Whats the deal with Tyco collectors ?

[Anonymous]

I think we call old junk vintage for the same reason we say estate sale as opposed to yard sale. We can charge three times as much, or more. I checked my list and I only own one tyco engine ( scrap ) and four pieces of rolling stock, one is the operating crane car and tender. I do have three builings that date from the 70's.

[Anonymous]

I’m A Tyco Collector, and I’m proud!

So last night I came home from work after a hard day and didn’t feel like watching TV anymore. I have a 4X8 set up in the living room and I sat at my desk and started tinkering with a TYCO Virginian Alco I purchased at a model RR show a couple weeks ago. I paid 50 cents for it as it was not only a non-runner but pretty ugly and dusty, but complete. I took it all apart and cleaned it up, lubed the gears checked the wiring and in a couple of hours it was tearing around the track at a scale speed of 150 mph with the cab light just glowing, casting shadows around the walls from structures and cars on the layout. The lights were dim, the fireplace was emitting a warm heat, and my Siberian Husky was curled up at my feet. And then it happened. I think it was from the speed and the sight of that Tyco engine just flying around the track, but more than likely it was the sound emitting from the hollow body and open chassises that took me back 30 years to the Christmas mourning when I received my first Tyco set. Mom and Dad were still married and my siblings still talked to each other. The tree brimmed with light and tensile reflections and I once more basked in the sight, smells, and sound of the best toy ever, A Tyco F-7 Santa Fe, pulling freight duty on December 25th 1971. Wow what a rush and a morale builder at that. I also purchased a BN Shark Nose, and a Kansas Durango GP-20 for $5.00 both not running and another Alco 1776 for a buck, same condition. I can’t wait for another hard day at work without the TV.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

No one (including myself) will disagree with any of the good replies provided about how awful most of the stuff (particularly the locos from 1971-1990) performed. The post by TransSlam, I believe, sums it up for a majority of us between the ages of 30 and 50, although I suspect most will not admit to it out of of perceived shame or abject sadness. I don't think I could have put it any better than TransSlam, in how those sounds and smells take you back. After visiting my hometown days after Hurricane Katrina and trying to help my parents (in their mid '70's) start their lives over without their home of 60 years (or any of its contents, including priceless photos), It really put things into perspective for me. Stuff is just that: stuff. I love all 20 Banker's Boxes that are filled with Tyco and colorful RTR stuff as much as all of my prototypical Atlas, Kato, Cornerstone and P2K items. They both serve a needful purpose. Thumbing through any old Sears Wish Book from the 70's evokes the same feelings for me. And I think this is the point some of the well-meaning but slightly spiteful rivet-counters and Koester disciples miss; it brings some of us back to happier times, in a better headspace, instead of the bottom of a bottle (or worse). Maybe their lives are picture-perfect, with ample time to choad, guffaw and wince at whatever makes the rest of us happy. It's OK TransSlam...I like the old Tyco stuff, too. Pet that dog for me, keep highballin' that Alco, and keep up the layout. And keep smiling, brother. Others feel the same way, too. Happy Holidays, y'all.

[IRONROOSTER]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Trans-Slam

I’m A Tyco Collector, and I’m proud!

....The tree brimmed with light and tensile reflections and I once more basked in the sight, smells, and sound of the best toy ever, A Tyco F-7 Santa Fe, pulling freight duty on December 25th 1971. Wow what a rush and a morale builder at that. I also purchased a BN Shark Nose, and a Kansas Durango GP-20 for $5.00 both not running and another Alco 1776 for a buck, same condition. I can’t wait for another hard day at work without the TV.

Cheers

December 25th 1971 was when I got my first Tyco. My wife was pregnant with our first child and I had told her he was getting a train for his first Christmas. Well she jumped the gun on me and bought me the Tyco 2-6-2 engine some cars, track, and power pack. The next day I found a copy of MR on the newstand and I have been hooked ever since. 34 years later I still remind her that it's her fault I'm model railroader[(-D]
Enjoy
Paul

(PS I still have the engine, cars, and power pack)

[Anonymous]

I recently got all my old Tyco HO stuff out of storage at my Dad's. What prompted this is the fact that my daughter begged for (and got) a cheap Life-Like set. The best part is.....she loves that cheap P.O.S. every bit as much as I did my TYCO.

As I unwrapped each old engine, car, and accesory of my old TYCO stuff, I saw my father and grandfather building my layout down in the basement of my childhood home in the month or so before Christmas. Of course I had no idea what they were up to; before the track hit the plywood, I was evicted from the basement. But I remember them spending hours down there working on it. Then that moves me into all the wonderful time I had running my railroad, building new building models with my Dad, that horrible 1st do-it-yourself tree experiment, the HO scale WWII military battles that took place on my layout (sometimes the Germans took Harrisonville, sometimes the Allies held them off).

At any rate, I think you get the point. I'll be buying some TYCO stuff to rebuild a few of my most cherished childhood memories. I don't know what happened to the whistle, I'll need parts for my steam engine, what happened to the bulldozer that unloaded the big pipes? I may pay top dollars for these, not because I'm collecting TYCO, but because I'm collecting memories.

I hope I can build some memories that are just as good with my daughter and her Life-Like Trains Santa Fe set.......and if she pays alot of money to replace small pieces of this in 30 years will I think she's foolish? No, If I find out shes looking for these pieces, I'll buy them for her if I'm still around........

My .02 cents on TYCO, Fools, and their money........

[Anonymous]

If anyone buys a TYCO or Mantua the engine runs jerky (rapidly speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down), the engine isn't regulating the voltage properly. There's something called "Railzip." I have a TYCO AT&SF 4-6-0 and a Mantua ICRR 2-8-2, and a close friend of mine put railzip on the screws that held the tender trucks on, and the engines have run smoother (not 100%, but smoother, no jerking). The 2-8-2 had it's screws removed, railzip put in, and the screws put back in (the railzip needs to get under the screws). The engines have run great ever since.

[BRAKIE]

Guys,I still have a old Model Power RS11 that runs smooth..I wouldn't trade it for a Atlas RS11..Why? That's the first engine my late wife bought me after we was married for Christmas..
Those old 2-6-0s and 4-6-0s wasn't that bad of a steamer in their day if one had the skills needed to tweak the drive of a steam locomotive..

[davekelly]

Brakie,

I feel the same way towards the Tyco stuff that were my dad's. Funny how a less than perfect running engine and some terribly out of scale frieght cars can bring more smiles than the smoothest running brass steamer.

[emdgp92]

I still have a Tyco Baldwin RF16 that my grandfather gave me 20 years ago. It's no longer running the original drive though. I binned that and swapped in a Bachmann F9 train-set drive--motor in the tail, etc. when the Tyco power truck burned out. It ran well for many years though. Anyway, the Baldwin came with several boxcars that were painted up for Johnson Wax and advertised some of their products--Glade, Shout, and other cleaners. I've had the set for 20 years, and have only seen 2 others--one in a hobby shop, and one on Ebay. Going price for the set was about $80.

Even though my engine is no longer "stock" I'm not going to sell it. My grandfather died in 2001 after a long illness. When he was lying in his hospital bed, I brought the engine in to show him. He smiled, and remembered he worked for JW...yet forgot that he gave the engine to me. When I told him that, he was happy I still had it. That was the last conversation I had with him--he died about a week later.

Even though I'm not a Tyco collector, maybe most of them have memories--the first train they had, a favorite relative gave it to them, etc. It's also interesting to see the different paint schemes that show up on some Tyco stuff. I've seen New Haven E units (they didn't have any), BN E7s (totally wrong scheme), green Penn Central F units (the real ones were black), etc.

[tsgtbob]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE

Guys,I still have a old Model Power RS11 that runs smooth..I wouldn't trade it for a Atlas RS11..Why? That's the first engine my late wife bought me after we was married for Christmas..
Those old 2-6-0s and 4-6-0s wasn't that bad of a steamer in their day if one had the skills needed to tweak the drive of a steam locomotive..

wow. nothing more can be said here.
BRAKIE, I understand.
My wife bought me a pair of Atheran PAs for our first Christmas, in PRR. I still have them, even though I don't model the PRR. Will not get rid of 'em, bawled out my son (19) for asking if he could strip 'em for an SP paint job.

[microbuss]

well let see theres the TV & movie sets Tyco made Such as Transformers, A-Team, Petticoat Jct, G.I. Joe 

Plus I collect them & some who used to have them as kids are adults now & they want to have their old trains back Me being one of them  

[steemtrayn]

Wow... Haven't seen this thread since Abramoff's guilty plea. I was wondering where it went.

[kbkchooch]

Yes, it is an old thread but it strikes a chord with me. 1964, I got my 1st Lionel HO set for Christmas. A few years (and a thousand rubber band replacements) there was a new loco on the layout, an Alco C430 (Tyco of course) The Lionel became a tag along dummy unit. 

My layout, circa 1975

Since then I have moved From Athearn to Atlas to Kato to intermountain. But I still have and love my originals.

So, you take an MDC RS3 frame and stretch it, plop the C430 body with detail parts and a prototypical paint job on it, and The old Tyco gets a new lease on life.

Similarly, we find that Walthers FA chassis are easily fitted to the old Lionel shells. That gives them can motors and dependable gear drive.

Finally, I have take 2 Chattanooga choo choos and replaced the tenders on them, and cut off the smoke cams, basicly making dummy steamers. Even with a short train, double headed steamers look impressive! 

[crhostler61]

I like the old Tyco/Mantua steam locomotives. Granted...they are very generic in their design, but with some dressing up with Precision Scale or Cal Scale parts they can really look decent. I have a 2-8-2 and a pair of 0-4-0 switchers...all three dating back to the 1960's. They run pretty good, though I do plan on remotoring them. They are perfect for the freelancer.

I am an old school modeler. I think I want to covey to the present that there was something, before DCC, can motors and flimsy plastic handrails...you get my meaning.

If we intend on moving forward in our hobby...lets not forget where it all started and evolved from.

Best wishes

Mark H

[hon30critter]

I have an old Mantua 4-6-0 that I have had a lot of fun with. I bought it because it was similar (read here - I am using a lot of artistic license when I say similar) to a Grand Trunk locomotive from around 1913 that I found a picture of on the internet.

One of the things on the kit that differed from the picture of the GT loco was that the Mantua drive mechanism was clearly visible beneath the boiler whereas the Grand Trunk 4-6-0 had this big wide open space under the front half of the boiler. The effect on me of the picture of the original was kind of like see-through lingerie if I can be so bold. I really liked the look. So, I got brave and rebuilt the drive so that the drive axle was moved from the front to the middle axle. Holly cow, it actually drives quite nicely and it has a somewhat similar open space under the front of the boiler to the original. And, I had a whole lot of fun messing with the drive mechanism!

I also replaced the magnets in the motor with neodymium so the amp draw went way down. It now has a sound decoder and all it is waiting for basically is paint. I won't do that before I have practiced a bit with other projects that aren't quite so close to my heart.

Anyhow, my point is that I totally agree with Mark H that the old Tyco/Mantua kits can be a lot of bang for the buck!

Oops - "see through lingerie", "bank for the buck", oh oh oh oh I can see the moderators grinding their teeth over this one!

Thanks for letting me have some fun!

Dave

[BRAKIE]

Karl,The 2049 looks pretty good..I would have never thought the shell was a Tyco.

[richhotrain]

LOL

Here we go again.

Newbie resurrects 8 year old thread.

About Tyco, no less.

Oh goodie, we now have two threads running about Tyco junk.

It must be Bring Your Tyco To Work day.

Rich

[rrinker]

 Just remember, Tyco wasn't always junk. Mostly good prior to being sold to Consolidated Foods. A cereal company has no idea how to make good trains (looks at Lionel under General Mills, too). Early 60's Tyco was more or less factory assembled versions of Mantua kits, the steam locos were die cast metal, not cheap plastic and ran reasonably well.

Those Lionel HO FA shells fit on the Walthers drives because they are essentially the same shell, I believe, with an intermediate stop at Train Miniature.

        --Randy

[richhotrain]

rrinker

 Just remember, Tyco wasn't always junk.

When I got into HO scale about ten years back, I recalled that Tyco had been a big name in the hobby back in the 70s when my kids were youngsters.

But names like Tyco seemed like ancient history by 2004 when I entered the HO scale side of the hobby,

Rich

[kbkchooch]

richhotrain

LOL

Here we go again.

Newbie resurrects 8 year old thread.

About Tyco, no less.

Oh goodie, we now have two threads running about Tyco junk.

It must be Bring Your Tyco To Work day.

Rich

If you hate Tyco so much, why did you start another thread about it??

Methinks thou dost protest too much! 

[richhotrain]

kbkchooch

richhotrain

LOL

Here we go again.

Newbie resurrects 8 year old thread.

About Tyco, no less.

Oh goodie, we now have two threads running about Tyco junk.

It must be Bring Your Tyco To Work day.

Rich

If you hate Tyco so much, why did you start another thread about it??

Methinks thou dost protest too much! 

For laughs, Karl, for laughs.

Besides, I am not a newbie, so I can.  

Rich

[BRAKIE]

richhotrain

For laughs, Karl, for laughs.

Besides, I am not a newbie, so I can.  

Rich

 

I wonder when we will have tops like:

"What's with Athearn BB collectors" ?

"What's with MDC collectors"?

 

 

[maxman]

richhotrain

Oh goodie, we now have two threads running about Tyco junk.

You know, I hate when people post inaccurate and outdated information.  We do not have two threads running about Tyco junk.  We now have three threads running about Tyco junk.

[el-capitan]

microbuss

well let see theres the TV & movie sets Tyco made Such as Transformers, A-Team, Petticoat Jct, G.I. Joe 

Wow! completely forgot about the GI Joe trainset. Just looked it up on ebay and it brought back some memories. I was building Oscale since I was 8 so I never bought it but always considered it. The box shows a "joe" shooting at enemies from a tank on a flat car, because why else would you transport tanks if not to protect the train? Hilarious. I don't recall the transformers or A team though. Thanks for the post.

[GP-9_Man11786]

Tyco trains were before my time. But it sounds to me that they're a bit like the Chevy Corvair (Something else before my time). They may not be collectible but they have a cult following.

When Ralf Nader's book come out, nobody wanted the Corvair. But now it's developed something of a cult following. Now there are Corvair fan clubs. 

Perhaps Tyco trains have developed a cult following as well.

[Texas Zepher]

Hmmm, while I am a natural collector somehow I missed the Tyco brand both starting and collecting.  I got started in the early 1960s with Marx and move up to AHM and Athearn in the 1970s.

[zstripe]

TZ,

In the 1950s, Mantua pioneered "ready-to-run" HO-scale model railroad kits under theTYCO (for Tyler Company) brand. Many TYCO and Mantua die-cast products, such as steam engines, are collector's items today.

Cheers, 

Frank

[DSchmitt]

el-capitan

microbuss

well let see theres the TV & movie sets Tyco made Such as Transformers, A-Team, Petticoat Jct, G.I. Joe 

Wow! completely forgot about the GI Joe trainset. Just looked it up on ebay and it brought back some memories. I was building Oscale since I was 8 so I never bought it but always considered it. The box shows a "joe" shooting at enemies from a tank on a flat car, because why else would you transport tanks if not to protect the train? Hilarious. I don't recall the transformers or A team though. Thanks for the post.

 

Actually during World War 2 (on the eastern front) the Germans used tanks to provide, off rail mobile protection, for  armored trains..  They were hauled on low platform cars (Panzertragerwagon) from which they could be rapidly unloaded.  Their armorment could also be operated while they were loaded on the cars.  Many of the cars on armored trains were equipped with tank turrets.

[ggnlars]

Fill your modern can motors with as much gunk as the old TYCO & Varney had to endure, they wouldn't run either.  I find that the mantua classic drive and the TYCO pancake drive can be brought back to life with the proper TLC.  Your not making a race horse out of a sows ear, but they can be reliable runners.  

If anything, they are getting harder to find.  Even when this thread started they were still readily available.  Not so much now.  

The people who really collect old trains want them as they were.  Marx HO collectors are the most fanatical.  A lot of plastic Model Power was originally from Marx dyes.  

Larry

[BRAKIE]

zstripe

TZ,

In the 1950s, Mantua pioneered "ready-to-run" HO-scale model railroad kits under theTYCO (for Tyler Company) brand. Many TYCO and Mantua die-cast products, such as steam engines, are collector's items today.

Cheers, 

Frank

And don't forget Mantua line of "Ready Laid Track" of the 50s  this included yard ladders ,3 way switches and double crossovers.