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 Posted - October 30 2007 : 9:14:52 PM
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Just thought I would jump in and introduce myself. I am a long time train enthusiast living in the state of Massachusetts. My screen name is a tribute to my favorite breed of dog....of which I own two....actually they own me and rule the roost here.
Besides being an avid model train buff, I also enjoy fishkeeping (actually this is my career), as well as traveling, avaition, nature, and taking in a good baseball game once in a while.
For model trains, I have both HO and N scale. What drew me to this site was the Tyco trains. Yes, I have my share of Katos and Atlas stuff....but something about seeing an old Baldwin Shark in "Midnight Special" markings rumbling along the tracks is just really cool. Years ago...many many years ago in 1975 at the age of 6 years I begged Santa for a Tyco train set. I had been infatuated by trains as a toddler...loving the site of the long freights rolling through our town, and seeing all those shiny cool trains in the boxes at the Grants Department Store just made me long for a train set. I didn't care what set it was...as long as I got a train!
Soooo...early that Christmas Morning in 1975, I discovered that Santa Claus had delivered! Under the tree was a "set" that he had put together.
No box set, just alot of different items made into one. The locomotive was a Tyco Santa Fe F9A, and rolling beind it were two Tyco 40 foot box cars with doors that opened...one Burlington, and one Penn Central, a Texaco tank car also made by Tyco, an AHM Santa Fe box car, three AHM cattle cars, and an Athearn Rio Grande Caboose! Quite a train to get started with! In addition, "Santa" left a large oval of track and several buildings. I was on my way in the world of model railroading.
Over the years I have built several layouts...and am currently building both a new HO and a new N scale. Over the years some of the progresses in the hobby have been amazing. But a few weeks ago while wandering through a yard sale, I came across an old Tyco box....with that "Midnight Special" Shark inside....the engine I always wanted as a kid but could never get. The owner of the loco told me that he had bought it years ago but had hardly ran it as it seemed to "run stiff". I paid him the $5.00 he asked for...and that included an old Santa Fe Caboose and went back home. Upon removing the engine from the box, I discovered it to be pretty much in mint condition! As good as those engines at the Grants store way back when! Now came the test...how would it run on my fully ballasted code 83 tracked layout? After a dab of oil and and some loosening of the front truck....the Shark was humming as strong as my Katos! A quick replacement of the back coupler with an E-Z mate knuckle coupler (to haul some modern Atlas box cars) has warranted me with a blast from the past and a bit of charm on my layout! Got my Midnight Special Shark after over 30 years. In any rate, with any luck, I am hoping to get a big ol' Chessie Alco 630 in my hands soon. Funny how in this day of modern and prototypical operations on a model railroad, the old Tyco still has a place!
Thanks for letting me ramble on!
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Country:  USA ~
Posts: 67 ~
Member Since: October 30 2007 ~
Last Visit: November 03 2013
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Posted - October 30 2007 : 10:48:53 PM
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Funny how that happens, isn't it? I spent the better part of the last decade pursuing more "top-shelf" stuff, and enjoyed it... but had no idea what sort of pandora's box I would open when I rediscovered those old Tyco Piggybacks. They may be terrible on some levels, but they have their honored place for sure. I find that I enjoy train shows even more now, that I can hunt for silly stuff and usually come away with "more for less" too.
Anyway, welcome aboard and enjoy your newfound affliction...
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Country: USA ~
Posts: 2175 ~
Member Since: July 15 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 31 2010
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Posted - October 31 2007 : 12:41:55 AM
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| Welcome to the insanity of Tyco fandom[:D]
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