Bachmann 3-Truck Shay with Tsunami Sound

[dreambuilders48808]

Wow! Reminds me of when I lived in Colorado.

Used to videotape the Shays at the Georgetown

loop. I have video posted of them if you would like to see it.

[WA1LBK]

Yes, I'd VERY MUCH like to see your video of the Georgetown Loop Shays! :) Got to dig up & upload some of the footage I shot down at Cass Scenic RR. a few years back. ;)

[ECHOGOLF11]

Is that the fastest it can go?

[WA1LBK]

No, it can go faster, but what you're seeing is a realistic operating speed for a Shay; real ones typically had a top speed of ONLY @ 12 MPH, they were built for pulling power & flexibility on rough logging trackage. I've programmed the sound system to give a realistic chuff rate; run the loco much faster, it sounds more like an EMD 567 diesel prime mover! ;)

[iinlovejameslafferty]

where did you get the smoke generator?! That's alot of smoke!!

[TatTude379]

Did you do a mod to your smoke system? because I have this same shay and it doesnt smoke NOTHING like yours!!!! Great vid!

[WA1LBK]

NO mods! - This was the STOCK Bachmann smoke generator & fluid! Running on DCC (vs. regular analog DC track power) keeps the voltage to the smoke unit at maximum (@ 20 volts, in this case), which is why the prolific smoke output. Several of my other Bachmann engines perform similarly on DCC.

[mergib]

WHAT DCC DO YOU USE.

[WA1LBK]

NCE PowerHouse Pro, 10 amp.

[mergib]

One more question, Will the shay sound work without dcc control. I have one of the shays coming next week. Your's sounds fantastic.

[mergib]

one last question. did the engine come equipped with a decoder and if not what kind did you install.

[WA1LBK]

I haven't tried the Shay on ordinary DC track power, so can't answer that question for you. This particular version came with the factory-installed Tsunami sound decoder.

[mergib]

There is a live steamer made by Aster, but it will not run as slow and as smootlhy as this one. And it cost way more as well.

[WA1LBK]

I've got 2 of the Accucraft live steam Shays, they run very well; 1 of my other videos has one double-heading with this Shay! ;)

[BB473]

So, is the smoke generator stock?

[WA1LBK]

Yes! Running on DCC (with a relatively high, constant track voltage keeps the smoke generator going pretty well. ;)

[mattgin]

I'm thinking about buying one of these, what is your opinion on its pulling power and reliability.

[WA1LBK]

This is the only engine I have that can drag my Accucraft live-steam Shay dead! 1 thing to watch from a reliability standpoint is the wiring harness between engine & tender (very fragile!), I've rewired mine with a pair of telephone connectors in place of the stock plub.

[mattgin]

Thanks, I finally got mine at a train show in Milwaukee(for $350!) the other day, OLC #110, no sound. I wont be back home till Monday, and wont be able to run it till tuesday. but i can't wait.

[treefrogflag]

Do you half to have a DCC transformer to operate the sound on the shay.

[klaptrap]

This was my favorite train in Railroad tycoon 2, it was PURE POWER.

[HavazikFerric]

That would be so awesome as a live steamer, with the pistons on the side running all the wheels! Maybe a project for myself ;D

[1DTNIfan]

Nice looking shay !

[1DTNIfan]

Nice looking shay !

[boogernuggest]

I like your video as much as I like your Shay. Which is a lot. So nice to see it running at prototypical speed - 15 miles per hour(?) The synchronization between engine and sound looks great, especially in that low speed shot. Which makes me wonder if it is the Bachmann Tsunami or the full blown Tsunami complete with sync switches. Jim Banner

[WA1LBK]

From what I've heard, Jim, this is a Bachmann-supplied, "LICENSED" version of the Tsunami. There is NO mechanical sync used on it. As supplied, the chuff rate was WAY to slow for a Shay. I reprogrammed the chuff rate CV to it's max value to get a reasonably believable fast Shay chuff. I'm running it on DCC, so activating a lot of the effects (bell, whistle, blowdown, etc.) manually.

[wslogger15]

What brand DCC throttle do you use? I am interested in the whistle response which sounds like it is variable manually.

[WA1LBK]

I'm using an NCE "PowerHouse Pro" 10 -amp system. There are 2 different whistle sounds (long & short), the F2 & F3 keys on the NCE throttle, if I remember correctly.

[adfgfds]

How many drops did you put in to make it smoke so much??

[WA1LBK]

It's not the amount of fluid, (maybe a dozen drops, what Bachmann recommends), but the fact I'm using DCC; the relatively high voltage (@ equivalent to 16 ~ 18 Volts) DCC applies to the smoke unit is what's reponsible for the prodigous smoke output! ;) The smoke unit is the STOCK Bachmann unit!

[adfgfds]

I see. So you can only make it smoke that much with DCC? The manual that came with my Heisler said to put in 3 to 4 drops of smoke fluid. That seemed like too little. What do you think?

[WA1LBK]

You can go a bit more than that; I typically add @ 12 drops. Any more than that, you're likely to overflow the smoke unit reservoir. One downside to the level of smoke output I had in this video was that I had to refill the smoke unit virtually every lap around the mainline! (About as bad as keeping the water level up in my live-steam Shay!). ;)

[adfgfds]

Ah! Yes, we didn't see that part in the video ;-)

[dreambuilders48808]

Maybe you could design a pump to supply the smoke

fluid to keep the reservoir. Nice Shay. I love Shays. Used to videotape them in Georgetown Colorado back in the

1980s. I have posted some footage on my youtube

site.

[Chris9017]

That is good, but it still can't beat Phoenix Sound.

[WA1LBK]

It's comparable to Phoenix in terms of audio quality, but not in volume; only a 1-watt amp vs. 2 for the Phoenix 2K2. (I have 3 locomotives with Phoenix 2K2's installed, so it's easy to compare them). I'm considering building a small amp to boost it to at least 3 watts or so.

[kevinandrobert]

WOW I want one now

[adfgfds]

could you get your live steam shay to run that speed? Cuz that would look REALLY good!

[bobgrosh]

Fantastic Sound. great smoke too!

Almost enough to convince me to buy another shay.