Bachmann 3tr Shay, Cass Scenic Railroad

The prototype

Four truck Shay, built 1913, scrapped 1947, White Top Railway (GNU Free Documentation License)

Driving normal fixed frame locomotives on logging railways was virtually impossible. The irregular underground made the wheels come off the track and derailed the locomotive. The three most numerous solutions to this problem were the Shay (2771 built), the Climax (appr. 1100 built) and the Heisler (appr. 850 built).
The Shays landmark is its powerful fast running three cylinder steam engine on the right side

More information: Geared steam and a dedicated Shay site

The model

The model is produced by Bachmann in 2006. This is clearly a model of recent date with a high level detail and a crisp clear finish. The motor drives the crank shaft, taking the cylinders with it, using the crank shaft for real to drive the trucks. The model runs extremely slow, and extremely quiet and smooth. A complete working set of valve gear is modeled next to each cylinder. Seeing it run is a feast!!

More photo's on this model.