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 Posted - February 27 2016 : 8:46:00 PM
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Hi, my name is Howard; I am new to this type socializing and hope to get suggestions and help.
After years of procrastinating and dreaming, I pulled out what I could find of my stored and battered up trains. Many are TYCO F9A's and C430's & SW1500's with calf; some Athearn (I think are E7's, Bachmann (I think this is also an E7), AHM (Tempo) Fairbanks CFA16, and just acquired off of eBay, 2 ALCO C430 by Model Power ( MRC) from Yugoslavia (front and rear pilots are not up to par (should have gone to the local train show to buy). My older loco shells are pretty much battered up and broken and I am in the process of restoring them but the C430's parts are difficult if not impossible to find. I may need to kit bash these into a different loco.
After reading NF210's moving introduction, it took me back to my two boys and the fun they had. Then, I began thinking about my neighbor's autistic son, and brought my SW1500 and put it on a test track, and Aaron lit up with excitement, this feed my desire to get back into the hobby.
It has been over 40 years since I last ran the locos, and have cleaned and oiled them all. A few need to be re powered; now I see that DCC is the popular operating choice for many but, too expensive for me. Although it may just be what is needed when he is having a bad day (I think I have figured out how to somewhat child proof the layout and keep it interesting and a learning experience for him and his 7 year old sister). I plan to start small with a modular, expandable layout. I welcome all suggestions and hope my questions are not too vague. I will post pictures tomorrow of what I'm looking to repair and my rooster.
Howard L. Bean
skype: papahandgrandmar
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Posted - February 27 2016 : 9:13:59 PM
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Hi, Howard. DCC isn't for everyone, I run it in a social / club environment, but for home model training, DC is still fine and dandy. Not everyone needs to run multiple trains at once! One train at a time can be hectic as well. The extra expense is not really necessary to enjoy model trains. Many new ones come with sound as well, they're a joy to hear and operate, but again, for play purposes, the old cheap vintage ones are fine. No point in an Autistic child destroing a $200+ DCC engine for play value.  Old and vintage are good starting points in reviving your modeling interests.
Glad to hear you're reviving old engines , they deserve a 2nd chance. Sometimes you just have to buy parts engines to repair some, as Tyco vintage parts are rarely if ever available, or reproduced. Some gears for the PT motor ( upright one ) are available now. Cleaning and lubing are essential for older engines, after sitting many years, as you've found out. Cleaning the old brass wheels is critical, too, brass oxidation is a conductivity killer, so shiny is always better. Brass track is out these days, nickel silver is better, the oxidation conducts, so they're not as cleaning intensive. Bachmann EZ track in gray is a good re-start track, but if you have so much brass you don't want to buy new, just remember you'll need to clean it often, and polish the top to remove the oxidation.
All that said,welcome <back> to model railroading, hopefully we can make your re-entry into this world fun and worthwhile. And hopefully you'll keep it up, too.
Jerry, train repair tech, VA, USA
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - February 28 2016 : 5:09:55 PM
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Thanks for the info., DC will be the choice for power; I just purchased some nickle silver flex track and planning the layout for the kids next door. I will give the the E7A and the F9a when I finish restoring to running shape. I plan lots of areas for derailing due to over speeding on turns and plan to ad a circuit that will automatically slow the trains in certain areas. Thanks to YouTube, I am taking the chassis from a severely damaged engine and making a track cleaning car. Everywhere I can, I will be replacing the wheels with new ones, especially the rolling stock. The locos may be a problem and elbow grease will be the method of cleaning.
My home layout will utilize the other 9 engines.
Howard L. Bean
skype: papahandgrandmar
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Posted - February 28 2016 : 7:17:36 PM
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besides you can find DC cheap since most want DCC
but I really can't picture paying $500++ or so for ONE loco! 
rather spend the $500 on used or unwanted trains 
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Posted - February 29 2016 : 2:54:43 PM
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quote:Hi, my name is Howard; I am new to this type socializing and hope to get suggestions and help.
After years of procrastinating and dreaming, I pulled out what I could find of my stored and battered up trains. Many are TYCO F9A's and C430's & SW1500's with calf; some Athearn (I think are E7's, Bachmann (I think this is also an E7), AHM (Tempo) Fairbanks CFA16, and just acquired off of eBay, 2 ALCO C430 by Model Power ( MRC) from Yugoslavia (front and rear pilots are not up to par (should have gone to the local train show to buy). My older loco shells are pretty much battered up and broken and I am in the process of restoring them but the C430's parts are difficult if not impossible to find. I may need to kit bash these into a different loco.
After reading NF210's moving introduction, it took me back to my two boys and the fun they had. Then, I began thinking about my neighbor's autistic son, and brought my SW1500 and put it on a test track, and Aaron lit up with excitement, this feed my desire to get back into the hobby.
It has been over 40 years since I last ran the locos, and have cleaned and oiled them all. A few need to be re powered; now I see that DCC is the popular operating choice for many but, too expensive for me. Although it may just be what is needed when he is having a bad day (I think I have figured out how to somewhat child proof the layout and keep it interesting and a learning experience for him and his 7 year old sister). I plan to start small with a modular, expandable layout. I welcome all suggestions and hope my questions are not too vague. I will post pictures tomorrow of what I'm looking to repair and my rooster.
Originally posted by TrainingBean - February 27 2016 : 8:46:00 PM
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Welcome Howard. I hope you enjoy the forums. You will find that folks here are protty friendly and always willing to lend a helping hand. I got started with Tyco and have since moved to other brands but still frequest this site because of the folks here.
As far as DCC goes, that takes a bit of long term planning. It really isnt as expensive as folks make it out to seam if you do it correctly. you can buy bachmann dcc ready stuff at really good prices. I prefer DCC so I had to think ling and hard as to what engines I would upgrade to dcc given the cost. Sometimes it makes no sense to do so. You are fine with DC and based on what you have, might be the best option. There are plenty of folks who have elected to stay DC.
If you are not having fun, you are not doing it right.
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