Hi everyone, Recently I've been thinking maybe a tiny little Nn3 layout might be interesting to build and run, but I was wondering about Nn3 locomotives. I'm really interested in two narrow gauge locomotives, Two cylinder T-Boiler shays, and K-27s or something very similar (Couldn't tell ya why, I just like 'em!). Now I've found a few Nn3 K-27s rolling around on the internet, but they are pretty pricey.. I'd love to attempt building my own brass one if possible, but how hard are mechs to find for them? And, obviously, the Shay is a whole other story. I again would love to build my own, but is it even possible? Could it even be able to run? I did do a bit of searching and found the Searails PowerMax, which could be something to power the little guy with, but I'm not even sure if that would be small enough! Although if they were it would be great to tuck one in each truck! But, anyways, I haven't ever dealt with Nn3 but I'd love to dabble in it a bit and have just a small little layout that could sit on the top of a dresser or desk or something like that. Where should I start? Thanks, Alex
I had researched this topic a bit when I was looking into Nn3. It looks like since that time, the availability of the Shay's I was looking at declined a good bit. To answer your question, yes there are some little Nn3 Shay's that run...in particular one with dummy drive and crank shafts and there has also been a brass West Side Three Truck kit that appeared to have operable drive and crank shafts. I can't speak for the Searails PowerMax...but if you wish to build your own Shay, it seems the way to go would be to build a dummy Shay (non operable crank shafts) on a powered chassis of your choosing. You may be able to find some plans for these Shays I'm speaking of if you search for Nn3 Shays. You may even be lucky to find some Shays others have built for sale if you're willing to spend that much. This probably didn't help much, but the short answer is there really is no great option for Shay's in Nn3 at this point in time. -HL
Jason, I deleted the part of the post you're referring to as I didn't want to violate any of the Trainboards policies on links and what not. But yes as embarrassing as it is to admit, I did mix them together while quickly surfing around. I'll have to pay more attention next time, and thanks for pointing that out! -HL
I believe the RLW Nn3 locomotives use donor mechs from Marklin. The RLW two truck shay uses an MT F7 donor for the mech.
I was looking at some of the Marklin mechs last night, and I think that will work well for a K-27 or something similar. But I'm not so sure about what to use with the Shay, although I have some ideas. Does anyone know where you can get very small motors that are suitable for an application like this, as well as very small brass gears to build a gearbox out of? (I'll need a worm gear, too..), plus gears for the trucks? Or where I could have them made? Alex
The Republic Locomotive Works 3-truck Shay kit comes with a motor. The two truck Shay kit is designed to go over a Micro-Trains F7 chassis with motor. https://www.republiclocomotiveworks.com/show_item.php?ID=484 As for the gearboxes and motors, I don't have anything off the top of my head but what I have picked up, I learned from TrainBoard so you may want to search the Forum. Micro Loco Motion has small motors and gearheads.
Just a quick heads up, there is a guys selling an NN3 loco kit on the Nscaleyard sale list as of tonight.. A copy of the message is attached.. ================================================== [TABLE="class: cf gJ"] [TR="class: acZ"] [TD="class: gF gK, align: left"][TABLE="class: cf ix, width: 282"] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="class: gH, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: gH, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: gH acX, align: right"][/TD] [/TR] [TR="class: acZ xD"] [TD="colspan: 3"][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] I am an n scaler and had always thought I would include a portion of my layout for NN3. So I bought a RLM conversion kit to build a C-16. I also bought a Marklin 8896 for the drive train. All the parts I received from RLW as well as the never-been-out-of-the-box Marklin have sat on my project shelf for 10 years. Ugh. I have recently retired and my new layout is much smaller than previously so there is no place for a NN3 locomotive or train. I would like to get this kit to a good home. Everything is in the box that came - including color photographs of the completed kit. I have about $270.00 invested based on receipts and would like to get $225 plus shipping. If you are interested please email me. Thanks for looking. I wish I could have built it but after 10 years it is not happening. Tom ================================================ If your interested, PM me and I'll send you his email.
There isn't even a viable option for a shay in N scale either. Yes there is the Atlas shay, but you will fork out a good chunk of $$$ to get your hands on one. Ryan
I've heard rumblings that they may be going back into production before too long. They've had good success with them, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them.
Wasn't it Mark Twain who said, "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!"? You all should be happy to hear that Thomas Knapp is very much alive and currently working on developing a couple of Nn3 Shay models for Searails, for whom I also do some work. I just had a meeting with Tom last week, so I know for certain that he's still alive and kicking. Check out the Searail website for future releases, including the Shays. And reports of the "death" of Nn3 are also overstated. There may not be many modelers working in that scale/gauge, but there still is a very active community out there - enough that there are still small manufacturers developing models for it. Paul Ingraham, Searails
Showcase Miniatures has released two Nn3 shay kits that use the Searails PowerMAX mechanism. A Ready To Run Nn3 0-4-0 Porter will be shipping soon from Searails. Another resource is N-Scale magazine with a bi-monthly column on Nn3 that's authored by Tom Knapp https://www.showcaseminiatures.net/nn3_scale/ http://www.searails.com/engines/porternn3saddletanker.html
