Walter Vail has done a rerun of the N (not Nn3) 30-40 ton Shay kit. Mostly pewter, some RP printed and etched brass.
See
https://www.showcaseminiatures.net/n_scale/n_scale_locomotives/5006.htmlI got one a month or so ago and have been building it. Like the Nn3 model, the 'weak link' in the design was always the unpowered front truck that also doesn't do electrical pickup. On the Nn3 one, I figured out how to mod in a Rokuhan Z pickup truck and wire it in so that it has 8x8 pickup if not 8x8 power.
Same concept worked with this one, only here I used a power truck frame from the Kato 11-105 truck (with the gearbox removed) to get 8x8 pickup including off the front, added pickup wipers. That was easy compared to figuring out how to put Z 901 couplers on it, but I got that to work by imitating what Walter did on the Nn3 one. That was pretty tough actually.
I'm not sure anybody else is interested in this, it's moving along nicely now, could do some construction shots, but only if interest.
You can kinda tell that his one preceded the Nn3 Shay version, it's got some design features that the Nn3 one later solved; the couplers, the printed truck is 'stiff' as supplied, far more difficult to wire in a headlight. I also beat the missing driveshaft issue on the Nn3 one and should repeat here.
This is really a beautiful kit, like all Showcase stuff, the pewter castings are excellent. And as Chris333 has confirmed, that power truck is probably the best one out there for that design.
