The Shay locomotive has captured the attention of railroad enthusiasts for over 100 years with its geared power transmission system. The Shay became the favorite locomotive among the logging and mining industries because of its great power and agility to traverse rough trackage. Among live steamers, the Shay has been popularized by the writings of Kozo Hiraoka. However, Kozo’s Shays and the only other Shay castings commercially available are for the lighter duty Shays.
LocoGear is now introducing castings for two of the largest Shays ever built! The parts listed in this catalog can be used to build two prototype Shays: the Western Maryland Railway #6, and the Greenbrier, Cheat & Elk Railroad #12.
Although the LocoGear castings were originally intended for WM #6, there are many castings which can also be used to build GC&E #12, just as Lima used many of the same casting patterns for both Shays. However, not all of the parts necessary for GC&E #12 are currently available. Most notably absent are the slide valve cylinders and cylinder frames. Many other parts, if not exact, can still be used with confidence to make a good replica. The castings available from LocoGear are designed for 1½" scale. All of the castings can be used for either 7¼" or 7½" gauge. On a Shay, the difference in gauge can simply be made in the axles. At LocoGear we believe that a live steam model locomotive should be built following the prototype as closely as possible. Great care has been taken to research the parts in this catalog before the patterns were made. We have followed traditional pattern making practices, which have added greatly to their integrity. Every attempt has been taken to follow the original engineering drawings. At LocoGear we want to respond to your needs and are interested in providing the castings for your locomotive project no matter what locomotive you choose to build. If you need castings for other geared locomotives, including other Shays, Willamettes, Climaxes, and Heislers, please let us know. We are always looking to expand our product line of live steam locomotive castings.
LocoGear has developed several avenues to provide additional information and technical support for the builders of WM #6 and GC&E #12, which we hope will help you successfully make this live steam model. These include the LocoGear web site, an e-mail list, the LocoGear Technical Bulletins, and LocoGear scale drawings.
The LocoGear web site has much information about its castings as well as the prototype Shay locomotive. There are also photos provided by builders of their live steam Shays under construction.
The LocoGear Technical Bulletins are designed to provide critical information and step by step instructions for the many parts needed to construct a live steam model of the WM #6 or the GC&E #12. These booklets give step by step instructions for the machining of various parts. Each LocoGear Technical Bulletin includes pictures of the part being made and also photos of the prototype part as well as plans of the part and any jigs or fixtures necessary to make the part. These LocoGear Technical Bulletins are provided free of charge to anyone requesting them. You may also download copies of each LocoGear Technical Bulletins from the LocoGear web site. Also, available for download on the LocoGear web site is a 55-page Master Index of all parts used to build the original WM #6 listing the drawing or card number, quantity and production notes.
In a effort to provide scale drawings for the model builders, LocoGear has created these drawings with 1½" = 1'-0" scale dimensions. Although the prototype drawings available from Allen County Historical Society (ACHS) and California Railroad Museum (CSRM) are extensive, not all drawings used to build the WM #6 or the GC&E #12 have survived to the present. See LocoGear Technical Bulletin-05, a list of all known original drawings for both the WM #6 and the GC&E #12 held by both ACHS and CSRM. See LocoGear Technical Bulletin-07 for list of all scale drawings offered by LocoGear .
Most prototype drawings can be used by simply dividing the dimensions by eight to build the model. However, LocoGear has reengineered many of the parts for the model builder to make the model part stronger or simpler to make without compromising appearance or functionality. With such modifications, the scale drawings for the castings offered by LocoGear may be necessary for the model builder to understand the manufacturing intent when the casting patterns were made.
At LocoGear we want to respond to your needs and are interested in providing the castings for your locomotive project no matter what locomotive you choose to build. If you need castings for other geared locomotives, including other Shays, Willamettes, Climaxes, and Heislers, please let us know. We are always looking to expand our product line of live steam locomotive castings.
-John D.L. Johnson
LocoGear
6111 Walnut Hill Drive
Lake Worth, FL 33467-6182
jjohnson@locogear.com
www.LocoGear.com
561-568-6840