Tyco rolling stock

[mikesmowers]

I have a few Tyco rolling stock and was wondering if there is any hope for them? I know they will need body mount couplers and probley new trucks and wheel sets. Art they worth fooling with to run or just for a display?  Have a GREAT weekend,   Mike

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Mike, if you want to take the time to convert them for new trucks, you can do so, but the money would be much better spent on new rolling stock. No matter what you do to the Tyco pieces, they're always going to look like toys

[simon1966]

Mike, here is my take.  I, like many modelers coming back into the hobby purchased several Tyco, LifeLike and basic Bachmann freight cars.  I realized quite quickly that they were not the detail or quality that I wanted.  In all cases I have body mounted kadee's and installed P2K wheels.  These were the first cars that I tried weathering on and in the case of gondolas I have made crushed foil loads to resemble recycled metals.  Hoppers have home made coal loads.   I think that they are a great canvas on which to experiment with weathering, and as such serve a valuable function.  I am rather proud of some of these efforts and would not give them away for anything now.  In some cases where stirrup steps were broken I was able to practice making my own wire replacements.  If you are going to ruin a freight car while learning a new technique it might as well be a Tyco!!

[BRAKIE]

I have a few Tyco rolling stock and was wondering if there is any hope for them? I know they will need body mount couplers and probley new trucks and wheel sets. Art they worth fooling with to run or just for a display?  Have a GREAT weekend,   Mike

You could rebuild them and then repaint and decal them..However..You can buy Athearn Blue Box kits on line starting at $5.25..The choice is your but,I would go with the better cars.

[TomDiehl]

One of the problems answering this question is that the Tyco brand name went through several changes over the years, as well as a change in ownership. Originally manufactured in Woodbury Heights, NJ, the earliest was plastic body cars with a cast metal frame and metal trucks. These frames were sparsely detailed, but were good as the cast frame kept the center of gravity low and helped them track nicely. The metal trucks, however, added drag, much the way the old friction bearings did to the prototype.

Later, Tyco went to plastic frame trucks with metal axles, under the same car. The frames were made of Delrin or Selcon plastic, a slippery plastic that allowed the cars to roll much easier and the same loco to pull more cars, much like the prototype conversion to roller bearings on the car axles. There was a minor reduction in weight of the car at this change. The trucks were also available as an aftermarket part to upgrade older cars.

In the seventies, the Tyco name was sold to Consolidated Foods and the manufacturing was moved to Hong Kong. This is where the quality took a nose dive and unfortunately, is the Tyco that most modellers know. They went to a plastic frame, better detailed but lower weight, the trucks were made with a single piece plastic wheel and axle (not adjustable, and almost always a bit narrow in gauge), and the bodies looked like they were painted with a thick paint the covered many of the details. The trucks usually snapped in or had a separate pin to hold the truck on the car.

I have many of the older Tyco cars (first and second paragraph above) and these still perform well. The lower level of detail on the frame isn't a problem since they stay on the track and don't roll over to show the frame. If you have or can get these, I'd recommend them. The ones described in the third paragraph, I'd recommend you steer clear of them.

[Anonymous]

I'd say you might want to convert them over to body mounted couplers or buy some Kadee #28 couplers with the talgo adapters.

[pandabear]

I have my cars from a Tyco set from the 70's. The Alco C430 was painted in "warbonnet" Santa Fe. It's now in CNW (modeler's license) with a Hobbytown chassis and runs great if a little noisy. The cars, after 25+ years, have "weathered" nicely and I put the Kadee #28/Talgo adapters and they run and track nicely. There has been more than a few articles in MR on how to model prototype cars with Tyco cars as the base, so I'd keep them around.