Modeling the B&M Railroad during the transition era in Lowell, MA
QUOTE: Originally posted by Virginian No. I will not stop running Tyco into the ground until all those people who keep putting up those dam#ed silver Virginian hoppers on eBay and acting like they are worth more than 50 cents, and not indicating that they are Tyco brand in the title line, quit it. Fair is fair, and it's my turn. I won't even metion the dam*ed blue and yellow VGN cabeese and engines. Tyco made cheap junk. If you modify it so it runs good, it isn't Tyco anymore. Same hold true for a lot of old Bachmann and LL stuff. They got better; Tyco as a railroad model builder died. My mother said that if you can't say something good about the dead then don't say anything. So I will just say they are dead; good.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
QUOTE: Originally posted by vande .... I was asking for some recommendations on upgrading a few TYCO pieces of rolling stock that I had from my youth. Got the same reponse. "It's junk throw it away and buy something good in a $20 car."
QUOTE: Originally posted by vande I had a similar experience recently at the train store meca in Denver, CO. I was asking for some recommendations on upgrading a few TYCO pieces of rolling stock that I had from my youth. Got the same reponse. "It's junk throw it away and buy something good in a $20 car." Well, they missed the sentimental piece and I think greed and gusto gets in the way of alot of the opinions today. Replacement strategy drives revenues and the manufacturers and retailers are struggling today and need us to think in terms of replacement. But determined to preserve these old pieces, I got a reboxx tool and added P2K wheels with Kaydee couplers to my "junk TYCO's" and have perfectly good pieces of rolling stock for a fraction of the replacement costs. They perform just as well as my Accurail, Roundhouse and Genesis stock. I sit back and continue to enjoy my old friends as they clickety clack along and laugh at the fools who believe that only the new is best.
QUOTE: Some folks may be a bit brusque in their approach, but generally, the typical person who logs on and asks how to fix up their old Tyco gets a predictable set of responses: Don't bother, buy a halfway-decent new engine instead--an Athearn or Bachmann or P2K, typically at a cost of $100 or less. Not exactly breaking the bank, and not exactly bad advice, either.
- Mark
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
QUOTE: Originally posted by BentnoseWillie I still have one Tyco - on the shelf, where it belongs. The cars are servicable for a beginner and available cheap, but trying to get the engines to run at all is at best an exercise in nostalgia, at worst an exercise in frustration. Trying to convert any Tyco locomotive to DCC is a waste of money and time. These engines are not a bargain at any price except as reminders of a childhood train set. You can buy better engines on the used HO market just as economically, such as older Athearn models which you can actually get parts for and get running very well with less effort than the average Tyco will take to get running at all, and the Tyco will never run as well as the Athearn or any other engine with full power pickup and a decent motor.. I call Tyco engines JUNK because they are Junk. They were JUNK when they were brand new, and 20 years of aging won't do anything but make them worse. Recommending that someone try to resurrect one of these dreadful machines is an excellent way to ensure that they get frustrated early on and drop the hobby altogether.
QUOTE: Personally, I think anyone that pays $400 for a toy is crazy.