through the mountains of Utah on the cover of August 1968 Model Railroader. What was interesting was what was “known” to be true. Enlightening for those of us that joined the hobby 40 years later.
TYCO, the Other Name for Quality
Let’s Talk Action, Bachmann N Scale
AHC HAS THE MOSTEST
HOBBYPOXY QUICKSTICKABILITY!
Huh? I know what you mean, except about Clark Kent slowing an HO Mike.
The man on the cover is a Steve Reeve lookalike with the thick Clark Kent Glasses. The lead article is about building a prototype brake system to work with your cab system and the cover shows Kent with his hand on the prototype brake apparatus slowing the train. An article inside shows the plans for building and operating the brake system.
It still begs the question: Just how dumb was Lois Lane?
OK, Chip. Take a deep breath. Your week with the cub scouts is over. You can relax.
Tom
What? I said No Running! Well, what do your expect? You ate a whole bag of marshmallows. Tommy I told you to wait until he is out of the way before you dive. STAY OUT of the Poison Ivy! Keep the BB guns pointed toward the target at all times. Yes, if you don’t wash your hands they won’t let you eat.
Tom, I have no clue what you’re talking about.
Hmmmm… Sounds like an artical that I would like to read - now I have to figure out where I can get ahold of a copy of that issue.
Howdy, Chip,
The man in question is the late Linn Westcott, MR’s editor at the time, inventor of both the TAT series of transistor throttles (back when power packs used rheostats) and the L-girder benchwork system. The layout is his Sunset Valley.
Ah, how fleeting is fame, even among model railroaders.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Did I mention the cover price was 60c?
Yes, people who have joined the hobby recently usually have no idea how easy it is to be a Model Railroader today.
I am not certain I understand your reference to Tyco & Bachmann as those lines you quoted are from their advertisements. Vendors always claim their products are the best in some way shape or form. Of course this is also right at the time when Tyco began their down hill slide into the what we know of today as “toy train” quality stuff. I remember my first Bachmann N-scale locomotive. It was amazing compared to the stuff that existed prior.
I am surprised you didn’t mention any thing from the “At the Throttle”. He is pondering how wonderful things have gotten since the old days and how easy it is to create “actors” for our railroad play. He notes that with a new release from Athearn, “You can assemble a train of nothing but Santa Fe cars, all with different numbers and lettering:…”
Can motors came out a few years later, and it wasn’t long before they were applied to model locomotives. The MR world changed. Then in 1984 Atlas actually put one into a locomotive from the factory, and the MR world changed again.
It is interesting you mention this specific issue because it was when they were running the series “Basic Model Railroading”. I keep this issue handy because of the “Airbrake Valve Action” on pages 40-46. If you can get a hold of the March 1968 issue there is what I consider the definitive write up on grades pp 30-34.
Clark Kent? Don’t be silly, everyone looked like that back then. Besides I didn’t know Clark Kent was married…
And the cover price for MRC at that time was 50 cents. I remember being able to get an MRC every month or the MR every two months because of that 10 cent difference.
Chuck, I don’t have that particular issue, but wasn’t the Sunset Valley Bruce Chubb’s layout? Or did Linn use the same name for his layout? You’re certainly right about the fleeting fame: innovators like Linn are the ones who got us to where we are today. I kinda miss the down-to-earth style of those older issues, though.
Wayne
Those old MR magazines are the best! I’m only 28 and when I was much younger and just getting into the hobby it was my dads old magazines that I read and learned from. Back then the creativity of modellers seemed endless, now it seems that skills like kitbashing and scratchbuilding are being replaced by going to the store or online and just buying the model you want!If it wasn’t for these old articles my roster of accurate models would be much smaller! Thanks dad[:D]
TYCO could have been another name for a lot of things…but quality doesn’t come to mind.
Oh and the fellow that played superman was George Reeves… not Steve reeves [:-^]
The “On the Cover” description says “Dennis Blunt slows an Akane USRA 2-8-2 on Linn Westcott’s Sunset Railway.”
Upon further investigation, in the article it says Linn Westcott’s Sunset Railway & Navigation Company. The Article is written by Dennis Blunt.
There is just a bit of confusion due to the similarity in names.
In 1968, Tyco engines were the same as their Mantua counterparts; the steam engines still had their brass axle bearings, and PowerTorque motors hadn’t even been dreamt of yet. At that time the statement was for the most part true.
Just to add to the confusion, in radio days our Mpls-St.Paul version of the Grand Ole Opry was the “Sunset Valley Barndance” on KSTP. The founder of it, David Stone, was one of the first announcers on the Opry, and was responsible for Roy Acuff’s first appearance on the Opry.[C):-)]
The idea of Linn Westcott as Clark Kent/Superman is pretty funny. Linn had a flattop haircut and probably weighed 150 lbs. soaking wet. I could see him as an older version of Jimmy Olsen maybe. [:D]
I still have most of my MR’s back to the first one (Dec 1971) much to my wife’s consternation. It’s fun to go back and review them every so often, especially the early ones. I do sometimes wish everyone could spend a year in c.1973 modelling and then come back and complain because Atlas didn’t put the right horn on their RTR GP-40 or that they actually had to remove two screws to remove the shell and plug in the decoder. [:-,]
Yep, George Reeves.
The guy on the cover was actually Dennis Blunt, but the layout was in fact Westcott’s Sunset Valley.
Now I get it!
I thought the Sunset Valley was Bruce Chubb’s?
You need to pay closer attention … other posters have already told you the correct name for Westcott’s layout: Sunset Railway and Navigation Co.
Adding detailing and such to Mantua/Tyco engines was one of the few ways to get a good running inexpensive engine back then. BTW most guys started with the undecorated Mantua locomotive kits…and considered themselves lucky that they only had to assemble and brush paint and letter the engines - they didn’t have to do a lot of machining work like on engine ‘kits’ from the thirties.
John Allen had a 2-8-2 that he added a Roundhouse short vanderbilt tender (IIRC) and a great amount of detailing to.