I’m running my Tyco Santa Fe GP20 right now on my Unitrak floor layout!
Carl T.
There was a day when a Tyco GP20 was the only model made of that EMD diesel, and we would detail them up with Details West castings. Then there are the Tyco Flat cars I detail paint and decal SP, because I am building an SP flat car unit train. http://www.geocities.com/duncan2train/flatcar.html
Get right down to it… They did produce some well detailed models for us modelers to start with.
Tyco’s Operating Hopper Cars are still a big favorite and often bring as much as $20
each on ebay
[quote user=“Railphotog”]
Bob,With what those 56 Chevs are bringing you can buy several brass engines.Some of those old 50 era jalopy’s bring mega bucks even in poor condition and far more then today’s high price junkers will bring use in 7-10 years.
I had a TYCO/Mantua 4-6-0 and that was a very smooth runner…
What you probably saw was brush dust. Those motors were famous for grinding their brushes down due to the crude commutator. That dust can accumulate in the gaps and cause shorts.
The Consolidated Foods era is what generated so much antipathy for Tyco. I actually had good luck with my Chattanooga; it ran for several years, but then I wasn’t running it on carpet. My worst experience was when I bought a Tyco Pacific in '76 with every penny I had to my name at the time. CF had seen fit to eliminate the brass driver axle bearings, and the resulting slop was so bad that the loco actually lurched side-to-side, and couldn’t get the traction those heavy Mantuas were known for. It was a complete disaster, and soured me on Mantua until I discovered the reason years later. I even had a friend give me his because he had the same issues.
I can completely understand CF’s decision though, since those 4 tiny brass channels must have cost a mint to produce, and they only sacrificed the running characteristics of a good basic loco in the process. [D)] Something to consider if you’re thinking of buying an old Mantua steamer - stay away from the brown box-era Tycos.
Maybe this thread should be titled “Why does everyone hate Consolidated Foods so much?”
I did a search for TYCO under HO trains and got 1012 items for sale. Most of those items were inexpensive so for those who want TYCO, bid now because now is the time.
And why does anyone want to know what we think of TYCO. Is this a test???
Is anyone else getting tired of this magazine’s spam advertising? [:-,]
Yes. My thoughts exactly. As a kid my Tyco stuff was KING! It worked well for me then and some of it is still working just fine today. It’s a curious thing…[%-)]
I see many guys suggesting that TYCO was responsible for “driving” many people away from the hobby. I guess my experience was unusual in that TYCO started what has become a love affair with trains and model railroading. For that reason alone TYCO will always have a place on my layout and in my heart. [:)]
Railphotog,how’s this for a '56?
I remember getting Tyco when I changed over to HO from Lionel in the late 60s. They were definitely inferior quality, poor running, and made me go back to my Lionels. The Lionels may have been tinplate and not to scale but they were built solid and worked well.
Tyco was cool back when I was a little kid but so were any other trains. I would say Tyco makes an “ok” toy train but I would never classify tyco trains as model railroads. Tyco seemed more like sort of a fantasy type train sets. Tyco made toys and their trains were no more.
Back durring high school I built a model railyard for a seinor project. Tyco rail cars, turnouts, assesories, ect worked great… However they only worked great because I was not leaving my nice models out for the general student population to drop and break. Tyco does nothing for me these days. The only Tyco trains that get to grace my layout are Union 76 tank cars and even they are tucked away in a whole mess of tank cars on siddings.
I’d like to see Atlas or Athearn or BLI make a glow in the dark Turbo Train that can run up and down a verticle wall!!
Beyond the scale speed of sound!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U63hHDbw_E8
And it even came with a Dare Devil jump!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YngIuQoBRIs
And just who DIDN’T want a Choo Choo!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKHHnNT7h8I
Come on! THOSE were COOL!!![8D]
I feel that TYCO had some very nice HO toy train freight cars in the 1960’s and 1970’s such as the silver Virginian (NS) quad hopper and the green Western Maryland (CSX) skid flatcar with pipes or tractors, but their HO Chattanooga 2-8-0 steam locomotive does not match or come close to any prototype paint schemes. I also feel that the TYCO locomotives are not as good of quality to operate such as those made by Athearn or Walthers.
A cheap, small Tyco train set that I bought for my son 30 years ago started me off in the Hobby. After the hook was set, I moved on to more expensive stuff.
I still have the engine and it still brings a smile to my face.
TYCOs offerings were just another phase of model railroading, the locos didn’t run particularly well, but that was the ‘‘phase’’ the hobby was in, can anybody say that the Athearn rubber band drive locos were superb runners? nope. So although Athearn might have been superior to TYCO, it wasn’t always so wonderful.
I have a couple TYCO locos that run ok, but I did a lot of tweaking and cleaning, they don’t run as well as a Spectrum or a new Athearn for sure, but for their time theres nothing wrong with them.
The TYCO buildings and rolling stock are still very good, even by todays standards. The building kit molds and freight car molds are still in use and are great sellers, and if you want to go with super detail, they provide a good starting point.
The people who ‘‘hate’’ TYCO generally hate anything thats considered ‘‘low priced’’, to them spending a small fortune on something is a badge of honor and provides what they consider ‘‘bragging rights’’, thats fine, if you have the money to spend on high priced stuff, by all means go for it!
I don’t particularly care for TYCO locos, too much time needed for maintenance and tweaking. I do, however, like the building kits and some of the rolling stock. I have heard a lot of talk about ‘‘old’’ equipment, TYCO, Bachmann,Athearn,Mantua and Life-Like, they all had problems, but so do a goodly amount of these new models out, bad decoders,motors that seize up after a few hours, bad wiring, what will people say 20 or 30 yrs from now about that ‘‘junk’’ they had in
I remember in days of youth laying two lengths of parallel track about 30 feet in length and drag racing my Athearn rubber band engines with the shells off, of course. Man those things would haul a–! But I have fond memories of 60’s era Tyco. On rare occasions I briefly run my Tyco F9 that I received Christmas morning of 1962. By the way, a scale model locomotive is a TOY, maybe a rich man’s toy, but still a toy ( unless you get paid to run it ).
so I guess if another manufacturer messed up, they would have “pulled a tyco”?
[quote user=“Railphotog”]
Babe,
I’ve got to differ with you on that last statement. Here’s the Mirriam-Webster Definition of toy:
1 obsolete a**:** flirtatious or seductive behavior b**:** pastime; also : a sportive or amusing act : antic 2 a**:** something (as a preoccupation) that is paltry or trifling b**:** a literary or musical trifle or diversion c**:** trinket bauble 3**:** something for a child to play with 4**:** something diminutive; especially : a diminutive animal (as of a small breed or variety) 5**:** something that can be toyed with 6 Scottish : a headdress of linen or woolen hanging down over the shoulders and formerly worn by old women of the lower classes
I’m not insulted when someone refers to our hobby with such references (sticks and stones…), but for us to refer to our fairly sophisticated models as toys is really inappropriate and inaccurate. Since TYCO products fit #3 fairly well, I’d say the definition is correct for TYCO; it does not fit my brass locos or hand built wooden structures.
Back to the topic. TYCO products were what they were. They are no longer manufactured, I presume that’
My first scale trains were a Tyco set in 1969 or 70. It had a GP-20 loco with a power truck that looked a lot like the later PFM “Spud” (if anyone remembers those). Probably didn’t run nearly as well as the Spud, but it did OK for a 15 YO new to the hobby. In fact, I still have that power truck! It sits in my junk box. Maybe I’ll try to fire it up and see what happens!! The rest of the loco is long gone, though.
(I traded my old early 60s-era Lionel plastic set, and my dad’s WWII vintage Lionel set, for the Tyco set. The guy I traded it to knew he was ripping me off big time in terms of relative dollar value, I think, but I didn’t know that at the time, and in terms of what that scale beginning has done for me throughout my life, it was an OK deal. Still, he could have been decent about it and made a fair trade… but I digress).
I think the loco was a Santa Fe, but I might be wrong about that. I remember I wanted to have my own freelanced paint scheme, so I spray painted the shell this godawful mint green color, from a hardware store-purchased can (i.e., not hobby paint)! Barely any detail left to be seen (and there few enough to start with!). But it was mine, and I had a LOT of fun with it.
When I got my first Athearn a couple of years later, the Tyco became a relic that almost never ran again. Whatever happened to the shell I don’t remember - probably threw it out when I left the hobby (and sold nearly everything) for a time in college.
I forgot how much I enjoyed that old clunky-running Tyco. Maybe I don’t really dislike them as much as I’ve come to think I do!