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 Posted - March 13 2022 : 9:57:20 PM
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Here are two Tyco locos I recently acquired and worked on.
The first is an all-original MU-2 switcher. It runs nicely and pulls well.
I will post a video of it pulling an 8 or 9 car IHC Penn Central streamliner set.
And dyed in the wool Tyco fans may want to shield their eyes...
Here's an F unit that wanted to have an Athearn soul, so into the workshop it went for its transmigration.
Yep- that's an Athearn!
So I guess its technically a Tycathearn. 
Its original MU-2 is waiting to power this curio found at a train show
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Posted - March 13 2022 : 10:34:47 PM
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OOOOh, ahhhhhh, eeeeeeeee, WONDERFUL! Pray tell,
who made that splendid rail car???
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Posted - March 14 2022 : 12:40:37 AM
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Pretty sure it's an all-Varney Aerotrain that fell into the hands of a hot-rodder! As you can see I paid $6 for it. I call that money well spent! The front truck is an MU-2 but the back is a passenger truck but I'd like them to be paired. And of course in Jade Fog livery!š
Edited by - el rojo grande on March 14 2022 09:18:59 AM
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Posted - March 14 2022 : 10:42:12 AM
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WKS gave me a Varney Aerotrain, but the head end has a squared off stern, not like the boat
tail on yours; maybe a bash?? The rear bogie looks fine to me, and congrats to whoever was
able to wedge and MU2 in there.
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Posted - March 14 2022 : 10:48:24 AM
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I will get some better shots of this thing. I think you are correct that the builder did add the Cadillac fins.
I just remember seeing this on a table and not milisecond passed till the wallet was emptying itself of money for it.
After I strip it back to the plastic I should find a shop to chrome it!
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Posted - March 14 2022 : 11:11:41 AM
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Posted - March 14 2022 : 11:44:32 PM
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Sweeeet vid!!  
Doing the Hustle with a vintage Hustler:
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Posted - March 15 2022 : 04:42:54 AM
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My LOTW is a Mantua (or Tyco, although it says Mantua on the tender, it doesn't have brass bearings like the Mantuas seem to ) Mikado painted in a Santa Fe livery. Just got it at a show recently for $40. Yes, she runs, and quite nicely at that, too, with just some basic maintenance thanks to the venerable Pittman style motor Mantua (and Tyco) supplied in a fair amount of their steamers. Gotta say, quite the looker this old girl is, and even the cowcatcher is intact still, despite how fragile those tend to be. 
-Steve
"A lot of modellers out there who go to these train shows see broken HO stuff and go, 'This is useless' when, in reality, they can still be used for modeling whether it's as a prop on your layout or a cool project to make something old new again."
Edited by - kovacste000 on March 15 2022 04:51:22 AM
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Posted - March 15 2022 : 11:27:44 AM
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That Aerocar is something else! Looks really well done too! The PC Tyco pieces are always a classic.
Chops, how do you find the motor on that rubber-band drive? All my examples seem to run hot.
The steamer looks good!
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Posted - March 15 2022 : 11:33:27 AM
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| Runs hot as a fire cracker!
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Posted - March 15 2022 : 11:42:33 AM
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| The handful I have with their original motors are the same. After they get too hot they lose a lot of torque and need a cool down. Probably weak magnets. I've found a drop of oil on the motor bearings helps a lot.
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Posted - March 15 2022 : 12:41:20 PM
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| I shall try that.
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Posted - March 15 2022 : 8:53:52 PM
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Another new diesel for the EVRR. This unit is wearing a patched scheme from a factory order that didn't go through at Baldawin.
Aaron Anderson
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Posted - March 16 2022 : 02:03:56 AM
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| Love those early diesel switchers.
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Posted - March 16 2022 : 10:22:21 PM
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From the train show this past weekend, a Life-Like low nose GP38-2:
Nothing special in and of itself, but this one is special to me. Back when my wife and I were dating, she was trying to get something in particular for me for Christmas, but she couldnāt afford it, so she went to plan B, but couldnāt afford that either (I have no idea what those things were, and she doesnāt remember), so she settled on a Life-Like Burlington Northern train set as my main gift. Of course, the shape and size of a train set back then was unmistakable, so, genius that I was, I said something stupid like āI know what that is!ā Given the circumstances, that went over really well, and of course I hurt her feelings. 
Fast forward a few years, and I want toāimproveā the locomotiveās drivetrain, so with her permission I begin to do that, but I ruin the wheels and never finish the job. And since Iāve cut up the original plastic underframe, I canāt undo what Iāve done. So now I have a special gift that I ruinedā¦
But not anymore!!
1274
Glenn
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
Edited by - gmoney on March 16 2022 10:33:32 PM
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Posted - March 17 2022 : 11:16:45 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by el rojo grandeĀ -Ā March 13 2022Ā :Ā 9:57:20 PM
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It looks like one or more axels may be out of guage on that Athearn. Have you checked them to make sure they meet standards?
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Posted - March 17 2022 : 2:10:43 PM
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| I'll have to do that Jward. I did have it running and had no issues with tracking but I do keep the Standards tool handy to make adjustments as necessary, but I hadn't looked at that on this loco yet. My shop foreman tips his hat to your suggestion!
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Posted - March 17 2022 : 9:12:28 PM
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Nice back story, G. Your lady sounds like a special kind of gal.
I still got, and will always keep, that CR GP 38 you sold me
a while back. While cheap, these pieces are solid runners and
nicely finished.
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Posted - March 17 2022 : 10:40:14 PM
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Got another new piece of motive power relating to the freight trains running through my area...
A Mantua Classics Conrail GP20! Of course I had to get this, since Conrail used to run the local freight trains here, until CSX bought out half of Conrail, including the lines in my area. I'm getting a set of replacement GP20 horns to replace that missing one, and of course I ordered a TCS T1 decoder to plug into the locomotive's socket for DCC operation!
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Posted - March 18 2022 : 12:11:03 AM
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| Gotta love a "can opener!"
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Posted - March 18 2022 : 1:17:06 PM
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quote:Gotta love a "can opener!"
Originally posted by Chops124Ā -Ā March 18 2022Ā :Ā 12:11:03 AM
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I truly miss big blue. They sure knew how to run a railroad. Unlike the horse that now stumbles daily trying to run half the trains Conrail did.
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Posted - March 18 2022 : 3:22:25 PM
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I corresponded for a while with an ex-Penn Central
engineer, who went to work for the PC right around
1970. In spite of several ensuing layoffs he was able
to put together a steady living, even piloting the
Turbo Train for a little while. He remarked that
he was fairly impressed with ConRail's efforts to
keep shippers happy, and felt his own efforts
were recognized (!), but the Norfolk Southern
acquisition was not a favorable experience and
in his words, they "undid a lot of progress."
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Posted - March 20 2022 : 11:44:55 PM
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quote:
I truly miss big blue. They sure knew how to run a railroad. Unlike the horse that now stumbles daily trying to run half the trains Conrail did.
Originally posted by jwardĀ -Ā March 18 2022Ā :Ā 1:17:06 PM
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I'm glad that my area has the half of Conrail that CSX now owns, hence my layout having both CSX and Conrail locomotives. But I do remember how in my area, the Conrail freights often used GP38 and B23-7 diesels (the latter often having "Conrail Quality" markings), while all the CSX freight trains here use GP40-2s.
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Posted - March 22 2022 : 8:02:40 PM
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quote:
I'm glad that my area has the half of Conrail that CSX now owns, hence my layout having both CSX and Conrail locomotives. But I do remember how in my area, the Conrail freights often used GP38 and B23-7 diesels (the latter often having "Conrail Quality" markings), while all the CSX freight trains here use GP40-2s.
Originally posted by wiley209Ā -Ā March 20 2022Ā :Ā 11:44:55 PM
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Selkirk yard near Albany, where most of the trains in your neck of the woods either originated or changed crews, was home to most of the GE fleet under Penn Central and Conrail. The GP38s were scattered across the system so they were everywhere. I'm not surprised you saw what you did. ON my end of the system, Alco Centuries were common, but the GEs were relatively rare until the B36-7s arrived in 1983. Those quickly found a home on the hot mail trains and intermodals so they could be found everywhere those trains ran. Of course, the Dash 8s soon followed by the hundreds and suddenly GE power was everywhere.
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