Well, Wayne did a fantastic job with those old Tyco cars, indeed. I would not have the time (kids sports, etc.) or the patience to do all that. They do look great.
The other thing is my one son wants cars that are “modern” and now that is the time period many years AFTER Tyco existed, so those freight cars are nothing anywhere near what we would need. To each his own.
By the ‘80’s few 40’ cars remained in revenue service…at least around here.
John
Same here. They are simply too toy-like. I don’t have time or desire to try to bring them up to a higher level of realism. I got rid of mine before time began. But some like Lionel so I realize toy-like trains are a hobby for some, or maybe nostagia.
The new Tangent 86’ Greenville boxcars sure are special.
Jim, I fully agree. The only Tyco I ever owned was that crane I mention above and I had tons of fun replacing the wheels and detailing it. Without a doubt it was the best looking cranes I ever detailed.
When I was 14, that’s all I ran, along with AHM. After I bought my first Athearn BB/MDC boxcar, TYCO and AHM never saw daylight.
IIRC back then, Athearn and MDC kits were about the same price as the assembled TYCO cars, so for me the choice was clear.
For performance reasons mainly.
Old-school freight cars from my childhood are special to me. I think of this hobby as using art to transform memories and objects of sentiment, sometimes making them part of something new. These five Mantua metal cars were on my first layout when I was 8, and sloooowly get upgraded over time: metal wheels, body-mount Kadees, details added, new paint jobs and decals to better fit my prototype, (eventually, I hope) sill steps and brake gear:
It’s nice to have part of my own model train history still rolling around, slowly being refined.
I did buy one Tyco car in adulthood, their drover’s caboose, because it was the only model I knew about at the time that came close to matching a specific piece of rolling stock my prototype had.
Like the others, it’s a work in progress that I upgrade slowly in fits and starts-- new paint job, glass windows, archbar trucks-- with future intentions to replace the sill steps, install a brake system, make an interior for it, etc.
Phil
1970’s Tyco, Cox, Life-Like and Bachman toy trains… they all provided low cost rolling stock that more or less met the NMRA standards. So what does that mean?
A bunch of us got into this hobby thanks to these toys… Bonus, we can still run them on today’s DCC layouts with minor changes!
They are still available low cost, so they are GREAT fodder to hone down your skills in terms of painting, weathering, modifying, etc. They also provide parts that can be reused on other equipment or scenery details.
They are cheap, which is important for those getting into the hobby when pockets are less deep. That was my cases when I had a young family… That still holds today thanks to the shows and the Internet.
I know these manufacturers made these products in millions to make money, but I don’t think this hobby (and community) would be the same today if they had not been there. And who would have guessed that these 70s products would still impact us 50 years later!
Simon
Well said, Simon. All great comments. Brings back lots of memories as I was raised on these products and remember them fondly.
Some of those AHM cars wasn’t to bad… I bought several of those PS1 boxcars and body mounted the couplers and used Central Valley trucks.
The Atlanic & Danville was my favorite. The others was strip and repainted and decaled with Champs decals.
While technically Life-Like brand, this reefer is similar to Tyco products. I kept a car just like this one because it’s billboard reflected the home town of my grandparents. And I thought the detail and paint job were pretty good.
Never had them but do people keep them for nostalgia or reliability?
Hello All,
All great points.
If it hadn’t been for the inexpensive Tyco starter sets I doubt that my parents could have afforded to get me into this great hobby.
On the back cover of the September MR magazine, Bachmann is advertising an N scale Tomas The Tank Engine for $125.00 and rolling stock between $26.00 - $29.00.
Without going down the “This Hobby Is So Expensive” rabbit hole, the price for these “toys” might dissuade parents from buying them.
For what it was- -and is- -Tyco put a lot of trains in the hands of kids, and adults, in the 1970s that might not have had the opportunity to afford other avenues into this hobby.
Hope this helps.
Low end train set cars, Tyco, Bachmann, and others can be made into fine freight cars. If needed convert from truck mount couplers to body mount. The Kadee coupler box just needs a single 2-56 machine screw to hold it in place, and perhaps some styrene shims to level it. An coat of DullCote will flatten the bright toy trainset colors and kill the plastic gloss. Paint the trucks rust red and the wheel faces grimy black for friction bearing trucks and tan mud color for roller bearing trucks. Paint the entire undercarriage with rattle can dark gray auto primer. Add weight to bring the car up to NMRA standard.
If the stirrups are too thick, replace them with wire ones. With care you can shave off the molded on grab irons with an Xacto chisel blade without dinging the paint job. Then replace them with wire ones. A drop of thin CA (superglue) on the inside will bond the wire grab to the styrene car sides.
I’m not instinctively against Tyco and Mantua.
I’ve got a few of various types in my fleet. I used to have more until I purged most of my “funny” cars with fantasy billboard designs.
I think I have as many (or more) IHC cars that were formerly Tyco tooling but IHC released them with more realistic paint. Especially the ribbed side covered hoppers.
I like cheap railroading and Athearn BB is my midpoint for the level of detail and accuracy I like. if I find a good Tyco car for a couple bucks I’ll buy it, but since I’ve narrowed my era mostly to 1980 and after, there isn’t much in the Tyco for me anymore. It helps also that I’ve been able to find plenty of BB and BB’ish rolling stock in the $5-10 (up to $15 if I really want it) range. When patience yeilds $5 BB’s, there’s not much reason to hunt down Tyco.
I’m also phasing out almost all of my traction-tire-operated locos so that will move out my Tyco motive power.
Have you ever looked at the prices of the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway stuff? A couple inches of dowel rod, six plastic wheels, and two magnets are $17.
Bachmann trains sell at deep discounts, sometimes approaching 50% (or more).
Wooden trains other than Thomas are available for much less. One option would be to buy a Thomas engine and then other much less expensive wooden trains.
Paul
Paul, Bachmann’s DCC ready,DCC on board or DCC/Sound Value locomotives are fairly nice engines for the price. I bought a DCC/Sound Alco S-4 when they was first releaed and its still going strong.
I will also mention in the silent mode its runs as smooth as a Atlas/Roco S4.
Did anyone also note that that back page ad by Bachmann has a suggested age range for the Thomas line in N scale? “14+” so this is not Thomas aimed at the kids who love Thomas, and I suspect kids who are 14 are the last ones who’d want Thomas. I suspect the target market is grandparents with an N scale layout, or N scale club layouts that go to train shows and want to entertain kids. I know of two such club layouts that always try to run Thomas at shows.
Dave Nelson
Yes, I have a few Thomas locos in HO exactly for that reason. They are always a hit during open-door events at the club.
Simon
The public loves to see neat things at train shows.
The Bat-Train is always a hit at the Tampa area train shows.
-Kevin
What’s a train show? oh yeah…
The Timonium show has a cool big module with Hogwarts Castle and train station. That layout usually has alot of cool trains running too. Hope things settle down enough for the Feb show but some party pooper said don’t count on it.