Can We Make This 1980s TYCO Chessie System Run Again? 

The beautiful thing about old Tyco locomotives…they are so easy to work on. Easy to bring dead ones back to life. Looks like you have a decent runner here. I love kitbashing and detailing those Alco 430’s. Remove the center dummy-drive wheel from the front truck and add a third geared and flanged wheel….do the same for the rear truck (Tyco gives you the space to convert the trucks to three axles). Exchange the truck frames with ones from the Tyco SD-24 (much better truck details). Remove the two airhorns and fill in the holes with putty and paint over. Drill a new hole either front and center over the roof headlight, or on the right front corner of the cab…add a five chime Atlas air horn set. Add handrails (plenty on EBay). I went one step forward and filled in the pilots, removed the coupler pockets, body mounted knuckle couplers and added various air tanks, MU hoses and other basic details. Kept the Spirit of 76 colors. A very nice representation of an Alco 630. Ended up selling it for $80. (Though I regretting doing so later).

SMT Mainline: Posts a video restoring a train I never have or will own Me at 3 AM: *interesting*

Nice repair. Thanks for sharing. 🛤🚂😊♥

I have about 15 Tyco engines. When moving out of my Grandma's house I stored them at a friends house. They were there for over 20 years without running them. I got them back and amazingly they all ran! Unfortunately I have yet to build a layout but at some point I'll look forward to getting them going again

Just finished cleaning the same engine. Happy Easter

I had one of these back in the day, miss my train collection.

Chessie is riding the rails again -- never a doubt, Harrison. TYCO simplicity withstands the test of time. Thanks for sharing. 👍🐇👍

Happy Easter, all!!!! And I'm glad I saw this...I have an old Tyco Alco C630 "1776" which is having problems. Dude...ya taught me something!!!

Nice. Thanks for uploading videos about repairing the engines it's going to help me out when I can get enough time to get working on my engines!

Your restauration videos are excellent, Harrison. So far they have helped me repair two Bachmanns and a COX CP F7 that was pretty close to what you showed to do with an Athearn diesel. Many thanks.

I also use a toothpick and place small dabs of dielectric grease in axel spots. Only in places like this where power travels through moving parts. Some rbd as another example. Maintaining electrical connections and proper lubrication is a must. Another excellent video my friend. Have great Easter!

Happy Easter Harrison. Looks like some fitting Tyco resurrection for today.

Great job as always! I love watching how you repair stuff. 👍🏼

Pretty cool locomotive SMT!

Tyco by this point was bordering on throwaway trains, low end sell a ton at Christmas and when they got full of hair and stuff from the carpet or fell off the table or what have you, you tossed it and got another one. They still came up with some neat accessories to try to keep kids interested, but by 1988 IHC had bought the branding and most of the models were substituted with Mehano stuff instead. Other than the Chattanooga 0-8-0/2-8-0 becoming the IHC 2-8-0 I'm not even sure what became of the rest of the things they got. A lot of original Tyco tooling went with Mantua when they were split apart in 1978-ish. That stuff eventually went to Model Power and I believe Lionel now owns it but has not used it. Lionel did publish a catalog showing they were selling some other Model Power HO items, but I've never seen them for sale.

I had a Tyco chop nosed geep ATSF and that little loco actually ran very very well...

I'm always in the mood for a Tyco video. Great video as always !

Nerf Cat has decided to purchase this instead of Charles

this video was made very well. it was nice how thorough you were in describing what needed to be done and how to do it good job smt

Yeah those Tyco pancake motors and drive are notoriously bad. I turned all mine into dummy’s and just pull them around. Enjoyed the video!👍

Smt when are you gonna do a restoration on that big lionel o gauge. steam engine you have would love to see that

Great job😉👍

Good job and I always look forward to your videos. I learn a lot from them!

interesting never seen anything like the shell but i have a f7 i want to say by tyco with the same drive system

Clicking is the Air dryer function lol good job.

Do you ever get replacement brush for the fiberglass pencil? I bet the clicking noise might be some cracked gears not sure on that one. By the way nice looking model man! Thanks Charles Cummings for sending this to SMT mainline for a project!

Very nice revival of this locomotive I love how you have experience with power tourqe motors where I dont but they do run pretty nice once they oiled etc. I bet a piece of flashing on a gear is making the clickimg or its got a crack somewhere. That random screw in motor is something id probably do that having a flat head on one and phillips on other . definitely a model that is a unique one. I so gotta get a fiberglass pencil .

Hi Harrison nice job fixing up this loco. Would you ever consider mechanism swapping an old Tyco? I have a couple laying around dcc swapped but not mechanism swapped. Wanna know if anyone has ever thought about it

Love the chessie system , happy Easter!

NICE - vintage revival!

Also you can bypass brushes. Touch frame then lightly touch the com. It should spin.

Clicking noise could be a small plastic burr on one of the gears or on the inside of the axle slot. Could also be a cracked plastic wheel. 👋 👋 👋 👋

Happy 🐣

Had bought my first Tyco HO set but wanted to do a whole Chessie System layout

Chessie system my favorite railroad

SMT about to test a loco to see if it runs. Me realizes video still has 10 minutes left. Somethings wrong I can feel it.

i recently got a lot of Fleischmann locomotives and one of them has the same problem. i haven't worked on it yet cause they are tender driven and i have others to work on (try to keep them in order of when i got them), but atleast i now know what to look for when i go to work on it.

I just got a Walters mainline Sd 70 csx can’t wait to use it If have any tip to maintain the loco plz comment below

saludos super hermosa locomotora

Ooh. That's a nice unit.

Hey SMT, I found a weird coupler box that I am trying to open but I can’t figure out how. Can you help me out?

Please do a step by step on a Tyco F-7/F-9 with the screw in power truck

Happy Easter smt if you don’t celebrate happy day

Now I have o scale, but ho is pretty cool. Just remember, o is two times more fun than ho

Using a fiberglass pencil does the job but it is rather harsh/aggressive. Normally you should start with something less abrasive like a pink pearl eraser. Again, nylon and most plastic gears do NOT require lubrication. Look for wear first before applying oil to everything.

Now what if SMT was a person who fixed people’s engines and rolling stock?

Nice. I got a similar item last month, it says Tyco Mantua with a different engine model, it can run but is a little wobbly, needs some repairs.

Hey smt, great video! Do you think you could do a "buying shady model trains off ebay or etsy?

I know what's wrong with it, It's a Tyco power torque, but SMT is great at getting these running Thanks

Good ol chessie

have used ball-point pen springs a few times. fixing small far more difficult than large motors

Rip Chessie

may have been a cold solder joint making it not work before considering how easy that wire fell off

Glad you was able to bring that old Tyco back to life.......good looking locomotive 👍 Happy Easter Harrison

Hi Harrison, I am new to the HO scene. I have an old Marc locomotive that makes a racket when running. The trucks are riveted.. How do i get to those gears to make sure they are clean? Much appreciate any help and thank you.

I also doubt that this is an eighties TYCO - that looks like a Mk1 PowerTorque, and they had Mk4 by the late seventies.

Do you hace more Chessie system locomotives? Like the Chessie Steam special or any other locomotives?

the powertorqe motor in my tyco chattanooga has all the problems lol

Have few 4301 tyco and 5628. They both use pancake motors. I never looked into it... But, can you get replacement springs and brush kit for these types of engines? Electric train motors. I've rebuilt motors before. Whether starter on truck or car. To well pump motors.

Are there replacement motors available for tyco pancake motors that perform better?

HO scale C430 locomotive. Chessie System 😺. I have a HO scale GP40-2 Chessie System DC.

Neither of those screws holding the cover plate are original - usually they are the normal TYCO black Phillips head screws.

Tyco of course

Super Duper!!!

Any idea what a squeaking noise may be on one of these?

Hi Harrison I hope you’re having a great Easter I’m on vacation coming from you from Virginia Beach

I tried fixing one of mine but long story short I'd have to buy a broken locomotive for parts to fix it. I guess I'll just put it on the wall instead.

the clicking is normal for old model trains

Hey SMT!

I had to junk my Spirit Of 76 because the motor was burnt up..

Welllllllllllll folks

hello I see that you have liked miniature train I wonder if I can have some if yes answer me

its mostly your track that makes the clicks

i have never seen a C-430. First Comment on the thread... 4.Apr.2021 easter

I got 20 dollers in my golden egg 😄

That is not a c430. But A C630

How would I fix an engine that short circuits

9:05 when the Tyco is Suspect 😳

they are no fun when it comes to fixing them

For the first time in forever... FIRST

That engine is not a C430 but a C630. You can tell by the trucks. A C430 has two axle per truck. A C530 has three axles per truck. You should learn what type of engine you are working on.

First

1st!

Second