Post by lvrr325 on Feb 18, 2024 21:35:43 GMT -8
At the Hamburg show today I was walking around to prevent myself from falling asleep as all the buying customers came on Saturday.
On a vendor's table I noticed a Bachmann box with a Tyco WM culvert flat car in it, pristine box, correct insert and the box was labeled 41' Culvert Flat Car Western Maryland. For $5, I had to check this out. Sure enough on the bottom it's even marked Tyco. The only difference between this and a Tyco issued car is it's a lighter green with white lettering - the road number is even the same. Also, Tyco usually had the WM car with three tractors on it. The box was Bachmann yellow and white, the flat a later one with the filled steps. I think circa 1980 without looking in catalogs.
So I looked it up on eBay tonight and it is indeed a thing, a couple of them sold for $15-$25 - and there also was a red Great Northern version.
Now one company selling another company's stuff as their own is hardly rare in HO, but I'd love to know why the heck Bachmann had to borrow a Tyco car to add a flat car to their lineup. They had a tool for a 50' flat car (which I think they're still selling). Unless they picked up the 40' tooling entirely at some point, maybe when Mantua took most of the line back in the late 70s? Here again the answer probably only lies in looking at their annual catalogs. I also would think if they took over the tooling, they'd have blanked the Tyco name, like was done with the former Lionel HO pieces they picked up.
Just when I think I've seen about everything, something else strange comes along.
On a vendor's table I noticed a Bachmann box with a Tyco WM culvert flat car in it, pristine box, correct insert and the box was labeled 41' Culvert Flat Car Western Maryland. For $5, I had to check this out. Sure enough on the bottom it's even marked Tyco. The only difference between this and a Tyco issued car is it's a lighter green with white lettering - the road number is even the same. Also, Tyco usually had the WM car with three tractors on it. The box was Bachmann yellow and white, the flat a later one with the filled steps. I think circa 1980 without looking in catalogs.
So I looked it up on eBay tonight and it is indeed a thing, a couple of them sold for $15-$25 - and there also was a red Great Northern version.
Now one company selling another company's stuff as their own is hardly rare in HO, but I'd love to know why the heck Bachmann had to borrow a Tyco car to add a flat car to their lineup. They had a tool for a 50' flat car (which I think they're still selling). Unless they picked up the 40' tooling entirely at some point, maybe when Mantua took most of the line back in the late 70s? Here again the answer probably only lies in looking at their annual catalogs. I also would think if they took over the tooling, they'd have blanked the Tyco name, like was done with the former Lionel HO pieces they picked up.
Just when I think I've seen about everything, something else strange comes along.
