General Discussion (Model Railroader)

I like the aerial shot of the item.  I wonder if he hit his head on the ceiling fan when he shot this picture.

Rare... TYCO... Brass...

George

loathar wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Brass-HO-Scale-Train-by-Tyco_W0QQitemZ190151669167QQihZ009QQcategoryZ78178QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Is this true? I'm not aware of Tyco making any brass locos. Or is this just another case of a seller that's going to plead ignorance after the buyer complains?

You have to be kidding??????????????

I like the some assembly required statement.  This item is from the 1960 era and is still awaiting assembly??   Must have been a real jewel!!!   I believe the old Tyco's all had brass wheels to ensure the model would not make electrical contact with brass rails and not run after a week or so.   

If this was imported as a Brass model, it was probably cast brass with all the wonderful detail that the normal Tyco normally ommitted.

Cheers

cacole wrote:

I think Tyco made white pot metal boilers, frames, and tender floors back in the early 1960's, and that's probably what this one is.  Certainly not brass, except for the tender wheels.

Correct. I knew they made those. I beleive they were actually all made by Mantua. They are not that bad if you can get them for $30-$40. (and not pay $40 S&H!) There's quite a few of these un-built kits on E-Bay every week.

I cannot find any reference, in any of my Tyco or Mantua information (by no means comprehensive), of a 4-8-2 locomotive - brass or otherwise.    However, in my information about "Mantua Metals" I do find many brass locomotives and references to the switch from brass to zinc alloys (zamak) in post WWII production.  This would be starting in 1947 and getting progressively more zincish as time goes on.

I know that Atlas Tool Company (today Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc.) either imported or produced some brass locomotives in the 1950s and possibly as late as 1964.  Something in the back of my mind has the name "Akaine" associated with this.<?> Any other old timers out there remember if that was the same or a different thing?  Anyway many vendors besides the commonly known ones like PFM, Keystone, and Sunset experimented with brass imports during this time period.  Post war Japanese labor was cheap. The bottom line is that I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility that Tyco tried this too.

What is keeping me from bidding just out of curiosity to find out what this is all about is the outrageous shipping charge!

I like the C10 mint condition rating. 

From the miserable picture it appears this unit has a very poor/damaged paint job or some heavy duty corresion or both.

Enjoy

Paul 

I don't think the seller has any idea what he or she is selling. It looks like they got a brass loco with Tyco instructions, and through exhaustive research came to the conclusion that it's a brass Tyco.

You can see the universal plastic cab Mantua used in the illustration. $50 is a good price for brass, but who knows what the condition really is. Why do so many buyers take blurry photos from 20 feet away?

SteamFreak wrote:

I don't think the seller has any idea what he or she is selling. It looks like they got a brass loco with Tyco instructions, and through exhaustive research came to the conclusion that it's a brass Tyco.

Cox 47 wrote:

If I remeber right Mantua did have a Brass engine back in early 50's it was a small engine maybe 2-6-0 or 4-6-0 and i think it was a eastern road maybe B&M but the Ebay engine is not Brass....Cox 47

Mantua did indeed make two brass locos in the late 40s and early 50s.  A nice little 4-4-0 they called "Belle of the Eighties", and a 2-6-0 they nnamed the "8-Ball Mogul."  They both shared the same basic boiler.  There was a neat article in MR back in the mid-Fifties on detailing the 4-4-0.

 Far as I know, those were the only brass locos they made.  Never as large a locomotive as is on the eBay auction.  And Tyco NEVER made brass.  The loco may be an old Varney.  Varney made some large, cast brass steam, including, I believe, a Consolidation, a Mike, a Mountain and a Northern.   Their large tenders looked a lot like the later Mantua die-cast ones. 

gmcrail wrote:

Mantua did indeed make two brass locos in the late 40s and early 50s.  A nice little 4-4-0 they called "Belle of the Eighties", and a 2-6-0 they nnamed the "8-Ball Mogul."  They both shared the same basic boiler.  There was a neat article in MR back in the mid-Fifties on detailing the 4-4-0. Far as I know, those were the only brass locos they made.  Never as large a locomotive as is on the eBay auction.  And Tyco NEVER made brass.  The loco may be an old Varney.  Varney made some large, cast brass steam, including, I believe, a Consolidation, a Mike, a Mountain and a Northern.   Their large tenders looked a lot like the later Mantua die-cast ones.

Here's the Mantua literature page from HOSeeker, which shows everything from the early 50's to the present day Mantua Classics. There was never any large brass produced, and certainly no brass under the Tyco name.