Help, guys. I need a large number of CG 9 and 11 panel gons; Sunshine
makes a kit, but at $30.00 a pop I can't get many. At one point, TYCO
made some suitable gons. Where can I find some? I rarely get to train
shows, and need to find a suitable retailer. Thanks, Tom Holley

On Tuesday, June 7, 2005, at 10:20 PM, cgengr wrote:

Help, guys. I need a large number of CG 9 and 11 panel gons; Sunshine
makes a kit, but at $30.00 a pop I can't get many. At one point, TYCO
made some suitable gons. Where can I find some? I rarely get to train
shows, and need to find a suitable retailer. Thanks, Tom Holley

Model power bought Mantua tooling. I think Mantua also had the Tyco tooling. Check with Model Power
Thank you
Larry Jackman
ljack70117@...\
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?

Tom Holley wrote:
"I need a large number of CG 9 and 11 panel gons; Sunshine makes a kit, but
at $30.00 a pop I can't get many. At one point, TYCO made some suitable
gons. Where can I find some? I rarely get to train shows, and need to find a
suitable retailer."

Tom, the Tyco cars are very common secondhand at train shows. AFAIK, these
have not been re-released by any of the low end RTR manufacturers.

BTW, this is the 11-panel Tyco car that Tom is talking about:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19140&item=5966215724
&rd=1&ssPageName=WD1V

My local hobby shop recently received a very large consignment lot which may
have some of these cars, and I have a couple in the morgue. Contact me
off-list if you're interested in working something out.


Ben Hom

Larry Jackman wrote:
"Model Power bought Mantua tooling. I think Mantua also had the Tyco
tooling. Check with Model Power."

The only 40 ft gon currently shown on the Model Power website is not the
Tyco gon (11 panels), but a 10 panel gon:
http://www.modelpower.com/site/519087/product/8502

FWIW, it's not the ex-Lindberg Erie coal gon that Mantua had in their
"Heavies" line. Model Power does state that they have "...recently acquired
Mantua and all of its tooling. Over the next few years, we plan to
re-introduce many previously released Mantua products as well as some never
before seen," so they may have the tooling and might be planning on
releasing the other gons eventually. They just don't list them today.


Ben Hom

Ben-
The ex-Lindberg gon is the one in the Heavies Line by Mantua.
Mantua aquired the ex-Linberg tooling and brought it out some years ago as
the "Heavies" Line. They
were plastic bodies with metal underframes.
Model Power also has a line, newly tooled although for what reason not
readily apparent, of all-metal
cars which are diecast metal and are incredibly heavy. Too heavy. From top
to bottom. In details.
In weight. It is different from the Mantua Heavies Line. I am not sure any
new production has been
done under Model Power from the Mantua/Lindberg tooling.
I could not find what Model Power calla their metal line on the website.....
but they have a very eclectic
range of HO equipment ranging from old Cox items, Mehano, Brazilian stuff,
China and Indonesia?? copies,
Marx, Lima, Roco, and now the Mantua line and tracking Model Power would be
a Yahoo! Group in itself if
anybody cared.
They were still thinking about resurecting the Marx Hudson a couple of trade
shows ago.... that is where their
"F2" comes from ...Marx tooling... so they already have the tender drive and
correct trucks!!!
Their line is my vote for the definition of the opposite end of Prototype
Modeling!!!
Charlie Vlk

The gon under consideration is the old Mantua car. It was also part of the
Mantua Tyco line but it did not make it into the Tyco Tyco trainset
line...AFAIK they used a copy of the typical
Bachman/LifeLike/Rivarossi/Roco/Mehano 40' lower sided car.
Model Power might have the tooling but it may not be usable as it hasn't
been run for decades.... Since Model Power has several cars in their line
already I wouldn't look for them to bring out the car... but you never know.
Charlie Vlk

Mantua became TYCO. IIRC, the TYCO name was derived from the name of
Mantua's owner. It became part of a large conglomerate and then spun off
as Mantua again. Mantua's early cars were sheet metal with paper
overlays and all metal trucks. Later cars were plastic with metal
underframes and metal trucks with plastic wheels. TYCO cars had plastic
underframes and plastic trucks.

Doug Brown

On Wednesday, June 8, 2005, at 12:26 AM, Doug Brown wrote:

Mantua became TYCO. IIRC, the TYCO name was derived from the name of
Mantua's owner. It became part of a large conglomerate and then spun off
as Mantua again. Mantua's early cars were sheet metal with paper
overlays and all metal trucks. Later cars were plastic with metal
underframes and metal trucks with plastic wheels. TYCO cars had plastic
underframes and plastic trucks.

Doug Brown

The Tyco name was used when Mr. Tyler wanted to make some of his line RTR. The RTR cars were sold under the Tyco name which was TY(ler) CO(mpany).
Thank you
Larry Jackman
ljack70117@adelphia.
Shin: A device for finding furniture

Charlie Vlk wrote:

The gon under consideration is the old Mantua car. It was also part

of the Mantua Tyco line but it did not make it into the Tyco Tyco
trainset line...AFAIK they used a copy of the typical
Bachman/LifeLike/Rivarossi/Roco/Mehano 40' lower sided car.<

Charlie,

Maybe what you state was true later, but I am sure the plastic
gondolas did make it into the TYCO TYCO train line as RTR. I
purchased many in the early to late 1970s during after-Christmas
sales. I believe the TYCO TYCO version had a plastic underframe with
a hidden metal weight. Is the Tyco-Tyco era you refer to later than this?

To those interested go the train shows and sometimes you have to look
under the tables for the boxes with these cars. I still found them at
GATS (in the mid-west) the last time I looked a few years ago. I even
found the original Mantua version of these gondolas with body-mounted
Mantua couplers. If you find them with the silly drop-sill plastic
underframes look for other older Mantua/Tyco cars with the cast metal
underframes. Often they have damaged bodies so you can buy them
cheap. Use the all metal underframe to replace the plastic ones and
then you will have more correctly weighted models.

Bob Witt

Charlie Vlk wrote:
"The gon under consideration is the old Mantua car. It was also part of the
Mantua Tyco line but it did not make it into the Tyco Tyco trainset
line...AFAIK they used a copy of the typical
Bachmann/LifeLike/Rivarossi/Roco/Mehano 40' lower sided car."

No. The Varney/Bachmann/Life-Like/Rivarossi/Roco/Mehano/Walthers/Ad Nauseum
car is an 8-panel car. The Mantua car and the one listed on the Model Power
website are 11-panel cars.
http://www.modelpower.com/site/519087/product/8502

I've uploaded a scan of the Central of Georgia gon from the 1931 CBC and a
side-by-side of gons from the Mantua line at STMFPH:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/STMFPH/files/Side-by-Side/CG%20-%20Mantua%20Go
n%20Side-by-Side.JPG


Ben Hom

I speak of the real "glory" days of Tyco.... the real junk. I don't know
how long the Mantua Tyco stuff lasted but the 70s is not beyond reason... I
think some of the tooling never left Mantua and most of the stuff made
overseas was new tooling or copies of the classic Mantua.
Ben points out that I mispoke on the configuration of the Far East Tyco
gon.... and shows photographic evidence. Forgive me, I've been in N Scale
since 1964 <vbg>
Charlie Vlk

I wrote:
"The Mantua car and the one listed on the Model Power website are 11-
panel cars."
http://www.modelpower.com/site/519087/product/8502

The perils of trying to get too much done at the same time last night -
the Model Power gon in the link is a 10-panel car (though not the ex-
Lindberg car in the Mantua "Heavies" line). The Mantua/Tyco gon is
definitely an 11-panel gon. Apologies for any confusion.


Ben Hom

Charlie Vlk wrote:
"Model Power also has a line, newly tooled although for what reason not
readily apparent, of all-metal cars which are diecast metal and are
incredibly heavy. Too heavy. From top to bottom. In details. In weight.
It is different from the Mantua Heavies Line. I am not sure any new
production has been done under Model Power from the Mantua/Lindberg tooling.
I could not find what Model Power calls their metal line on the website..."

The Lindberg hopper, tank car, and caboose have been re-released by Model
Power:
http://www.modelpower.com/site/519087/product/729620
http://www.modelpower.com/site/519087/product/732307
http://www.modelpower.com/site/519087/product/726008

Here's a summary of the Lindberg railroad line from a kit box posted on the
pay side of the RPI website:
http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Kits/Lindberg-kit-box.jpg

The Model Power metal line is called ... "MetalTrain"!
http://www.modelpower.com/site/519087/page/286766

This has to be the most embarrassing model out of the whole bunch. If you
were wondering, PRR 5911 is really an EMC SW, the first "off-the-shelf"
diesel purchased by the Pennsy in 1937.
http://www.modelpower.com/site/519087/product/2214


Ben Hom

Ben-
Were all the Lindberg cars actually released? IIRC no. The
steel-resheathed composite hopper was only released in a small run as a
kit...(before Manchewa got the tooling) and I don't recall ever hearing
about the tank car, box car, and flat. I think the reefer did make it to
market.
Charlie Vlk

I have the C&NW box and SFRD reefer.


Doug Brown

Tom Holley,

Are you still on this list? cgengr [th498@...] bounces my emails.

Doug Brown