Tyco HO Scale Trains

This year we're getting our 6 year old a Melissa and Doug Wooden Train Set for Christmas. I remember getting train sets for Christmas. At first it was a plastic boy-powered train, kind of like the Melissa and Doug set. The first years the engines and cars were brightly colored, then later I got a more "realistic" locomotive - molded in black, just like a REAL locomotive! The year after I got the "realistic" push toy, I got my first real train set - a Tyco set with an 0-4-0 shifter lettered for the Santa Fe. I thought I was in heaven. I don't have that train set any more but I still have the 0-4-0 and most of the freight cars that came with it, along with ALL the memories... Which is the point of this post. If you're tired of the commercialization of Christmas or keeping up with the latest "must have" toys for your kids - that are basically pieces of junk that will break soon - consider a train set. Christmas and train sets go together like cake and ice cream. The joy a train set can give and the memories it can create are real - I know because I still remember the joy of my first train set.

Just picked up an interesting book on eBay, the Tyco Model Railroad Manual. I never realized before, but you can build a pretty extensive HO layout using nothing but Tyco products. I was really surprised at the number of building kits Tyco used to make. A lot of the information in the book can be applied to any model railroad equipment; for Tyco buffs chapter 5 (The Locomotive Factory) goes into pretty good detail on maintaining Tyco steam and diesel locomotives and chapter 9 (Automatic coupling and Switching) has a very interesting discussion on the care and use of horn hook couplers. In fact, after reading that chapter I've decided to use horn hooks on my Tyco layout instead of converting to Kaydees.

The book also has the requisite chapters on painting, weathering, buildings, scenery, etc. Four different track plans are presented, all using (of course) Tyco track. To me, the most interesting is chapter 13 (Structures) which has a lot of information on kitbashing the various Tyco building kits. I think I'm going to be busy on eBay for awhile. Anyway, a very interesting book for Tyco train fans. I paid $20 for mine, probably a little high. I've since seen used copies on Amazon for a low as $5 in "fair" condition. If you lie Tyco trains, this book will be a fun addition to your collection.

I happen to love 4x8 train layouts and I think they're the perfect platform for running your Tyco trains on. I especially like the HO Railroad That Grows. The retro look if you build it all the way through stage 8 is a perfect match for your Tyco trains. A lot of self anointed experts look down on the 4x8 but it's a great platform if you have the room for it. A dirty little secret about an "around the walls" layout that supposedly takes up the same room space as a 4x8 layout is that the "around the walls" layout pretty much rules out using the room for anything besides the model railroad. A 4x8 is easy to move out of the way when you're not using it.

Links:

4x8 layout how to

Yahoo! 4x8 layout discussion group

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who reads this. This year I am most of all thankful for my family and the fact that all of them are in good health. I'm thankful that my parents get to spend so much time with us in Reno, especially as they get older. I'm thankful that both of my children are Christian (and I continue to pray that my wife will come to faith). I'm thankful that my wife and I still both have our jobs. I'm thankful that I live in the USA and I'm thankful for our military.

As far as Tyco Trains, I'm thankful I had the opportunity to start this blog and I'm thankful for a couple of Tyco shifters I was able to pick up. I'm looking forward to building a layout to operate them on next year. It's kind of funny, but I've been into model trains for over 30 years now and this will be my first model railroad layout.

There are lots of good HO scale layout designs around, but not all of them are good choices to run your Tyco trains on. Since Tyco trains use horn-hook couplers, a switching layout really isn't the best choice. A plan that allows for lots of action would be nice, but if you're using track with brass rails you don't want the track plan to be too complicated. If you can find a copy, Track Plans for Sectional Track has lots of good track plans that would make nice layouts to run your Tyco trains on. You can also find many good 4x8 track plans online. When you think about the ideal layout for running and displaying your Tyco trains, it really helps to look at what they really are. To me, Tyco trains are kind of like the American Flyer of HO scale. Like American Flyer, Tyco trains are reasonably well detailed, but they have a toy-like quality (because they're toys:) ). They both use couplers that work well but don't look realistic and aren't well suited to automatic uncoupling. And mostly (and best) both American Flyer and Tyco offered tons of animated accessories.

So, what makes the perfect layout for running your Tyco trains? We want a layout that:

• Provides for lots of action (at least 2rains running at the same time)
• Has enough storage tracks for displaying your Tyco rolling stock
• Has a track plan that is reasonably complicated for visual interest and that "toy like" quality
• Has a track plan that is also simple enough to maintain (especially if your track has brass rails) and give some semblance of realism
• Can be built in stages so it can start simple then grow as time, skills, and money become available
• Is designed for fun instead of "serious" operations

After years of studying every track plan I could get my hands on, the one track plan that meets all these goals is the Great Northern Pacific, a plan that was presented in the book HO Railroad That Grows from Kalmbach Publishing. HO Railroad That Grows is out of print but you can find copies on eBay for around $10. If you don't have a copy of this book it's well worth tracking one down. Besides presenting a layout that is just about perfect for running Tyco trains, this book teaches you how to build a train table, how to modify an existing layout, how to wire a model railroad, and even throws in some scenery techniques. The layout starts as a simple oval with a 2 track yard and eventually grows to have an elevated bridge, 2 reversing loops, and a large fold down yard. If you build it through the final stage, the Great Northern Pacific could easily handle 2 trains running at the same time. In fact if it was equipped with DCC and the return loops were rigged to automatically switch polarity, you could probably have 2 trains running on the main line while you manually switched the industries with a local mixed train, and a second operator could be switching the yard. There are lots of places on the layout to put Tyco operating accessories - the automatic crossing gate, coal loader, and log loader come to mind. As a bonus, a lot of the photos in the book feature Tyco model railroad equipment. With all this going for it, I thing the Great Northern Pacific is the perfect layout for running Tyco trains. What do you think?

Vintage Tyco 0-4-0

When I wrote about Tyco Shifters, I mentioned that the early ones had metal boilers and the later ones had plastic boilers. It turns out that's not the only difference. The early Tyco Shifter boiler has a single sand dome and a steam dome with a round top, while the later ones have two sand domes and a steam dome with a more squared off top. I noticed this after purchasing one of the later ones off of eBay for a cab forward conversion... OOPS. The good news is I went back to eBay and found it's easy to find the early style locomotives for $20 - 45 including shipping. I had my choice of one in nice condition except for chipped up paint that was guaranteed to run well for $20.89 or one that looked brand new for $34.95 (both prices included shipping charges). I decided on the new looking one since it will look nice until I get around to modding it. If I decide it's too nice to hack, I can always get a fixer upper later. I guess the point is these little steam locomotives are easy to find so no sense in paying a high price for one just because you're in a hurry to get one.

Tyco 0-4-0

The Tyco 0-4-0 Shifter locomotive is a great locomotive for getting started with Tyco trains. Early versions of this neat little HO Scale locomotive had cast metal boilers and tenders. My mid-1970's version has a plastic boiler and tender. This little Tyco locomotive is reasonably well detailed from the factory, with a lot of the detail (piping, etc) cast into the body. This gives it a toy-like appearance (esp. to rivet counters) but with my eye sight it really doesn't matter. The Tyco 0-4-0 runs OK out of the box and can be made to run really nicely with a little attention to the mechanism. What really makes this locomotive nice is the fact that you can find them on EBay, in excellent condition, for around $20 (if you're patient:) ). This makes it a good starter locomotive for your Tyco train collection. They are also common enough that you won't have to feel guilty if you decide to modify it.

Most model railroad track now days uses nickle-silver rail because it doesn't oxidize and cause trains to run poorly like brass and steel rail do. Since Tyco trains were made before the use of nickle-silver rail became common, most Tyco train sets came with track that had brass rails. If you're building a model railroad to showcase your Tyco trains, which should you use - brass or nickle-silver?

I really like the brass rail for the nostalgia factor. On a small layout, cleaning the rails to keep the trains running smoothly isn't that big of a deal especially if the layout doesn't have a lot of turnouts.  I'm planning on building a small (4x6) layout with my 5 year old son and I've decided to go with brass rail. I will use nickle silver rail inside the tunnel where it can't be reached for cleaning.