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aaskas
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 Posted - March 15 2010 : 10:47:05 PM
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Hi everyone,
My name is Kevin and I have been lurking around the site for a month or so. Finally decided it was time to introduce myself. I received my first train set for Christmas back in '74, TYCO's Spirit of 76 figure 8. It had the old style drive, not the PT drive. It ran like a 100mph! A couple years later I got TYCOs layout expander set. I had all the track down, but was missing most of the buildings, the piggyback loader and other miscellanous lights. Bought 630 Chessie Sys 'cause it looked cool. Ran like a piece of sh**! LOL. Bought an Atlas Roco SD45 in 77 or 78, what a beast! Then girls, trucks, college etc put the set on the back burner. I packed the set away sometime during high school years. Mom and Dad moved from the farm in 1986 and it was moved and packed away in their new home. I moved away after college and was single, so I decided several years later to get the set out and start rebuilding it. This was '97. I completely tore it down and removed the green mat because it was faded bad. I put cork roadbed down because I thought that would look nice. I was also buying other stuff because I planned on building another layout. Didn't even have my old one done!! Plans in head much bigger than what I got done. Then I moved back to my home area and train set was packed away again. This was in '98.
So, last month I dug out all the boxes and started lookin' on ebay. WOW! There are items on there that I needed to complete my set and then some. Now I have ebayist and having trouble curing it. LOL! Hopefully I don't lose interest and have to pack it back up.
I will try to post a few pictures of some of my diesels and the layout itself. Not much to it as of now.
This was my original Sof76. Switcher is a junk one off ebay. Atlas SF is latest from ebay.
My original Chessie. Atlas in box is my original. Have Bought 3 or 4 more from ebay in last month.
Here the layout
Thought if I threw the book on the layout it would complete itself!! LOL
Thanks for a nice forum!
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!!
Kevin
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Posted - March 16 2010 : 12:38:24 AM
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Welcome Kevin!
Seems to be a lot of stories behind the old Tyco trains! I put my trains away in 1978 not long after I got my drivers license. I never forgot my old layout memories. 22 years later I found ebay.... and the bidding never stopped...
Walt
Luck, usually comes dressed in work clothes...
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Posted - March 16 2010 : 01:28:32 AM
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KEVIN - WELCOME ABOARD!!!!!!! GREAT INTRO!! EBAY IS A GO0LD MINE AT THIS TIME DUE TO THE BAD ECONOMY FOR FINDING THOSE OLD TYCO ITEMS - I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF STUFF IN LAST FEW MONTHS THAT NORMALLY DON'T SHOW UP ON EBAY AT GOOD PRICES. I TRACK TYCO LISTINGS DAILY - THERE ARE NORMALLY 20 -27 PAGES PER WEEK OF TYCO - WHEN I LOOKED ON SUNDAY 3-14-10 THERE WERE 41 PAGES! NORMALLY DON'T SEE THOSE NUMBERS UNTIL AROUND CHRISTMAS TIME - GOOD LUCK ON PURCHASING THOSE ITEMS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR
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Posted - March 16 2010 : 07:35:00 AM
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Hi Kevin,
I had a similar timeline as you! Packed the trains away in high school in favor of girls and cars. I remember as a kid studying the picture of that layout expander and dreaming that someday I would have a layout as cool as that! Now I'm hooked on eBay, too!
Mark
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aaskas
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 Posted - March 16 2010 : 07:55:07 AM
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Before I get corrected by everyone, my Atlas is a SD24, not SD45. Don't know where that came from??
Thanks Walt, I've been into many different "things" over the years, toy tractor collecting, pulling trucks and tractors, 4wd mud running, matchboxes, but my trains always seem to stay around! Still have my toy tractor collection too. Maybe this time I will get my 4x8 close to the expander set picture!
Brian, I want to thank you personally for all your info on the site. You video on the Sof76 was a nice piece. Hope to see more.
About ebay, if I can stay off items I already have and ones that I don't need, I might not go broke! But dang!, there's a lot of nice TYCO stuff on there now and you might need two of everything for back up!! LOL!!
I'm going to try the flea market thing this spring and summer to see if I can get some "finds"! Was never much into the flea market scene, thought it was mostly other peoples junk, but have heard different stories of good train finds. I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes. I probably enjoy the rush of the "find" or being the "winning bidder" as much as I enjoy actually building the layout.
Still trying to nab that Super Spirit of 76 Loco, but having a hard time dropping fifty bucks for one. I'll get one yet, watching a couple now.
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!!
Kevin
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aaskas
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Posted - March 16 2010 : 08:04:02 AM
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Thanks Mark.
That is my goal, to get my layout as close to the picture as possible. In the last month I have bot all the buildings except the church and ranch house. I'm currently bidding on the light towers. Hope they don't go too out of site! Picked up a piggyback unloader, but it didn't work too well and was missing trailer and flatcar. I worked on it and got the tractor to move back and forth, but can't get fork motor to work. So I got another one. It was super nice! All items were still in the box with the plastic cover over them. Motors were stuck, but with a little oil and work, I was able to get it to work!
The only peice I regret not purchasing back in the day was the mat that has the roads and roadbed already on it. I think it was $ 18.00 in my one '74 catalog! This is one item I have not seen on ebay.
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!!
Kevin
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aaskas
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Posted - March 16 2010 : 09:31:55 AM
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I also need to thank Tony Cook for his TYCO resource site. That is how I found the forum. Thanks Tony!
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!!
Kevin
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Posted - March 16 2010 : 6:28:00 PM
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| Thank You for the Compliments- Greatly appreciated. I have many Tyco video projects on my agenda and getting around to them since i am on a rotating lay-off of 3weeks at a time. I have fun making the videos - if you can't have fun -no matter what you do - then you shouldn't do it. I do have proto types - just no videos of them. Also documenting The Tyco so future railroaders can have some kind of info on it as well as all of us now. I drifted away from Tyco once i learned of better Ho available - but TYco is what got me into model railroading. When i got my first computer in 1999 - first thing i did was go to Ebay searching to see what Tyco was on there - not much back then - but that didn't take long to change.
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Posted - March 16 2010 : 9:30:13 PM
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Ha ha! I guess I won't bid on that Tyco light tower then! I've been watching it. They usually go very high! For me, at least. I do know that there is another company, NJ something, that has made those floodlight towers and they look IDENTICAL to the Tyco ones. I bought a 2-spotlight tower on eBay a month or so ago that went for less than $6. It was in the package brand-new, and works great, and you can't tell the difference. I see them on eBay more than the Tyco ones. I've seen those Tyco 4-spotlight towers go for close to $100!!!
Hope to see a photo of your completed platform someday! Good luck with that tower!
Mark
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aaskas
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Posted - March 17 2010 : 08:03:25 AM
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Sorry Mark. I wasn't quite so lucky on the 3 junk tower lights! I won them, but at a PRICE. Hopefully I can salvage at least two of the three. That was a good buy on the one you nabbed!
Do you know if Model Power makes a similar light tower? There is one on ebay at a buy it now price of $ 23.99 that looks as if its in their (Model Power) packaging. It looks very similar to the old TYCO 2 light tower. Don't want to spend more than I need just because it says TYCO!
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!!
Kevin
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Posted - March 17 2010 : 1:28:27 PM
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I think several companies had the same exact light towers. Like I said, the one I bought was identical, but I think I got it so cheap because it wasn't in an unopened Tyco thing.
I think the tower I was watching is not the one you bought! I thought it was because the bidders initials were K something. When I last looked it was under $10. It is a 4-light tower. Check it out.
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aaskas
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Posted - March 17 2010 : 10:00:44 PM
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Thanks Mark!
Found a couple light towers not in boxes. Will watch them.
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!!
Kevin
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aaskas
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Posted - January 20 2011 : 4:54:17 PM
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Hi everyone. Been away from the site for a while, but back into my trains again! Well, one reason is we moved last summer, so I had to pack the old set all back up right after I just got it out of storage! The new home we moved to is my dad's and it is much smaller than our old place, so not as much room for Kevin's train set!!
I finally got a small area in our little basement roped off as "Kevin's area!!!!"  Now just need too bring the trains back out of storage!! 
Hopefully will stay into it and not get sidetracked this time! Weather and time have a lot to do with getting me sidetracked too.
I bought so much stuff on Ebay last year that now I can't remember what I got and what I need
Will try to get more pictures after I get the table setup and some track laid and trains running etc etc......
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!!
Kevin
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Posted - January 20 2011 : 6:48:44 PM
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@ sidetracked Hehe Looks like you have quite a few trains there aside Tyco But it's all good We love all & any manufacture of HO trains Dead, merged or existing
Watch for my Dumpster-Cam
If you have any questions Feel free to ask us  & welcome to the forum
Edited by - microbusss on January 20 2011 6:50:09 PM
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aaskas
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Posted - January 20 2011 : 9:26:49 PM
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Thanks MB. Only a half dozen or so Atlas locos, rest all Tycos.
He who dies with the most toys, WINS!!
Kevin
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Posted - January 22 2011 : 3:59:15 PM
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| Hmmm...somehow I missed you as a new member. Welcome to the board, better late than never. That layout looks great.
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Posted - January 22 2011 : 7:34:22 PM
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| looks great,i too had my trains stored away now im replacing the ones i destroyed as a kid that were my dads. I got a 64 falcon i play with in summer and trains in winter.
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Posted - January 27 2011 : 4:32:55 PM
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Glad you're back too, a few people returning this month. That's great.
You and I have a couple of things in common right now too. I just got some space dedicated to me, very happy about that, finally it's time to get reorganized and start building. I think I'm going to find things I didn't realize I had too. That's always a good thing.
Welcome back again.
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