Bringing this old train set back to life: my first review, be gentle YouTube - Transformers Tyco Train set restoration; review; part 1 - ho scale YouTube - Transformers Tyco Train set restoration; review; part 2 - ho scale
Yeah I saw that thread too....then I saw your post in it....I new you'd be in there sooner or later. I hope you can find the proper stuff to make the buildings for it....if I come across something, I'll be sure to let you know
Mine looks good but it doesn't run. I can't tell if it's the engine or the power supply I tried it on my Silver Streak too...same dilemma.
Take it to a hobby shop to test, and look for rust to remove - fixed mine ho scale trains are huge! Those Tyco's are tough, hope it goes well!
That's a slick job. It's one of those rare oddities, something like Alphie would like. I liked the video though, you did a great job. I was impressed with your camera handling, you were able to more or less follow the train right around the track without losing it. That's something that a lot of people find difficulty with. Anyway, great review and good job on getting it up and running.
Thought I'd share a pic of my set. I have mine on static display since it's not running (nor do I have the space to have it set up.)
Ohhh the memories. I remember my parents buying me this set back in the 80's and man was it fun. Funny thing is I remember pulling it out of the box back them setting it up on the floor and the bloody thing flying off the tracks too. My father then went to Beaver Lumber to pick up one huge peace of flat plywood and glueing the images and installing the tracks to it. Also picked up a couple of folding wood supports so it was off the ground. Hooked it all up and not once ever again did the thing come off the tracks. Fastforward about 10 years later, I regretfully sold it. Fastforward another 10 years and recollecting all my G1 stuff and what did I find, those blue\grey figures and the box and dish for the base part of the train. I will probably pick this sucker up one of these days.
Folks: I've worked on lots of Tyco trains...not this one, but I've worked on the normal switcher, which has the same mechanism. The thing you always need to do is clean the wheels. Put some alcohol on a rag and lay it on the rails, then put the engine on the rails with two wheels on the damp cloth and two on the track to pick up current, then hold it in place while you run it. This cleans the wheels quickly. Alcohol and a rag is also good for cleaning track. Badly tarnished track and wheels can be cleaned first with 600 grit sandpaper, followed by rubbing with 1200 grit crocus cloth. 400 grit might be okay, too, but don't use anything coarser (with lower numbers)! Coarse scratches trap dirt. You may also need to clean the electrical pickup wipers on the back of the wheels, but you probably won't. Other than this, you can check for broken wires, check the motor brushes (which are usually okay), and wipe the old grease off the gears, and replace it with new. Labelle teflon grease is great for this. Use a speck of Labelle oil at any bearings you can reach. Don't remove the motor armature from the motor case. These Tyco magnets are magnetized in place, and will be permanently weakened if you break the flux path, even for a moment. I have been experimenting with the motor magnets, though, replacing some with NdFeB supermagnets, which does wonders for the slow-speed operation and power of these units...but I haven't worked out the mounting details yet. I'll post here when I do. I think I have a thread on this at the Tyco forums. If I don't, I should make one... If you want knuckle couplers, Walthers Scenemaster plastic couplers snap right into the horn-hook pockets, perhaps with a little trimming (sometimes there are little plastic ledges that interfere). Kadee also makes a "Talgo Truck Adapter Kit" designed just for Tyco trains, which takes their no. 27 coupler (IIRC). Kadee couplers work better than the Scenemaster ones, but Scenemaster is usable. The best improvement you can make, assuming the loco is running well, is to use a good-quality DC power pack with them, like the MRC Railpower 1300. Keep the Tycopak for structure lighting. There is actually a Tyco train forum: Forwarding to the Tyco Trains Collector's Forum
Will do. I will see how flattened I got the layout today. Thanks! Thanks for the wealth of information! My goal is to restore this as well as I can! Today I was planning on sanding the track, but I can do the wheels, too. Thanks again, everyone!
OS: Have fun! But watch the grit size! Look at the back of the sandpaper - lower numbers mean coarser grit. I have had good luck with 600 grit paper. Too coarse will make things worse! You might try the burnishing the track (called the "GLEAM" method on the Trains.com forums). First sand with 600 grit paper, then burnish to a shine with a stainless-steel washer, then clean with alcohol. It really helps keep the track clean!
No worries, That is what I'm planning, medium, then light sandpaper, , then scotch brite and alcohol bath, clean rinse and blowdry The better the track condition, the better it will run. My next update (Pt. 3) I will hopefully have the tracks nice and smooth, my point in the first two was to just give the basics to work, just get it running, I plan to do this up, hopefully word gets around and someone can help me get the scans for the paper buildings.
OS: Green Scotchbrite is about 600 grit, according to this chart I found on a bowling site: That should be all right, as long as fuzz doesn't get stuck everywhere. On my own model railroad, which has a lot of cheap secondhand brass and steel track, I used the burnishing method, and it stays pretty clean.
Oh man, I have all the paper buildings (You're not missing much, trust me.) The thing is, I just packed everything up cause I'm both in the process of moving and deploying for 6 months! I wouldn't be able to get you anything till Dec at the earliest. But I'll try to keep you in mind when I get settled back in, see if you still need the scans then!
im crying. my first transformer i had this back in 86. dont know what ever happened to it. (i was 6 at the time)
