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Hi All. New to the forum. I rescued a couple of US1 slot car sets. It has one box with track, 2 controllers and a few trucks and the other box has all the places for them to go. I am not a slot car guy, but rather a model railroad enthusiast. I had Tyco trains as a kid and several of their HO accessories. I grabbed this with the idea that I might want to incorporate the two and use the slot car set as an accessory to a vintage Tyco/AHM/etc. train layout. To do so would require a couple of HO/Slot Car grade crossings. It would require a track plan that was big enough to support a slot track. As I put some track together, the train layout would have to be pretty big to accommodate both setups. This isn't really feasible at this point in time.
The only way I could make both work together would be in a point-to-point design - think running on a long bookshelf. For trains, that's pretty easy (and often preferred) but for something like this, not sure it makes sense. I am open to thoughts though.
I could DIY a train/truck crossing, but the prices of ones on the internet seem excessive for what it is.
Now, to determine what I am really getting myself into. I hooked up a controller to a few pieces of track and dropped a truck in. With a little coaxing, there was the slightest of stutters. Track has power, truck get's power, truck wants to move. A few were like this. One truck actually moved with minimal encouragement. This box was sitting in a closet for a long time before the owner wanted to get rid of it. No visible distress, but if this is anything like old Tyco trains, you spends some time getting it running again. Track will need cleaning, broken gears repaired, wires upgraded, maybe new power supply, etc.
Is it worth the effort for a display layout? I am hesitant to put that much effort into it. Maybe some of you have some thoughts.
So, if not, then sell it? If sell it, restore it first at some point in the future or find someone who will love it and bring it back to life and let it go now? With model railroad stuff, it's better to keep it running and find a new home. Looking for guidance in this space. Is there a significant price difference between restored and as is (assuming a real price to sell on not sit on eBay for a year).
What would you guys do?
The only way I could make both work together would be in a point-to-point design - think running on a long bookshelf. For trains, that's pretty easy (and often preferred) but for something like this, not sure it makes sense. I am open to thoughts though.
I could DIY a train/truck crossing, but the prices of ones on the internet seem excessive for what it is.
Now, to determine what I am really getting myself into. I hooked up a controller to a few pieces of track and dropped a truck in. With a little coaxing, there was the slightest of stutters. Track has power, truck get's power, truck wants to move. A few were like this. One truck actually moved with minimal encouragement. This box was sitting in a closet for a long time before the owner wanted to get rid of it. No visible distress, but if this is anything like old Tyco trains, you spends some time getting it running again. Track will need cleaning, broken gears repaired, wires upgraded, maybe new power supply, etc.
Is it worth the effort for a display layout? I am hesitant to put that much effort into it. Maybe some of you have some thoughts.
So, if not, then sell it? If sell it, restore it first at some point in the future or find someone who will love it and bring it back to life and let it go now? With model railroad stuff, it's better to keep it running and find a new home. Looking for guidance in this space. Is there a significant price difference between restored and as is (assuming a real price to sell on not sit on eBay for a year).
What would you guys do?
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