I have been working on several Keystone Shay Kits, looking for alternative ways to power this static model using as few or none of the parts from the old and long out of production NWSL Power conversion kits. (More on this at a later date)
As a substitute for the Keystone Shay line shaft parts I searched my extra parts from a bunch of MDC Shay kits that I have. I had bought some failed MDC kits builds and broken RTR MDC Shay models that ended up on ebay real cheap or were sold at one of the local train shows I attend. Someone had tried to build them and failed or finished a model that no longer ran and decided to sell them for parts. I found a lot of wheel sets (save that thought) and I put them in a zip lock bag and sat them aside.
It seemed that many of these MDC Shay models were now being sold "for parts only" when their life ended because of drive line problems with the gear tower and split gears. I fixed a few of these by replacing the gears with the NWSL kits. I have a modification for the gear tower problems that make them work smooth and quite.
Back to the bag of wheel sets. I use a lot of the NWSL Stanton Drives. They install very easy, they come with all wheel electrical contacts installed on both the power trucks and the dummy trucks. If you use track current this helps a lot and they convert to Radio Control with Battery Power very easy.
Once in awhile I get an idea that seems to be a stroke of genius, those times remind me of something my mother used to say, you are so bright I think I will call you son. So much for that bit of humor.
To solve a lot of problems when building the MDC Shay kits I thought, If I just had a way to put a small electric motor in the Shay truck(s) (enter the Stanton Drive) I could eliminate drive line problems and free up a lot of extra space for a Radio Control Receiver and Battery or DCC and a speaker, if thats your thing. This would get rid of the stock motor, gear tower, drive shafts and most if not all of the noise these models make when running. I would have no more split gear problems or other problems associated with the drive system
My idea was a pair of Stanton Drives made using the MDC Shay Wheel Sets. Use the gear face wheels on one side and the plan wheels on the other side so the line shafts will still work.
I phoned Dave at NWSL and asked him if that was possible. After a short conversation he said, YES, we can do that. Just send me the wheels and give me a few days. I mailed the wheels the next day and received the new Stanton Drives with MDC Shay wheels installed on them this past Friday.
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I first tried to use one of my MDC Shay chassis but I was going to have to alter it a lot. After looking at the chassis a while I decided to just make a completely new chassis. I made a couple of different chassis till I got one that worked.
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Test Fit, photo-op.
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Since the NWSL "Shay" Drives were a bit longer then the ones that come with the MDC Shay Kits I had to modify the MDC side frames to fit the Stanton "Shay" Drives.
These pictures show the difference in length between the MDC Truck and The Stanton "SHAY" Drive:
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This required the side frames be lengthen a bit, sort of a cut and paste job, to add the necessary length.
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Modified Side Frames.
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Test Fit, photo-op.
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Working on a way to attach the side frames to the Stanton Drives. Then I need to make the line shafts a bit longer then the stock version.
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Mounting The Shay 3-Cylinder Steam Engine.
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I am now ready to complete the line shafts and do a chassis test run.
Yet another Test Fit, Photo-op.
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Bottom View.
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