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 Posted - December 29 2009 : 7:21:55 PM
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Hello all,
I have a tyco expander set from the 70's a two loop operation mounted on plywood. I found it after about 25 years in my parents basement me and the kids are cleaning it up. I was looking for some info on the web and found you site.
I replaced a couple wires that had broke and I get power but only on near the track with the power connection. I did use a solid core wire rather that stranded will the resistance difference drain power?
Any tip on restarting a long unused system would be appreciated.
Thanks
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Posted - December 29 2009 : 8:40:31 PM
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Welcome...
No doubt that after 25 years in a basement, the track is badly corroded and you're going to have to pull the track apart section by section and clean every joint and joiner in there with a small wire brush. Once cleaned, go ahead and solder most but not all the joints (for expansion and contraction due to temp and humidity) and add feeders every few feet to carry power around the layout. Hope that helps.
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Posted - December 29 2009 : 11:26:49 PM
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yep, what he said. your track might be better off being replaced with new nickel silver track.
what kind of mopar you got? i'm working on a 2 door hard top 1965 belvedere II pro street with a 451 stroker.
jerry
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Posted - December 30 2009 : 12:19:15 AM
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quote:yep, what he said. your track might be better off being replaced with new nickel silver track.
what kind of mopar you got? i'm working on a 2 door hard top 1965 belvedere II pro street with a 451 stroker.
Originally posted by smokie-December 29 2009: 11:26:49 PM
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Welcome, I caught the Mopar reference also. I once owned and drag raced a 1964 Dodge 330 with a '69 440 engine. Those were the days...
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Posted - December 30 2009 : 12:27:29 AM
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Well, depending on how the track has been mounted to the plywood, you may want to consider replacing the track if it is badly corroded.
Most of the time you can clean it, but getting the rails shiny and new can be a real heck of a job.
You should check the wheels on the locomotive as well. I've never seen corroded wheels, but they can get dirty from regular use. 
Man there are a lot of car guys on this forum. That's certainly not a bad thing though!
    
- Matt -
Edited by - MM 1498 on December 30 2009 12:28:35 AM
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Posted - December 30 2009 : 03:23:16 AM
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When we pulled my friend's old layout back into service after a 20+ year hiatus, we were faced with the same problems. If I could go back in time I would probably tell us to just build something new  Between large sections of old brass track. And the fact the track was layed on bare homosote with no roadbed. Things get tough when we are running sometimes.
BUT, not to said things can't be done with it! Cleaning the rail heads and checking all you connections for corrosion should be priority. As Smokie said if you have to replace track, make the jump to nickel silver. And as Shaygetz said adding another set of track feeders will help things out also. We are looking into doing the same thing shortly with our layout to overcome some of the bad sections.
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Posted - December 30 2009 : 1:12:05 PM
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quote:yep, what he said. your track might be better off being replaced with new nickel silver track.
what kind of mopar you got? i'm working on a 2 door hard top 1965 belvedere II pro street with a 451 stroker.
Originally posted by smokie-December 29 2009: 11:26:49 PM
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Hey Jerry and Mike,
I have a 69 coronet with a 318 have a rebuilt 413 to put in it. Also have a 73 road runner with a 440 body and interior still need to be done on that one.
Belevedre and the old 300's were great cars.
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Posted - December 30 2009 : 1:18:17 PM
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quote:When we pulled my friend's old layout back into service after a 20+ year hiatus, we were faced with the same problems. If I could go back in time I would probably tell us to just build something new Between large sections of old brass track. And the fact the track was layed on bare homosote with no roadbed. Things get tough when we are running sometimes.
BUT, not to said things can't be done with it! Cleaning the rail heads and checking all you connections for corrosion should be priority. As Smokie said if you have to replace track, make the jump to nickel silver. And as Shaygetz said adding another set of track feeders will help things out also. We are looking into doing the same thing shortly with our layout to overcome some of the bad sections.
Originally posted by ChrisC-December 30 2009: 03:23:16 AM
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Thanks for the tips guys I was afraid of that I was hoping to just get it running for the kids to mess with looks like I have a little work to do.
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Posted - December 30 2009 : 5:35:21 PM
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Of course you just said it was two loops that you wanted to get going again for your kids right? Heck you might be able to just get away with cleaning the rails & connecting the power. If that fails start following the advice in this thread
The layout we dug out had a fairly long mainline, lots of switches to run over, etc. So getting it back to normal took quite a bit of work.
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Posted - December 30 2009 : 6:08:51 PM
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quote:Of course you just said it was two loops that you wanted to get going again for your kids right? Heck you might be able to just get away with cleaning the rails & connecting the power. If that fails start following the advice in this thread
The layout we dug out had a fairly long mainline, lots of switches to run over, etc. So getting it back to normal took quite a bit of work.
Originally posted by ChrisC-December 30 2009: 5:35:21 PM
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Yes I figure I try some incremental clean up see if I get lucky and if it sparks more interested the kids are excited about it.
I have been reading about a lot of problems with the Tyco systems, I built this one when I was about 12 and beat on it pretty good like a kid does drive fast, run over stuff, mine always ran great.
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Posted - December 30 2009 : 7:04:02 PM
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What great screen name. I used to have a 1969 Coronet Superbee. 383 , 4 speed , and for several years I had a 413 in it.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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Posted - January 01 2010 : 11:54:48 AM
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quote:What great screen name. I used to have a 1969 Coronet Superbee. 383 , 4 speed , and for several years I had a 413 in it.
Originally posted by NC shortlines-December 30 2009: 7:04:02 PM
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Thanks I love the old Mopars..
Like the sig, 20 hrs late!
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