Tyco 7300 and Lionel 2780

Smiley

New Member
I just recently got the Tyco 730 amd Lionel 2780 in a garage sale. These are 70"s vintage. I do not know much about track if they are 83's or 100's. I would like to get additional track but do noy know what size.
Helppppppppp....
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
If the locos have big wheel flanges (I'm betting they do) they'll require code 100 track. Being that they're 70's vintage they probably have the big "pizza cutter" flanges.
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
I concur that you most likely have code 100 track which is still readily available, of course. How do those locos run?
Ralph
 

Smiley

New Member
I concur that you most likely have code 100 track which is still readily available, of course. How do those locos run?
Ralph
Both locos are in perfect condition. I am just missing a coupler on one of the box cars and a wheel on another box car. The people were jist cleaning out their garage and both sets just cost me 60 buxs. Couldn't pass that up
 

Triplex

Active Member
In the 70s, Code 83 rail didn't exist. The only size of rail used in HO other than 100 was Code 70, and it certainly wasn't used in trainsets like Tyco.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
You may not want to use the track that came with the trainsets. You want nickel-silver track, but most likely the train set track is either brass or steel. Nickel silver, brass & steel track will all corrode, but nickel silver still works even when it gets a little corrosion on it. Steel or brass track that has corroded will not conduct electricity until the track has been cleaned and you frequently will find youeself cleaning track more often than running trains.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Many Tyco sets in the 70's and early to mid 80's came with the so-called "Tru-Steel" track that was absolute crap. It was hard to keep the joiners (very cheap) from bending out of shape and even harder to keep the track clean, as it seemed to get dirty at the drop of a hat, any hat. Even Bachmann's brass track, available at the time, was an immense improvement. To me, the biggest thing that did Tyco in was that cheap, unreliable and crappy Power-Torque drive that put the motor, gears and drive all in one truck, with the cheap soft plastic gears in full view and completely unprotected on the outside of the power truck. nine times out of ten, the drive gear on the motor would come loose and go flying off into the seventh reach of the unknown. I had a couple of Tyco locos in the mid 60's and they were well-made and were good runners, equal to any BB Athearn loco today. When they went to pot was when the company moved it's production facilities to Hong Kong. Very quickly, Tyco locos weren't worth the plastic they were made from.
 
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