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Angus
Switcher
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 Posted - February 05 2007 : 9:42:55 PM
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Guys, when did Tyco start selling the "Tru Steel" track? And, this may be a dumb question, but is it, in fact, steel as opposed to the brass older track?
I've been kicking around an idea to build an all-Tyco layout, including the track. I'm thinking I want to use the Tru Steel track. Related question - did switches and crossovers in Tru Steel also get made?
Chris
Kansas City
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Posted - February 05 2007 : 10:40:34 PM
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 on the all tyco layout- i would use nickel silver on the track for trouble free operation. tyco did make electric switches-crossovers-no-they made a 90 degree for figure 8's. Tru-Steele track came out in the mid 70's. Tyco also made 3 ft flex track as my friend had it when we were growing up. The local drug store in our town was a tyco dealer.
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Posted - February 06 2007 : 12:22:05 PM
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TYCO introduces Tru-Steel Track with the 1978 catalog. Though there are some items available in brass and not in steel, in general everything did make the switch. TYCO also switched over many accessories to steel. For example, later example crossing gates will feature a 9" section of steel track and not the original brass.
This page in my site has the Tru-Steel offerings in the first column, the older brass items are in the right side column.
http://tycotrain.tripod.com/tycotrains/id73.html
Tony Cook
HO-Scale Trains Resource
http://ho-scaletrains.net
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Angus
Switcher
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Posted - February 06 2007 : 8:54:50 PM
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Thanks, Tony - I missed that on your site.
Chris
Kansas City
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Posted - February 06 2007 : 9:39:43 PM
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For my money, the Tru-Steel was SOOO much better than brass. It got dirty quickly, but was easy to clean and looked pretty good to. In my experience, once brass turned, it was shot. And never looked right to boot.
I'd imagine Tyco's switch to steel was also bron of economy, since the slot-car tracks were always steel (to
Of course, nickel-silver trumps them all....
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Posted - February 07 2007 : 03:26:35 AM
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I agree on the nickle-silver...
But, I would also go for TYCO True-steel over any Bachmann track from the same production years. I found that they were closest to the uniformity of that of Atlas track, albeit Atlas went from brass to nickle-silver.
Also, be aware that the older Track Cleaning liquids made the ties brittle. Use the track cleaning erasure or one of those newer track cleaning cars.
I own an old Lionel Track cleaning drop-belly flat car with those emery stones... I later found out that it did more than clean the track...[V] [Oops!] [B)] it also made tiny grooves in the track.
I'd like to add a question...
Does anyone here use a very light oil to clean track/electrical pick-ups on locomotives?
Or should I raise that question in a New Topic?
John
I don't have a one track mind. It depends on the turn-out.
"I love your catenary!"
Is that a power-trip or just another pick-up line?
Edited by - zebrails on February 07 2007 03:28:07 AM
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Posted - February 10 2007 : 10:30:02 PM
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Does anyone here use a very light oil to clean track/electrical pick-ups on locomotives?
Or should I raise that question in a New Topic?
John
Originally posted by zebrails - February 07 2007 : 02:26:35 AM
[/quote]
you can use Goo Gone to clean crud off wheels and track. This stuff works great. It also has a orange scent. Another product is called Rail Zip. It works great to
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Posted - February 10 2007 : 10:55:42 PM
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Just for grins and giggles, on my O scale display layout, I put 2 small drops, one per rail, of Labelle 108 (I think) on the inner loop.
(BTW it's 2 rail)
It was driving me nuts, every lap, the Weaver RS-3 with NWSL wheelsets would stall (at the hardest place to reach) and requies a push to get re-started.
I figured that the problem couldn't get worse.
Cleared right up!
Ran for another 2 weeks (at 4 to 8 hours, 3 days a week) without even a stutter.
I have never tried it on HO, but, I'm going to now.
My only concern is any possable reaction with the plastic tie strips over time.
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