Tyco/Gilbert old (1957) passenger cars

[Elnovato]

Hi All,
A good friend of mine gave me her recently deceased husband's old 1950s B&O train set manufactured by Tyco/Gilbert (apparently) with four passenger cars. Needless to say, the set is in pretty bad shape. To my surprise, though, when I got home and put one car on the track, it worked as the lights came on!!!!! The trucks have metal and plastic wheels on opposite sides, and some of the original horn couplers still survive. I would like to bring the cars back to life (the locomotives are beyond repair) by perhaps replacing the trucks (or at least the wheels) with new ones, as well as the old couplers with knuckle ones. Since the cars have electric pickup trucks, what do you recommend? The trucks are in fairly decent shape, but which wheels would work? What about the couplers? Which ones? Any suggestions are very welcome. Please keep in mind that I want to keep the bill contained.
Best to everyone,
El Novato

[Terry Toenges]

Are the couplers mounted on the trucks? If so, would you feel comfortable mounting them on the body. I don't know your level of experience.

[Elnovato]

I am a rookie! The couplers are truck mounted...

[ModernTrainfan]

The cars will look better and track better,but you will need fairly generous curves on your layout for reliable operation.I would suggest checking the KaDee website to see exactly what they have available. Are the trucks plastic? If they are you can use a truck tuner(cleans out any obstructions where the wheels ride in the trucks.That will immediately improve the rolling ability of the cars.If you want to replace the wheel sets there are several companies that make one side insulated wheel sets.

[Len]

Are the trucks metal or plastic? If metal, do not use a truck tuning tool on them or you'll mess up the cutting edge.

Len

[RAM]

1959 Tyco-Gilbert had Gibert bodies and the rest was Tyco.  At that time Tyco was Mantua.  My guess is that the trucks were metal and it would be hard to change the wheels.

[J3a-614]

Thought this might be interesting here.

http://gilbertho.org/rolling_stock/tyco_gilbert_passenger_cars.htm

Home page.

http://gilbertho.org/index.htm

[Elnovato]

The trucks are metal.

[Elnovato]

Yes, those were exactly the web links I found where I learned about the origin of the set. Thanks for sharing them!

[Terry Toenges]

In looking around, I didn't find any passenger Talgo (coupler mounted on truck) trucks with electric pickup.
Walther's and Athearn have the trucks without pickups.
https://www.walthers.com/streamlined-passenger-trucks-w-talgo-couplers-pkg-2
http://www.trainsetsonly.com/page/TSO/PROD/ATH-90410?gclid=CjwKCAjwzMbLBRBzEiwAfFz4gZXWjOxgWKDsDGwV2_4UvLuDzzBhkVacyi0WN6evUxB3HO1rB2JXtxoCy-UQAvD_BwE

[Terry Toenges]

Another thought would be check EBay for lighted passenger cars. They are sometimes pretty cheap compared to what it would cost to buy new trucks and stuff for electric pickups. You could remove the trucks and use them on your cars.

[Len]

Are the couplers held on to the trucks with a screw or rivet?

If it's a rivet, it can be drilled out and a Kadee coupler and draft gear box mounted to the top of the arm the current coupler is on with a 2-56 screw and nut. If it's a screw, you may need to find a longer screw of the same size.

Len

[Elnovato]

The trucks are riveted. The couplers have a tiny screw. I think I will look into a Kadee conversion and keep the original trucks. Do you guys see a problem with plastic wheels in general?

[Len]

Track tends to get dirtier faster with plastic wheels, and metal wheels seem to track better. That said, I'd leave the original wheels on these cars. From personal experience, I'd say the risk of damaging the trucks trying to change them out is too high.

Len

[Elnovato]

Thanks!