Question for all those who have worked with both rod driven and geared locomotives: I know that there are several museums/tourist railroads out there that use or have used both types-but which type do you prefer in terms of maintenance? If you had your choice would you use a shay, heisler or climax as opposed to a 2-6-0 or 2-6-2?

Approximately the same.

A few simple questions to answer your question.1. What do you have available for motive power?2. What is the geography of your RR?3. What type of operation are you trying to interpret?Each geared engine type has its ups and downs and here are a few that I have heard/found.Climax has good power, but you have to crawl under it to service it, plus the cyl. cocks drip into the #2 journal boxes - this can be fixed by installing a manifold as the Clark's did on one side. Also the axle gears are open. They can have a rough ride when working hard.Heislers have a smother ride, fewer gearsets, but one that I have run can run out of wind which may be due being fired on wood, and you have to crawl under to lubricate the machinery. One ecentric set runs both valves.Shays have smooth power and no underneath lubrication, but the driveshafts bind up sharp righthand curves. To gain complete access to the righthand side of the boiler and firebox, the cylinders and their plumbing have to come off.

Unless the grades or other characteristics require geared power I would stick with the simpler rod engines. They are more like what the public expects a choo-choo to look like, unless there are interpretive issues that would lend themselves to operating geared power. Shays are much easier to maintain and service than Climaxes or Heislers in my experience. You can walk right up and put your hands on most of the moving parts and bearing surfaces. Adjusting backlash in the gearing of a Heisler requires removing the truck, dropping and opening the gear boxes. Haven't tried with a Climax, but probably not much easier if at all. Climaxes have a notoriously rough ride, except for the one at Puffing Billy. It is true that part of the right side of the firebox on a Shay is behind the motor, but there is a good chance you won't need to do much to that part of the boiler if you renew any eroded stays or thin plate in that area before assembling the engine in the first place. Should a stay break, you could replace it from the inside anyhow, just as if it were behind the frame. As Erik made clear in his TRAINS article, steam locomotives are chosen as a product of the job they will be called upon to perform - if you would enlighten us as to the operating and track characteristics we might be able to provide better information. dave

This is a tough call and like has been stated before it depends on your application. My experience was with a shay (Ely-Thomas #6) and two rod engines (SS&S #26 and C&L #3L Lady Edith) at NJMT/Pine Creek. Forgetting what I prefer as an operator, from a maintenenace standpoint the rod engine is probably a bit easier to maintain on a day to day basis. There's just less moving parts. However, from the view point of making major repairs, I'd go with the shay. For example, if a journal goes bad on a rod engine, there is some major jacking required to get to it. On a shay, the brass can be removed fairly quickly. As far as boiler work behind the engines on a shay, its probably just as bad on some tank engines. The Lady Edith is an English built 4-4-0 tank engine with the fire box sitting down between the frames and the rest of the boiler behind the side tanks. Not a set up for easy repairs at all!All in all, I'd have to say it makes little difference in the long run. Geared or rod, both can be difficult to repair although in different ways.As to my personal preference, I lean towards the shay. J.R. May

On a day to day basis I think the rod engines are definately easier to maintain. For the engine crew there are fewer lubrication points and most of those will only need to be attended to once a day. When working on geared engines it seems there is always something that needs lubricated. The engines turn at relatively high speeds on geared engines and that tends to lead to more frequent adjustments to things like crosshead pins and brasses. In terms of long term maintaince I think it would be a very close call. Rod engines must have the wheels removed to repair driver journals and boxes. Geared engines have a driveline of some kind to maintain. Fireboxes between the frames of a rod engine are just as much trouble as those behind the engines of a shay. If the geared engines have an advantage it may be in track maintaince. Rod engines tend to be quite a bit harder on the track as they pound their way along. Geared engines roll along much more smoothly.I agree with the person who said rod engines are what the public expects to see when the when they come to your railroad. Geared engines are not the image they see on TV or at the movies and today that is often the only contact the public has with steam power. If you want to run what the public expects you to then definately go with the rod engines. John Bohon

One thing nobody else has mentioned is speed. Rod engines are typically faster than the geared types. If the railroad will only allow 10-15 mph anyway that won't make much of a difference.