LocoGear Information

Now Featuring Two of the Largest Shays Ever Built! 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, Kozos 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 1" scale. All of the castings can be used for either 7" or 7" 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 ...