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 Posted - March 07 2016 : 4:12:56 PM
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After years of wanting to build this layout, for no other reason than it is Tyco
and 1970's, I realized that I have plenty enough track lying around to do this
thing. Only modification I am doing is using 1x2's for the legs. The original
manual has this thing about legs using two 1x3's in an "L" configuration, but
I am too lazy for that. The other thing that I am going to modify slightly is
the coal unloading ramp. I can just see the granules flying to the East and to
the West until the layout looks like a sprinkled brownie, that is if I can get
the switcher to actually push it up the ramp. Instead I am going to just leave
it flat and put on some Tyco unloader item when I find one. What comes to mind is putting in a "Tyco" nuclear power plant using this cool vintage
uranium tyco car set I stumbled over (car lettered for "Pennsylvania,"
no doubt a flippant reference to Three Mile Island). The third change is
that I am going to try like Heck to find the Tyco Streetcar Set and install
it inside the smaller oval and build up a cityscape around it. I could build up
something using my bathtub caulk method, but I really want this thing to shout
TYCO.
Years ago, my wife of 24 years was in a Bible study class, and remarked that if
we are created in His image, then it follows that we are mini-creators. Thus it
is that I love the Tyco Forum so much, because every week I get to enjoy all
my "mini-creator" friends as they whip up one invention after another.
Creating stuff. That's what it's about. Whether a loop of track on a card table or a pink
Mikado or a rivet-accurate Tsunami sound E7- I love it all. Me, I'm the guy who can't
draw a crooked line, so beating together this flimsy table is a gas.
Edited by - Chops124 on March 07 2016 4:16:57 PM
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bnsfIA
Big Six
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Posted - March 07 2016 : 5:53:43 PM
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You should make it EXACTLY the same, then put the exact same engines and cars in the exact same places they are in the photo and take a picture
Edited by - bnsfIA on March 07 2016 5:54:04 PM
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 Posted - March 07 2016 : 6:52:51 PM
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Hmmm, the one failing of the Tyco Expander Layout:
No PC !!
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Posted - March 07 2016 : 8:47:29 PM
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I got that book too! 
I has most of the cars & locos
BUT am missing the Comin' Round The Mountain loco 
Anyone got a extra?
Might already have caboose already
Edited by - microbusss on March 07 2016 8:50:15 PM
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Posted - March 08 2016 : 4:14:28 PM
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That sounds like fun! My current layout is partly based off that, but there's an extension to make it a 9x8 L-shaped layout. This year if our family moves to a new house and I can bring my current layout, I may modify the track plan a bit and add that inner loop so I can actually run two trains at the same time (one traveling on the inner loop, as I control another train on the outer track.)
With that said, if you're going to operate DCC trains, the Layout Expander System track plan is perfect for DCC operations, and you don't even have to use the blocking controls, insulated joiners, additional terminal tracks, etc. You can then move one locomotive on one of the sidings a bit as a train rolls along the outer track, instead of just one train at a time! (Though if you want to run an analog locomotive as well on the DCC system, I'd recommend making one of the branch sidings with the terminal connection, gap and Atlas connector, so you can have an isolated siding to park an analog locomotive on and cut the power to, like I did with my layout.
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Posted - March 15 2016 : 6:26:16 PM
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I'm going to keep this pup analog, but have plans to
DCC up my British OO layout. With this one, I pretty
much just intend to go around in circles.
If you find a lead on Tyco trolley track ("Straphanger")
please shoot me a PM.
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Posted - March 17 2016 : 6:36:33 PM
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Tried this new leopard skin felt as roadbed. I rather like it, as it closely approximates
what is used in the original 1972 Tyco Expander Layout.
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Posted - March 28 2016 : 11:35:57 PM
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Chopsticks approves of my choice of roadbed. Here he communes with his cousins.
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Posted - June 30 2016 : 01:12:15 AM
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Finally lurching forward and starting to check equipment compatability and bugs.
Life Like flashing bridge for starters had to be moved as it slaps the overhang of
anything longer than 40 scale feet coming off the 18 inch radius. Then some of the
rail joiners just don't mate well and that is triggers a quick derailment, particularly
with the Tyco stock that isn't renowned for its tracking ability. More weight might
help, perhaps even coring out the trucks a little for a freer spin. Should be a
warning: "Not Recommended for Children Under 55."
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Posted - July 03 2016 : 4:47:37 PM
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In the original TEL, a coal dump ramp is supposed to go here, but I got this
NOS glow-in-the-dark hopper a while back, and someone on the TF double
dog dared me to make a nuclear power plant to go with it. I toyed with the
idea of doing some kind of one dimensional back drop, searched in vain for
a suitable dome, until I found an Easter Egg, then struggled finding a
suitable cooling tower until I stumbled over this glass vase, also at Walmart.
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Posted - July 03 2016 : 8:08:10 PM
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Got the Strap Hanger Set to work, with scratch extensions.
    
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Posted - July 03 2016 : 8:48:19 PM
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| Those extensions are pretty creative Jeff. That trolley system is fun.
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Posted - July 04 2016 : 09:43:15 AM
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| That looks great, Chops! I'm glad to see you got the trolleys working.
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Posted - July 05 2016 : 12:54:10 AM
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Spent today working out bugs and kinks. It's always interesting how
a problem comes up and it appears that the solution is to just chuck
the entire thing and take up stamp collecting, or something. I used
my camera to photograph a particular stretch of track that was
giving me unending derailments, and until I got a photograph of it
I hadn't been able to see the way the rail lifts to the right and the
slight pinch in the turnout. I removed that section and now it runs
perfectly. The turnout was quite vintage, and there was some
rail separation from the plastic ties that was not visible until this
photo showed the pinch.
Some more images of the test runs, and I was so pleased that even my
vintage Life Like Circus Cars held the rails.
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Posted - July 05 2016 : 02:53:41 AM
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Nice pics, Jeff! And look at those table legs!! and the big bolts! Last photo has a neat L-L circus flat car... 
Edited by - walt on July 05 2016 05:01:05 AM
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Posted - July 05 2016 : 2:53:50 PM
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you should do want alot of model railroaders do
put a cloth all around the bottom of the layout
Some go as far as to put their fave railroad on the cloths
or put patches on the cloths
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Posted - July 05 2016 : 7:33:29 PM
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Yeah, Busss, you right. She pretty ugly where she
stands. I'll probably staple on some plastic
table cloths, PC Green when I can get some.
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Posted - July 10 2016 : 5:14:45 PM
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The Tyco Expander Layout is aglow with activity (please, this is merely
for fun, no offense intended to the nuclear power industry, which is
all the more important given Walt's propensity for street lights). This
section was created on a dare from a TF member a while back, when I
was thrilled to get a NIB glow-in-the-dark set for $5. On the original TEL,
this siding was for a coaling trestle.
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Posted - July 11 2016 : 07:36:25 AM
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HA, HA, HA! I love how you have the cattle unloading beside the nuclear ore. I guess the Beef industry figured they could get some free irradiation to kill all bacteria in the meat ( before processing ), save themselves a step. NMO's ( Nuclear Modified Organisms ).
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - August 11 2016 : 01:12:21 AM
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A few recent shots of the Tyco Expander Layout in motion. I have my
stepper machine set up a few yards distant in the garage, and exercise
away as the trains lap the tracks. It helps motivate me to get on the
thing every day. Also, I want my Tyco to get used . Tyco,
like me, gets dusty with lack of use.
Much of what goes into the layout is because it threads back to fond
childhood memories. "Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel" was one
of my favorite books, reincarnated here as "Mike Mulligan and the
Radioactive Steam Shovel." We moved to Massachusetts by North
American Van Lines back in '69. Central of New Jersey was one of
my first encounters with my first actual railfan trip in '75. Penn Central
was the Enron of my youth, and dissuaded me from a railroad
career. And the Rock Island I have simply because I got the unit
for $5 and I already had a free matching caboose and. as mentioned,
a fellow TFer made the refit possible with another freebie- an
undecorated Model Power Shark. And now it really
works. Pulls like a mule and complains not at all.
Edited by - Chops124 on August 11 2016 01:27:15 AM
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Posted - August 11 2016 : 01:19:15 AM
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The Tyco Forum has been a great resource. I have consistently found that
Tyco locomotives and their poorly designed PT motors and flimsy
transmissions fail quickly and often, so as much as I like them, I tend
to avoid them unless I am certain I can refit it somehow. Here, Wildecoupe
generously offered to use his lathe to narrow a New Old Stock Model Power
Shark chassis so that the Tyco shell would fit. He also did this for a
troublesome Midnight Special that resisted all attempts at overhaul.
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Posted - August 11 2016 : 4:00:23 PM
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oh dumb me 
I forgot to say
You needs the Lionel ducking giraffe car for your circus consist
I have one & I discovered that the ducking mech is metal underneath!
So instead of using that silly thing that it came with I'll use a magnet to make it duck
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Posted - August 11 2016 : 5:32:58 PM
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| the magnet is on the giraffe car just have to put a metal piece on the track
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