John C Wrote:
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> Has anyone run a Willamette AND a Pacific Coast
> Shay? From what I understand, the Pacific Coast is
> the answer and the last word...
I can speak on just half of that with several years of firing and
running the former Pickering Lbr. Corp. 11, a PC type Shay @ RVJ.
They were pretty refined for a geared woods machine. but in my
opinion, were more an auditors and master mechanics favorite than
an enginemans or woods boss's.
They have relatively modest cylinder bores at 13", just 1" larger
than a 70 ton model, but are midway in power between an 80 ton
and 90 ton Shay. How do they get this for such an economical
locomotive? Their gear ratio is lower, 17 to 41 teeth vs.
20 to 41 teeth on the 80-3 and 90-3 models. You can't get something
for nothing and this even lower gearing makes them even slower yet,
especially noticed on longer operations. The 11 was favored on
Pickering as a helper out of Beardsley Flat for the 13 mile or so
2.2% pull up to Schoettgen Pass. I know two friends whose late
father said that Pickering enginemen got so fed up with the overly
hot all weather cab that they would either write up the 11 or
break it so they could get 80-3 Shay 6 instead, which was more
comfortable to ride in and also had the same gear ratio as the road
engine.
So what's the better machine...a PC Shay or a Willamette? I doubt
you'd get 100% agreement on an answer. The Willamette was a big
improvement over a Shay in some respects as they all had Walschaerts
valve motion with just the single eccentric as well as having cast
trucks as standard equipment and also better springing in the trucks
to provide a smoother ride over poor trackage. A PC type Shay had
inside admission piston valves and I'm not certain about the
Superheated Willamettes, but they may well have had inside admission
valves also, a better design for keeping packing lasting longer.
Both match up well when compared to each other.
One last thought on that low gear ratio...the 11 has been @ Mt.
Rainier Scenic Ry. in WA for some years and did run a little on
the regular passenger trains there. A better Shay would have been
an 80-3 or 90-3 model with the 2.05 to 1 gearing, as it would get
over the road faster with the passenger schedule than the PC type.
Just my opinion.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2010 04:04PM by Tom Moungovan.
