One of the locomotives I dusted off this Christmas was my very first from childhood, a Tyco F9 from 1977. I tuned it up but unfortunately one of the gears on the “power-torque” truck is missing a few teeth and it doesn’t run very smoothly.
Any idea where I can get a replacement? Seems like there must be a million of these old trucks around, but I don’t know where to begin finding one.
If anybody on the forum has a lead, please let me know. I know Tyco’s are “cheap toys” as far as model trains go, but for old time’s sake I’d love to get the locomotive back on its feet.
Of course my 2 Athearns of the same vintage run like a dream. Amazing the difference in quality.
The problem is that they all do that… You can look at shows and on ebay. but you are not likely to find one in any better condition than the one you already have. Tyco has been out of the train business for many years.
You could mount the shell on an Athearn F7A chassis with minimal work…
Well, I had thought of replacing the Tyco trucks with Athearn, but the Athearn frames and trucks I’m familiar with are set up so different than the Tyco I was afraid it would be impossible–or require mutilating the Tyco body.
You ever try mounting a Tyco shell on an Athearn frame? Is it really “minimal work”? That would actually be an ideal solution. If you have a minute, tell me the basic procedure.
The Athearn shell is held to the chassis by two pins (about 1/16" diameter) that are cast into the frame just above the fuel tank. You will need to either drill holes in the Tyco shell to match, or cut off the pins. For vertical location of the shell on the frame, you can bond some plastic blocks inside the shell that will rest on the frame. You can drill a hole through the frame where these are, and thread the plastic to accept a screw to secure the frame and shell. You’ll have to cut the coupler mount off the front of the Athearn frame if you plan to use the Tyco mount, or make a slot in the pilot to be able to use the Athearn coupler mount.
That is about it. All of the stuff will drop out of the Tyco shell, it it just held in with the tangs that go through the body sides. The headlight mount may be heat staked, but you can just pull it off.
Thanks for the tips. Sounds pretty doable. There will be the empty slots in the shell where the Tyco truck tabs used to snap in, but I guess I can fill those.
I just e-mailed Athearn to see if they could send me out just the mechanics of their F7A. Thing is, it’s almost as expensive as the whole locomotive (shell included), according to their web site!
By the way, is Athearn cutting way back on production? In browsing online stores, I wasn’t able to find a single F7A in Santa Fe red/silver warbonnet colors. What gives? I’d think that would be in stock everywhere.
I’ve used Bachmann F9 chassis to repower Tyco Balwin RF16s in the past. To make it fit the RF16 (I think their F unit is similar) remove the weights, and both trucks. Trim down the lugs on the Bachmann chassis. It should slide right in. It’ll take a bit of work to add the couplers though.
I’m not sure what part of the U.S you’re located in but it’s very likely that you can find plenty of Athearn F units at model railroad swap meets and train shows. I’ve always seen used Athearn F7s for sale at every single model railroad/swap meet that I’ve been to here in Florida. Like a Ford pickup truck, it’s such a common model unit that it’s often ignored! Check and see if you can hit a swap meet or show in your area. Average price that I’ve seen for a used “regular line” Athearn F7 in good shape is $12. Don’t give up!
go to info@modelpower.com or www.modelpower.com. i recently asked for and got a parts list for tyco and i must say that the request was filled quickly.