Am I in way over my head???


chrismoore93

Central Phoenix Railroad
Hi guys,
I have a quick question to throw out in the forums. I am interested in buying a MDC Shay kit form someone I know on a different forum. The loco has not been assembled, except the motor, which is a upgraded NWSL motor. But the problem is I have been hearing that this kit is a little to hard to build, but I really want something to challenge me, but at the same time, I don't wanna have this thing laying around in the box. I was offered it for $50 dollars plus shipping and handling, but my question is, buy or don't buy?????
Thanks for the help,
Chris
 
You can build it correctly. There is a book that tells how to make them work optomally. You can get it on eBay for under $10 if you look.
 
Chris,
There is the book, MDC Say Handbook by Jeff Johnston and then there was an MRC article, Feb 84, by John Swanson. I suggest using those two along with the kit instructions. Take your time building (it will take time) & you will have a nice Shay. Best of luck.
 
It's not really that hard to assemble, its all the tweaking after that is needed to get it to run properly. And even then it can be an ongoing saga to keep it runing OK. Been there, done that!

I'd personally suggest getting the Bachmann 3 truck Shay instead. Micro Mark is offering them in current ads for $114.00.
 
Railphotog said:
I'd personally suggest getting the Bachmann 3 truck Shay instead. Micro Mark is offering them in current ads for $114.00.
I saw that on there a was thinking about buying one.
Thanks for the help,
Chris
 
I thought about building the 2-truck Shay when I was thinking of doing 1890's logging. But when I settled on the California Western they only had a 3-truck Shay.

If I had to choose, the two truck may be cheaper, but a heck of a lot more work. The Bachman runs great out of the box and you can get a SoundTrax that drops right in.
 



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