there. After I get the unit powered, I'll probably have to thin the shay motor mount to squeeze it towards the center to minimize the shays u joints and shaft angles. Won't know until we get that far.
This kit is only worked on for an hour or so per sitting, and only when the house is silent, usually when my bride is taking a nap on a Sunday.