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 Posted - January 10 2007 : 12:45:27 PM
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Hi all you Tycophylliacs
I have been messing with my Baldwin Shark collection, all purchased cheap, and have come up with these observations. It seems that 50% of my sharks have serious power torque issues, yet of these that do the bodies are in great shape with no impacts and fresh paint which tells me they all suffered early failure and were shelved. The problems are the main gear has spun or are missing from the shaft. I was wondering if the sharks had a quality control issue, as this seemed a high failure rate. On closer inspection and disassembly of the entire PT engine I discovered that all of them had Foreign Object Damage (FOD) behind the drive gears. This material was string and lint, which was so numerous and tightly wound it appeared and acted as fiber washers that no doubt strained the driven metal gear causing it to fail on the motor shaft. So I assume that these Baldwin units are “Christmas Sharks” given on that joyful day and promptly driven herd on the carpet until early failure set in, as all of them are Rock Island, BN, and my favorite The Midnight Special. These road names being the most numerous produced in RTR sets and distributed as gifts.
I was also thinking it would have been cool if Tyco made a “Soul Train” Shark to reach out to the African American aspect of American society. Man I can see it in Rasta colors, Red, Yellow, and Green with “Soul Train” in dramatic print on the side and the engine number being an appropriate number “420”. Yeah when it eventually smoked up it would be hard to tell if the brushes were burning or the model train crew were just on break, ha ha! I think it would be great to model a “what if” Tyco prototype of possible song titled road names for 1970s era target audiences. Just think of a “Peace Train” shark for Hippie kids complete with a peace symbol on the front, or maybe Johnny Cash, “I walk the Line” scheme for serious redneck kids. I can’t imagine what that would look like. You all got any other song title that would make an interesting road name
But seriously I used superglue on the metal drive gear and it seems to work but some of my Sharks have a high-pitched squeal until after running awhile, then the sound goes away. Its not for lack of lubrication so I don’t know what’s going on when the PT is screaming like so. Let me know what ya all think about that.
Cheers
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Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
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Posted - January 10 2007 : 1:28:53 PM
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WOW! What that ozone-smell of TYCO PowerTorque motors can do to brain cells!!! [:D]
Great Ideas! Think I wanna do the "Peace Train" myself. Psychodelic with that Malibu Int'l 1/87 VW MicroBus on a flat car or maybe 6 of 'em on an AutoLoader!!! Too Cool
Tony Cook
HO-Scale Trains Resource
http://ho-scaletrains.net
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Posted - January 10 2007 : 1:40:28 PM
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Hey y'all...this is Don Cornelius...comin atcha wit the smoove sounds of da Commodores...[:D]
"Cuz I'm easy....Easy like Sunday moooooorrrrrrrr-ninnnnn....doom...doom..da-doom...crash.....Why in the world would anybody put chains on me..." [:D]
Damn fine idea. I'm getting out my best pair of ball cutters and roach-killers, splashin' on a generous amount of Brut (by Fabrege), and unbuttoning the first 6 buttons on my silk shirt...and letting my 24k gold lion head medallion shine through my mat of unruly chest hair. GIT DOWN!!!
Boogie down...all you jive turkeys!!! [:D]
Damn this is some GOOD coffee this morning...LOL... [:p]
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 Posted - January 10 2007 : 1:42:45 PM
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Seriously...I have a Chatt Consolidation on eBay right now...because it reminds me of Deliverance every time I put it on the track...
"Squeal like a pig for me!!!" [:0]
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Posted - January 10 2007 : 7:03:12 PM
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Ha Thats pretty Funny!
So for the Peace Train Shark I could figure a Ty-Dy paint scheme with Groovey lettering and a significant number, hmmm, what do all ya suggest.
This could be a contest, determining a potential "what if" tyco promotion, maybe a Grundge shark lettered "Teen Spirit"
Edited by - Trans-Slam on January 10 2007 7:05:36 PM
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Posted - January 10 2007 : 9:10:06 PM
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I think it would be cool to paint a shark yellow and paint black circles on it to make it look like swiss cheez...that would be sweet! Or how about a hotrod shark...black with orange/red flames, a spoiler and giant exaust pipes sticking out the side!!!
-cheez
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Posted - January 11 2007 : 11:04:15 AM
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| ZEBRA STRIPED!
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Posted - January 11 2007 : 3:31:27 PM
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| Make one look like a monster truck!!! Enlarged trucks, lights on the roof, mud splattered along the side!
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