I have a lionel 6-11233 two truck, 3 cylinder shay, very nice locomotive but it looks big unless it is sitting next to a scale J (which occasionally happens on the FUBAR). To get to the point, I am curious how close this shay is to scale. No posts found on the forum on the dimensions of real shays. Here is as close as I got with a web search: https://www.shaylocomotives.com/shayclass.htm
Any ideas on what the columns wheel base, rigid- total mean?
"...class system, developed by Lima Locomotive Works for the Shay locomotives, came years after the first Shays were built. As almost all Shays were built to order, you may find some that don't exactly match any line on the chart. The class listings in 1911 by Lima were:
| Shay Locomotive Standard Class Models | |||||||||||||
| Class Code | Weight in Tons | Trucks | Cylinders | Wheel Base | Drivers | Boiler Pressure | Water in Gallons | Tractive Power | Hauling Capacity in Tons | ||||
| No. | Diam " | Stroke " | Rigid | Total '-" | No. | Diam " | |||||||
| Class A Shays 2 cylinders & 2 trucks | |||||||||||||
| Ab | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 36 | 15'4" | 8 | 20 | 150psi | 300 | 3460 | 422 |
| Abe | 13 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 48 | 18'10" | 8 | 22 | 160psi | 400 | 6050 | 643 |
| Able | 18 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 50 | 21'0" | 8 | 26 | 160psi | 730 | 8330 | 1023 |
| Abler | 20 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 50 | 23'2" | 8 | 26 | 160psi | 830 | 10270 | 1265 |
| Class B Shays 3 cylinders & 2 trucks | |||||||||||||
| Bay | 24 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 50 | 21'11" | 8 | 27.5 | 160psi | 830 | 10280 | 1261 |
| Bale | 28 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 50 | 24'4" | 8 | 27.5 | 160psi | 850 | 12860 | 1580 |
| Baler | 32 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 50 | 25'5" | 8 | 29 | 160psi | 1000 | 14150 | 1736 |
| Ballad | 36 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 50 | 26'5" | 8 | 29 | 180psi | 1200 | 14320 | 1756 |
| Balloon | 42 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 50 | 28'6" | 8 | 29.5 | 180psi | 1560 | 16900 | 2070 |
| Baluster | 50 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 52 | 28'10" | 8 | 32 | 180psi | 1750 | 22580 | 2775 |
| Balustrad | 60 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 56 | 32'8" | 8 | 36 | 200psi | 2000 | 23890 | 2928 |
| Class C Shays 3 cylinders & 3 trucks | |||||||||||||
| Cap | 70 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 52 | 40'2" | 12 | 36 | 200psi | 3000 | 30350 | 3723 |
| Care | 80 | 3 | 3 | 13.5 | 15 | 56 | 44'6" | 12 | 36 | 200psi | 3000 | 35100 | 4305 |
| Carat | 90 | 3 | 3 | 14.5 | 15 | 56 | 43'3.5" | 12 | 36 | 200psi | 3500 | 40400 | 4960 |
| Carbon | 100 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 58 | 45'6" | 12 | 40 | 200psi | 4000 | 44100 | 5411 |
| Capture | 125 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 18 | 64 | 46'10" | 12 | 46 | 200psi | 4000 | 53000 | 6500 |
| Class D Shay 3 cylinders & 4 trucks | |||||||||||||
| Dan | 150 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 18 | 64 | 58'4" | 16 | 46 | 200psi | 8000 | 53000 | 6475 |
Last Updated on 04/26/2000
By Rick Henderson
