mint tyco stuff

[jettrainfan]

My grandpa (not the g scale one, the trucker) went to a flea market and said he bought me 3 cranes. They were tyco. a rock island crane and boom car (item 865), UP operating piggyback loader & unloader depot (item 903) and last but not least ( probaly even my favorite) a conrail operating giant crane with a magnet (item 950) now I know tyco isn't worth $$$ so its gonna make some smiles instead!  Only got to the rock island crane so far but will update later. They may be hornhook but I got both cars and engines for that lot! Will post a video when I get the time.

[jbsmith]

i'm GREEN!
Tyco made some of coolest stuff way back when.
They did not aim thier products at hardcore rivet counters, they aim was to make MRR'ing Fun and
appeal to a younger demographic.
I just picked up some old Tyco cars last week, 3 boxcars, Chiquita Banana, Pepsi Cola, SOS steel pads and a Old Dutch Cleanser hopper.
Got all four for about the same price as a SINGLE new car!  $4.35 each,,except for a couple of missing couplers, they are in near mint condition.
Also found and acquired Tyco Hersheys Chocolate car too, $6 ,also in mint condition.
All still have the original boxes!
Already had the Star Kist Tuna,Sara Lee boxcars, Jello,Kelloggs,Morton Salt,Boraxo, and Ajax hoppers that i got for Xmas back around 1977ish.

Ran them all weekend,,,Gotta take a break from "prototypical" now and then,,

Still looking for Planters Peanuts hopper, Hunts Snack Pack box and Campbells Soup box from Tyco.

Nothing wrong with hornhooks, they were the standard for years, simple, reliable and ONE piece!


http://tycotrain.tripod.com/tycotrains/

[ABC]

For the most part 99 out of every 100 TYCO locomotives made did not last longer than 2 years, and they were not very good running locos to start with. There may be one or two exceptions to this, and as stated previous TYCO was anything but prototypical. TYCO rolling stock can be purchased for about $1 or less per car, but after you do all the work needed to bring it up to specs (Kadee #5/#148s w/ draft gear boxes, new trucks and metal wheels, weights, etc..) you would spend an additional $12 per car, where you could get a Bachmann, Atlas, MDC, Walthers or Athearn car and all you would need is two Kadee couplers (about $2) and a little bit of lead weight which costs next to nothing. So you can get a blue box kit for $5 add $2 for couplers, Bachmann Silver Series cars (metal wheels) can be found for about $7-10, Atlas can be found for $9-12, MDC kits can be found for $5-$7, Walthers Gold Line cars are always on sale they can be found for as little as $9-12 and do not need any upgrades (already have metal wheels and Kadee clone (Proto-max) metal couplers), Atheran RTR can be had for as little as about $10-12 and have metal wheels. The moral of the story: unless you are just collecting the TYCO cars to collect your dust and never run on a layout, you are always better off never buying them in the first place and buying descent cars like the ones mentioned.

[jbsmith]

For those who are wondering

Item 950

http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/tycoactionaccessories/id53.html

Item 903

http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/tycoactionaccessories/id109.html

Best Guess as to Item 865,, same as this,,,Rock Island Version

http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/tycoactionaccessories/id100.html

[jettrainfan]

Jb, I always wanted the popscycle one. And the 2 pop ones (pepsi & coke). If I could find a way to get knuckles on them id try for a lot more but atleast I got locos that are knuckles who are very good friends with the hornhooks 

ABC, the officail moto of the L&W is "if it can run, we'll run it!" So I think ill live

Jb (second post) those would be the items and like you said, it would be in rock island colors.

[jbsmith]

Also recently acquired at a garage sale,,a box Full of old HO stuff for $10.
Most of the contents was junk, but got several good frieght cars and two diesels.

Diesel #1 is a Tyco/Mantua F-9A. It took a bit of work but I got it to Run.
A drop of oil on the front axles to break them loose, and after pushing it with an Athearn Blue Box
SD-45 for about 20 min,,it now runs on its own now!  Runs real good for a 30+ yr old loco.
OK,,the light bulb is burnt out.
It is item 224 here,,
http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/tycobrownboxdiesels/id11.html

Diesel #2 is a Athearn F7A, Southern Pacific, in Daylight colors , about the same age. A drop of oil here and there,ordered and installed the"glass" parts and a one new horn, it looks like new, and runs like new.
Left the horn hooks on to run my older rolling stock with it.

[OldTimer]

There was a time back in the 50's-early 60's when TYCO was not so poorly thought of.  TYCO stood for Tyler Metal Products Company, the parent company of Mantua.  The TYCO brand was the RTR side of the house and the cars and locomotives were the regular Mantua products that were pre-assembled.  Mantua had its own coupler, a hook-and-loop design that was super reliable.  There are probably some folks my age or a little older that STILL use 'em.  
Old Timer  

[ABC]

Older TYCO/Mantua stuff is fine, and Mantua still is fine, it is the 70's and later TYCO stuff that was not very highly regarded.

[Doneldon]

jb-

You did great to find those Tyco trains and it's clear you're having fun with them so that's super.  Don't let train snobs put you off on what you enjoy.  And if you decide to bring the equipment up to higher operational standards, well, you should be able to do it for no more than $5 per car.  That keeps your cost below $10 and you'll have the cars you want and like.  After all, that's the point of model railroading.
                                                                                                    -- D

[Doneldon]

ABC-

"always better off never"

Always never???

                       -- D

[ABC]

you should be able to do it for no more than $5 per car.  That keeps your cost below $10 and you'll have the cars you want and like.

Kadee #148 couplers are $2.50/pair (bulk is not an option since you need the draft gearboxes), Metal Wheels (non bulk) are $1.25/each, or if you buy 100 (bulk) still $0.80/each, if you use metal weights from your LHS (pinecar weights with sections that costs about $2-$3/each. New trucks will vary in price, but start at about $2. So $2.50(couplers)+$2.50(wheels in bulk)+$1(weight)+$2(trucks)=a bare minimum of $7+$5 already spent on the car=$12 plus sales tax. On Walthers you can get a RTR Gold Line Pulpwood car for $13 and a Difco Dump Car, 100 Ton 2 bay hopper, Trinity 2-Bay Cement Service Covered Hopper and a 73' Centerbeam flat for $12.

[Joe323]

Nothing wrong with scavenging flea markets yard sales etc.  You can often find some good buys there. Enjoy

[jettrainfan]

After a few minutes of mapping and relaying track, the magnet crane (950) is in the staging yard with no trouble, came down with a pop to run some trains and i couldn't help but think how cool it looked popping up over the snow pile (the crane part only). The intermodel one, (903) was a bit more of a pain. with it not being so tall, i had to get some of my atlas track and only found 1 piece. so with no choice, a small piece of tyco track was connected to that and the E-Z track so the line could be flat and things could be loaded and unloaded without a problem. 1 bug with derailments but that was soon fixed. Now if only get daisy to go down to the basement so i could show why her walk time was cut short today. I don't think it will be a good enough excuse...do you?

[Jim Banner]

Some of us have bigger budgets and richer tastes than others.  Personally, I could not afford the 200 or so cars it takes to run my H0 layout if I shelled out $25 to $50 each for them.  So I have mostly upgraded train set cars, including many old Tyco cars picked up for a couple of dollars each.  Upgrading is not free but does not have to be expensive either.  Delrin trucks with Delrin wheels can be had for as little as $1.45 per pair (Tichy 3025) and Kadee #5 couplers are only $1.75 a pair max.  I weight my cars to the full NMRA recommended weight for a few cents.  It usually takes 8 or 10 pennies held in place with Silcone Sealant.  Where pennies might be too obvious (flats, open hoppers) I use lead sheet.

I for one am happy for jettrainfan and his newly acquired Tyco cars.  And I am glad to read that he is doing what some of us, me included, lose sight of while busily trying to perfect out railroads - he is enjoying his.

Jim

[pipefitter]

My grandpa (not the g scale one, the trucker) went to a flea market and said he bought me 3 cranes ...

... If I could find a way to get knuckles on them id try for a lot more but atleast I got locos that are knuckles who are very good friends with the hornhooks ...

Hey Jet! What a great grandfather you have Because of your post I got out the Tyco crane and boomcar I had in my "to do" collection. They are really nice cars, well detailed and weighted, intend to paint them for B&O. I investigated installing knuckle couplers on them and had no trouble at all, using E-Z Mate Mark II Under Shank - Mediums and 2-56 washers for the talgo truck mounted couplers. I have been using this arrangement for similar old Life Like car trucks. Have been on a coupler replacement binge since I got some E-Z Mates, replacing a train at a time. It seems that the Under Shank Mediums are going to be the go-to replacement for my many old Bachmann, Life Like and Tyco cars. Although I have used the other sizes as well, bought a whole card of each.

BTW, your overhead cranes are especially cool. They're a treasure.

Here are some photos of my cars and couplers:

My private road "Tree Top City" uses cars Life Like made from their Penn Line molds during the 80's. They are 60' cars sold under their Scene Master line. They added nice rubber diaphragms.

Full size picture link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4883673804_caf1e64116_b.jpg


Full size picture link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4883068787_c5d583b0f7_b.jpg


Here's the underside of a truck with the E-Z Mate installed. Tyco truck is very similar.
Full size picture link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4883673886_664a3d48bd_b.jpg


Here's the same truck from above. Note the washer which provides coupler stability while fitting perfectly - no binding and smooth coupler swing.
Full size picture link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4883673932_99a944c40f_b.jpg


Look how perfectly the E-Z Mate under shank lines up with the Kadee coupler height gage
Full size picture link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4883674030_1a281a1d15_b.jpg


Here's the crane and boom car with E-Z Mates installed (excuse the dust!)
Full size picture link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4883069055_96bae9a895_b.jpg


Full size picture link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4883069097_2943deb138_b.jpg


Full size picture link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/4883674146_3c7efca06b_b.jpg


I just discovered today that my little digital camera takes videos Here's my work train with crane and boom behind my Bachmann Chessie GP7. Excuse the radio audio
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36732335@N04/4883687252/

Cheers! Enjoy your Tycos!
Robert