# Shay what?



## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

While digging through my magazine collection, trying to find out what Finescale Railroader Magazine was orginally called (Outdoor Railroader) I came across Chapter 5 of their history of the Shay, this one dealing with the D-Class locos. Now I think of Shays as these dinky things that haul tiny log trains, but this article opened my eyes. The Ds were animals--186 tons with four trucks and able to pull almost 48 loaded coal hoppers up a 4 percent grade. The C&O had one of the first, but the Kansas City Southern and other roads used them too. The story said these big Shays had so much torque they could do the work of several switch engines when working a yard. And in some cases, for example, when pulling a long log train around a curve, they would yank every car off the track (called diasy-chaining by loggers) without spinning their wheels. BTW, Shays could be geared for light, fast pulling, or for heavy, slow pulling, as on steep grades hauling logs. 

I'm sure some of you Shay nuts wil say, "Duh." But ya gotta learn sometime.

Ain't history grand?


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## Cougar Rock Rail (Jan 2, 2008)

History is indeed grand Joe. I find the history every bit as interesting as any other part of the hobby. For me it was learning about the RhB in Switzerland. The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn and the more I liked it. I think it's that curiousity and love of learning that keeps us young at heart. 

Keith


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I never thought of the Shay as being "dinky" so that should give you some idea of what I think of the 4-truck Shay!


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Joe

Yes sir, I find history fun too.







Maybe the folowing will be of interest to you.

Lima Shay PDF[/b]


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

IIRC, a number of the larger Shays were used as pushers on the steep grades out of Trail, BC in the days before dismals. 

As ever, I could be wrong. 

tac 
www.ovgrs.org 
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

How about this for a small Shay? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuwY7o0pJbk


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

You mean like this one, a 162 ton Shay at the Cass Scenic Railroad...










Arguably the most exciting scenic railroad in the country.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Some other interesting Shay lore.. 
The New York Central had several "covered shays' that they used for switching in industrial areas.. 
the covering was for horses..for some reason horses were spooked by spinning drivewheels and associated machinery, 
so locomotives had to be covered if they operated in areas frequented by horses..(this applied to "regular" drivered locomotives, and geared locomotives) 
Once all the drive wheels were covered, the horses were fine! 

New York Central operated these Shays in the New York City area, and are also known to have operated in Rochester, NY 






































Scot


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Scott 

I had no idea. Neat pics. Thanks for the post. Interesting from a horse point of view that the moving pistons are still exposed. The maintenance crew are probably greatful for that.


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Chas, neat video. Looks like 2-foot gauge from here. Tom, visited Cass a few years ago, but never got to experience a Shay. Rode behind/in front off a Climax (or was it a Heisler?) and my ears rang for the rest of the day since our coach was right up against her smokebox. Scot, those NYC Shays sound interesting, but knowing of your Photoshop skills and your twisted Western New York sense of humor, not to mention your wild imagination (hey, ya gotta do something when you're snowed in a lot), I'm skeptical.


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Scot, I stand corrected. According to the Shay site linked above, The NYC is shown to have owned six Shays. But all that stuff about the covers and the scared horses....


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

There was a whole group of steam trams that had their rods covered for just that very reason...


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

Yup Joe that is one of the last 2 foot shays or at least the last documented Shay and it is not too far from here but I've not gone to see it yet. A Model of the NYC shay might be neat but it would HAVE to be live steam. 

Chas


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## ORD23 (Jan 2, 2010)

Great pic's and video guy's, thanx much!!!! 

Ed


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

The horses were the first OSHA. They knew people could be hurt by all that moving gear so they made humans cover the gears









These are some great pics. I like Shays too. I did not know they covered them. So I learned something new today. Now that I learned something new I can go out and play with my trains. Had I not learned something I would have to stay in the house till I did


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By John J on 05 Dec 2010 04:58 AM 
The horses were the first OSHA. They knew people could be hurt by all that moving gear so they made humans cover the gears









These are some great pics. I like Shays too. I did not know they covered them. So I learned something new today. Now that I learned something new I can go out and play with my trains. Had I not learned something I would have to stay in the house till I did










So, where'd ya think the term "Horse Sense" came from???

I have seen photos of the insides of some steam trams showing the "engine" inside, but I never made the connection that they were covered Shays.


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## Tom Lapointe (Jan 2, 2008)

@import url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Provide...ad.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css); Joe, Scot's not pulling your leg, the shrouded NYC Shays actually did exist.









Been to Cass a couple of times myself; most of their Shays are *huge *







, in the 90 - to 100 ton range. The one steamtom mentioned, Western Maryland #6, is *gargantuan! *







Last time I rode Cass was on the train to Bald Knob; it was during the week of the 4th of July, so the train was heavy (7 cars); I guess they have a rule of *no more than 5 cars per loco *(mainly for braking purposes coming back down the mountain). Our train was therefore *double-headed *







, with Shay's #11 & #5 pushing. The train left on time & ran normally up to the stop at Whittaker about 1/2 way up the mountain. Shortly after departing Whittaker, just beyond the first curve above it, the train suddenly halted; talking to one of the trainman, found out Shay # 5 had broken a bolt on one of her crossheads







; she would be able to limp back downgrade to the shops under her own power, but to try to continue upgrade with the train would've caused *severe damage to her. *







(Considering that #5 was *99 years old that year *







, I guess she's entitled to get temperamental occasionally!







). Because of this, it was necessary for them to drop *2 cars *from our train (the first 2 - I was riding the lead car - were dropped); after #5 limped back downgrade, #11 backed our train down to just above the upper switchback to drop the 1st 2 cars. I moved to the first car of the shortened train (losing a seat wasn't an issue for me - I had been standing & hanging out the side of the car the *entire ride to shoot video. *







). As this was going on, heard the sound of a *powerful exhaust *coming upgrade - & got a *great view of huge Western Maryland #6 coming uphill with the train for the Spruce branch! *







Shortly afterwards, #11 departed with the shortened 5-car train for Bald Knob. We got there 1/2 hour late as a result (which played **** with Cass's schedule that day), but it was one time I was *glad *







to be on a late train!








*Tom*


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