tyco alco century's junk?

[TomDiehl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Darth Santa Fe

QUOTE: Originally posted by Don Gibson

TYCO (a Conglomorate) purchased MANTUA (a maker of quality product's to the hobby), sold off all the 'Mantua' product's, and started making TOY product's - one's that weren't expected to last - and were cheap to buy. IE: (disposable train's)

Actually, Mantua started Tyco and owned them for about 20 years before selling them to Consolidated Foods around 1970. Mantua also shut down for ten years right after selling Tyco. Tyco continued making most of the Mantua products (2-8-2, 4-6-2, 4-4-0, F7, GP20...) until they started having trouble keeping their business in the model railroad market. I believe Roco made all the engines for Tyco for about a year before Tyco stopped doing trains in '93. You can still find Tyco doing other toys now, like R/C cars.[:)]

Mantua opened back up around 1980 and made trains for another 20 years before nearly going out of business. Thanks to Model Power, Mantua is still in business and their engines are better than ever.[:D]

Capsule History

Mantua Metal Products started right after WWII near the town of Mantua, NJ in Woodbury Heights (suburban Camden). The name "tyco" comes from the founder John Tyler, as in TYler COmpany, and was used as their brand name for many years. They were bought out in the '70's by Consolidated Foods and went to junk at that point, working from a warehouse in Morrestown, NJ. John Tyler's son was working for them and was given the job of selling off the old plant in Woodbury Heights. At this point, he bought back some of the moulds and started producing the original line under the "Mantua" name again. Around 2000, this line was sold to Model Power.

I asked the question a year or so ago if the TYCO from the old model railroad company was the same as the TYCO conglomerate that was having all the trouble. All I got was a bunch of BS how people were PO'd about losing all their money with them.

Never got an answer to the question.

[Darth Santa Fe]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Don Gibson

Have your F-7's tires fallen off yet?

Nope. They're still as strong as they were when they were new.[:D][:D][:D]

[Darth Santa Fe]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Don Gibson

TYCO (a Conglomorate) purchased MANTUA (a maker of quality product's to the hobby), sold off all the 'Mantua' product's, and started making TOY product's - one's that weren't expected to last - and were cheap to buy. IE: (disposable train's)

Actually, Mantua started Tyco and owned them for about 20 years before selling them to Consolidated Foods around 1970. Mantua also shut down for ten years right after selling Tyco. Tyco continued making most of the Mantua products (2-8-2, 4-6-2, 4-4-0, F7, GP20...) until they started having trouble keeping their business in the model railroad market. I believe Roco made all the engines for Tyco for about a year before Tyco stopped doing trains in '93. You can still find Tyco doing other toys now, like R/C cars.[:)]

Mantua opened back up around 1980 and made trains for another 20 years before nearly going out of business. Thanks to Model Power, Mantua is still in business and their engines are better than ever.[:D]

[Don Gibson]

(Darth)
3. "IHC C-628, runs as well as my P2K SD60"
(You may qualify)...

The Mantua/Tyco F-7 WAS a good runner, as was their GP 20. I replaced the GP-20 drive with current Hobbytown's. Have your F-7's tires fallen off yet?

[Don Gibson]

TYCO (a Conglomorate) purchased MANTUA (a maker of quality product's to the hobby), sold off all the 'Mantua' product's, and started making TOY product's - one's that weren't expected to last - and were cheap to buy. IE: (disposable train's)

RECENTLY TYCO was in financial (and head executive) trouble, and sold off the Mantua Steam engine right's, which had a good reputation - 40 year's ago - which has been reintroduced by the new owner.

Those "modeler's" claiming 'quality' apparently have never had a 'good' engine, or worse - can't tell the difference (Opinion). Perhap's the old saw applies: 'One man's junk is another man's treasure' - but I doubt it.

[Darth Santa Fe]

I must be weird or something. I've had better experiences with my Tyco stuff then with some of my better quality stuff.

Examples:
1. Athearn PA-1, bad motor that had to be replaced
2. Athearn Genesis SD75M, off center gears, light bulbs that last for a couple hours running time, poor shell mounting
3. Kato SD80MAC, motor is very noisy when it's supposed to be "nearly silent"
4. Athearn U30C, runs stiff around curves, draws an average of .8 amps

Cheap stuff from Tyco and others that run great:
1. Tyco C-630, above trainset quality paint and detail
2. AHM/Rivarossi 0-6-0
3. IHC C-628, runs as well as my P2K SD60
4. Model Power RS-2
5. Life-Like 0-4-0 Shifter
6. AHM/Rivarossi E8A
7. Tyco/Mantua F7A

[Don Gibson]

QUOTE: "I purchased a tyco alco century diesel locomotive on ebay. I just recieved it today. I put it on the track and nothing happened ... What do you think?"

I think you got what you paid for.

2.You are learning. EBay is not your friend.
3. TRY http://www.stewarthobbies.com/Catalog.htm for an ALCO engine.
(Standard Hobby Supply may have @ 20%-25% off).

4. lesson: 'Cheep' is for the bird's.

[Anonymous]

Looking at prices of the stuff on E-bay. It may be junk. But it is ***ed sure expensive junk. I find used Athearns for less usually. What gives?

James

[espeefoamer]

I had somehow avoided Tyco in my early HO days,but some other contemporary brands were almost as bad.I had some AHM locos,which didn't run very well,a Bachmann FT,and even a Revell,rubber band powered F7.Also my IHC GG1 runs like c**p.My Athearn Blue Box engines from that era are still running.

[Curmudgeon]

Ah, TYCO.
The fall from Grace that was Mantua.
I still have my old Mikado by Mantua (really), metal cab, metal tender body, worm in a gearbox with bronze bearings screwed to the chassis.
None of this later worm-stuck-on-the-end-of-the-motor garbage.
I never did see a TYCO dismal I would call decent.
Especially when compared to my old Varneys with spring drive and adjustable gear ratios or later super-geared Athearns.

TOC

[Anonymous]

Well, this thread inspired me to take my old Mantua Tyco Century out of the box and run it around my layout. Santa brought this with the original 4 by 8 my Dad built for me for Christmas when I was three years old, way back in 1967. It is in a Burlington paint scheme.

How'd she do? With a little help from "the hand of God" the train did three laps around the 4 by 8 portion of my layout. The cab lit up nicely. It did have that electric smoke smell at the end of the third lap and I put it away.

BTW, there are no handrails. I don't know if it came this way, if Dad didn't feel like gluing them on, or if me and my brothers broke them off over the years.

Wonder how much I could get for this "classic" on ebay?

[Anonymous]

Yet another E-Bay "win"? Was it sold as a "classic"? What was the "return" policy?
Questions, questions, questions!
Will

[TrainFreak409]

The one thing that prevented me from getting a Tyco diesel at shows in the past before I knew that they were junk was that a lot of them didn't have handrails.

[loathar]

Let me get this straight. Your Grandpa had ten of these.All ten of them were junk. NONE of them survived. You had all this information allready and yet you still bought one on Ebay???[%-)].Hmmm...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by areibel

, what other locos from the 80's are still running??

Well, there's an awful lot of 1980s Hornby locos still running - you can even rework them with the latest 5-pole motors and extra pickups by buying a few spares, so your old loco will run as well as the latest versions.

[ort007]

"It's deja vu all over again!" I wonder if anyone has done a study to see how many times topics get repeated and how much time lapses between occurences. Perhaps someone should start a poll on "Your favorite re-hash".

Cheers,
Ort007

[areibel]

Glad some people see my point! I must admit, my old timer is the earlier version, I don't know if any of the others I have are new style or old.
And when you think of it, what other locos from the 80's are still running?? Maybe a Blue Box Brand, but others-AHM? Life Like? Bachmann? I've had worse luck with them than Tyco, I'd like to see what the other modelers from the era think. All went through a "cheap" stage, and not just in HO- look at the last offerings from Gilbert/ AM Flyer (OK, that was the 60's), the Lionels from the era, even the Classic HO names- Varney, Roundhouse, etc..

[aloco]

The Mantua Tyco C-430s weren't bad in terms of detail. At least those locos had the correct cab roof curvature. The later C-430s had a flatter and more square-looking cab profile, and they are ugly as sin.

[Anonymous]

Ah the ghost of Tyco past has arisen and struck again. AGH!!

So were the detroit cars in the early 80's

Gowd that stuff is the lowest point of the hobby EVah!!!

When you build a locomotive for model work... I expect it to last 10 years or more.. not 40 stinking hours *** it!!![V]

[TomDiehl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroading_Brit

I'd say to follow the example of previous posts and look at converting it to a dummy - from what I've seen of Tycos the basic bodywork isn't too bad, it's just the drive system, trucks, and lack of handrails on some locos that let them down.

The handrails were included with the locomotives but for the modeller to install, sort of like the Athearn Blue Boxes. The body of the C430 was pretty accurate, except for the sprue parting point being in the top center of the shell. This is where the dynamic brake belongs, and the Alco one could be modelled with a couple pieces of styrene sheet.

[Anonymous]

I'd say to follow the example of previous posts and look at converting it to a dummy - from what I've seen of Tycos the basic bodywork isn't too bad, it's just the drive system, trucks, and lack of handrails on some locos that let them down.

[RedLeader]

I still have somewhere in my junk drawer on of those infamous ATSF C-630 "AlcoSuper". She was molded in gray plastic (not painted) and had a red (dark) bonnet painted on the cab, simulating the red/silver warbonnet, but without any yellow! It had a four-wheel traction, so one axle on each truck was iddle. It had no transparent plastic on the windows, and you could see all the wires from the inside. The handrails were horrible; they were overzised and painted in a different tone of red! She ran ok the first week, after that she became louder, and louder, and LOUDER! Untill she wasn't able to pull any car at all!! I still have her, just because I don't trash MR stuff... I also have an ALCO C-430 with the yellow-blue Virginian scheme. This one was a bit better than the 630. She still runs today, making a terrible grinding noise.

[cwclark]

Speaking from what was said by tyco's engineering staff at a train convention, here is what they said about why the reason tyco is junk...they are a kids toy and engineered to run only 40 hours and then they will break down...the reason being is they are cheap on a person's pocket book so parents purchase them and a parent that just bought his kid a new tyco train set for christmas or a birthday present are not likely to take it back to the place of purchase after 40 hours of use when it breaks down ...instead of building a better product , I wonder how much money they spent on the study done that determined the time it takes for a tyco locomotive to break down and a parent won't take it back to the store for a refund....chuck

[slotracer]

I had N gauge when I was about 12 and on into my mid teens so I can't say I personally had any tyco. When I converted over to HO im my late teens I alreay knew full well from other friends who ahd tyco that they were worthless crappp.

I recall a friend with a 4x8 layout had a Tyco F7 as one of his first engines, PC but painted green not black. It had a single power truck with brass wheels and traction tires. Withing months as he expanded his layout he got an Athearn F7 to replace the tyco JUNK. He converted it to a dummy, as a power unit it was totally worthless. I know other friends at the time tat had various tyco junk and all replaced them with other better engines and either dummied them out or parked them in the engine terminal as scenic items. Most ended up sold off, trashed or given away as the detail and proportions of the shells were terrible too.

[Anonymous]

I also acquired with some other train stuff a tyco steam engine with powertorque motor the gears are also out tyco=JUNK

[red p]

Yep they are junk,but it sure brings back memories. I was in the 4th grade when I got my bicentennial one. had a 4 x 8 train board in my bedroom. Although it was just an oval with 3 buildings. Its what got me my start in railroading.

[Anonymous]

Yep. Junk. And yes, my first train was a Tyco set: the "Chattanooga Choo Choo" complete with 0-8-0 featuring tender-drive. Christmas gift when I was about 9.

Yes, It got me started in the hobby, but also very nearly drove me out. One Christmas later I'd quit playing with the set and it was moldering away in the basement.

The gift of a Bachmann Mike probably saved the day. Though we're still not talking about the paragon of quality, at least it freakin' ran and re-sparked the interest in model railroading.

[BentnoseWillie]

Any Tyco with the "Power-Torque" motor in one truck is useful only as a paperweight. They were poor at best when new (25 years ago) and haven't improved one little bit with age. They are not a bargain at any price.

For the prices people want for these things on eBay, you can find an Athearn from the 1970s or later that you can still readily obtain most of the driveline parts for, and which can be upgraded with newer components such as the post-1985 motor and the plastic-sideframe trucks.

[joeyegarner]

QUOTE: Originally posted by saldana17

When Tyco was your first train I am sure NO ONE could call it junk. If it wasn't for the inexpensive TYCO set your parents bought, you wouldn't be RAILROADING.
Give TYCO their due, "They get people into a FANTASTIC hobby", and make them SPEND SPEND SPEND.
Saldana

Sorry Saldana, my first model train was Tyco and I still think thier junk.Of course they made changes in my life that sent me in an entirely different direction!! If it had not been Tyco it would have been Bachman or Lifelike some other. The one thing for sure is I want nothing to do with Tyco for nostalgic reasons.
Now about this c630 my son had one and it too was junk!!

[John Busby]

Hi
Tyco was[censored] rubish when it was made and still is.
all the ones I came in contact with had been gutted and a decent motor put in so they worked.
I even saw a few that had been detailed as well as remotored.
the locomotives had a very bad reputasion over here.
however the freight rolling stock was very popular with those who had large layouts it was cheap the detail was not too bad and it ran fairly well
The coaching stock was only of interest to those with the time and patience too put a propper interior in it
All of it eventualy ended up with metal wheels and an extra detail job,
or went to the scrap yard I mean the one on the layout!!
regards John