This review is on Tyco's older version of the Super 630, which is also better quality than their later production 630s in the 1980's. Some of you may be thinking, "Why Tyco?", but with a few adjustments this isn't a bad engine. The shell is pretty well detailed for an old train set quality diesel. The castings are smooth and when you take a close look, the detail is as good as or better than the Athearn diesels from the same time. The shell's only problem is the open pilots for the truck mounted couplers. They did mold the lift bar in a way that makes the middle stick out like it should, but it's done poorly and isn't recognizable unless you look closely. The older models (like the one reviewed) come with metal railings installed all the way around. The newer models don't have any railings, making the older ones look better. The paint is better quality than what you'll find on old Life-Like or 1980's Bachmann diesels. The seperation lines are a little sharper and the paint is coated smoothly. Mine came decorated in the Santa Fe Warbonnet, and they were also sold in Delaware and Hudson, Chessie, Illinois Central Gulf and a couple others. For some reason, Norfolk and Western was the only railroad that owned any high nosed C-630s and Tyco decided not to decorate them in N&W! The trucks are undersized and obviously have completely made up sideframes. The 630 test ran a little wobbly, but it ran pretty well overall. It runs best when it's warmed up a little, and it can be warmed up quickly by running it at 12 volts for about 30 seconds. After it's warm, I was able to keep it running at a minimum of 3 volts, and it's speed was from around 6 scale MPH to 10 SMPH. I couldn't keep it's lower speeds very steady. At 12 volts it's speed was around 160 SMPH. It drew .16 amps of current at full speed with no load, and it's stall current is .38 amps. At lower speeds it draws from .07 to .1 amps, but it can't be kept steady. The older drive system is higher quality than the newer one, because it has more durable black plastic gears while the newer one has it's larger gear made out of nylon. It runs surprisingly quiet for such a cheap engine going forward, but it's noisier in reverse. It's drawbar pull is strong enough to pull around 50 cars because of it's 3 traction tires. The coupler boxes are snapped onto the truck sideframe/axle retainer, making it easier to replace them with Kadees. These older Super 630s are overall good engines for someone looking for something cheap, and the drives can be easily replaced with IHC or Stewart drives to make a nicer runner. That and some custom painting can make a nice model of the high nosed C-630s. So I'd say it was a $17 well spent. If you want anymore information, than here's a link to a website with lots of Tyco info. http://tycotrain.tripod.com/tycotrains/index.html
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"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45 This reminds me of the old Tyco GP20. The drive was a joke, but that body had potential! Some of you may remember that Model Railroader had an article back in the 80s about sprucing the Tyco unit.
Scott - Dispatcher, Norfolk Southern
Best Regards, Big John
Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona. Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the Kiva Valley Railway
QUOTE: Originally posted by dingoix 50 cars? Impressive. But I wouldn't run that many even if the gears are stronger they're still skinny. It's odd TYCO only offered ALCos in roadnames that didn't order them (in most cases). They offered the C430 in- rock island, Santa Fe, IC and others. none of these RRs ever purchased C430s.
QUOTE: Originally posted by dingoix No it's not all bad, the C430 shell I have has decent detail. But TYCO designed them for 5DCC after the motor died[;)][;)]
QUOTE: Originally posted by TomDiehl Something I'm not clear on from the initial review regarding the handrails, the Tyco's always came with the handrails in a package with the loco, I don't recall them ever being installed from the factory. The ones that don't have them may simply have had the handrail package lost.