# Adapter track.



## fhdavid52

Does someone make an adapter track to adapt the old Aurora track to Tyco, or the new Tomy track? I would like to pick up one of those Aurora Stone bridges to my newer track.


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## slotcardan

the old aurora model motoring track has a different lane spacing then tyco track. 

back in the day for Tyco 'S' track they made universal adapter track it was meant to connect stromberg and model motoring track together. 

the tyco S track universal adapter track came as a 2 piece that you could assemble into a wave like chicane. apart it would act to narrow the lane spacing and match the slot and rail placement between tyco and Aurora.

now Tyco also made S shaped bridge track that looked just like the Aurora stone bridge track but with out the decorative side pieces that looked like a pipe drain or a stone bridge. these came in 2 pieces like the aurora model motoring version.

So if you wanted to go from model motoring track to modern tyco track you would need 2 adpaters. the Tyco S track universal adapter track that locked into the model motoring track, then a tyco Old to new track adapter to go from the side lock to the center lock and tab track that would also connect to model mattel track.

that is if you wanted to use official adapters.

now the issue with the lane spacing, If you then attempt to use AFX or tyco modern cars after 1971 the rear tires will touch model motoring track was meant to handle T-jet or Tyco S series scale. which is about 5-8mm narrow compared to modern slot cars.

the Tyco S pieces that form a bridge, have the wider lane spacing built in and work with wider modern cars no problem. and you could take the aurora model motoring side pieces and rework them to fit the tyco track.


Tyco S track is kind of rare compared to the aurora track. it only came in a few early 1969-1971 sets and its original purpose was to create a even height transition in a a small space, original tyco pro and S series track only came in 9" straight and 6" straight sections. so on a tight track because the track designs were suppose to fit on a smaller table they needed a way to have a full track height increase in a small space and came up with the S pieces idea. later on they showed it used a bridge. S track disappeared from the catalogs after 1972 by then the tyco pro chassis was out and the size of tracks had doubled and the cars were wider and longer and the tracks more for racing then slow moving traffic to complement trains so the S track went away.

it pops up on ebay from time to time but you have to know what you are looking for, sometimes it is broken, old tyco S and pro track is made of glass, you can look at it wrong and it will snap, this makes the track much cheaper also, you can find a S piece for like a 1$. the model motoring bridge comes up all the time but people know about it so its more expensive usually it has the box also.

when you start to deal with old tyco track you learn you can fix it when the tabs are snapped off, or you start using track clips like crazy


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## Joe65SkylarkGS

Thats a mouth full lmao!!!


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## old blue

You may be able to buy the stone walls from the Hobby Shop and create your own.


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## TGM2054

Good job Joe! I knew you could make a short story long. :tongue: In short there's no direct adapter that I know of.


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## fhdavid52

Thanks for the reply. My intention was to make a small scenic layout and maybe have a train with it. It will probably be better to buy an old Aurora set (or track) and use that instead of trying to adapt the scenic bridge to the current stuff.


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## honda27

*track*

hello yes there r tarck adaptors to use lock n jointer to afx to tomy to tyco pro to newer tyco to lifelike. so u can use all the tracks together this i know because i have all of the adaptoers tracks. ty hope this helped u out ty. and yes they r still made because i can get them.


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## slotcardan

thanks for ripping my head off explaining that there is track adapters however there are issues with using the older track and newer cars.

i could of simply said yes there is adapter track. then the OP goes out and spends 100$ and finds out all the problems.

isn't this suppose to be a board that helps others?

anyway if you do use the model motoring track just be aware of the lane spacing as it will restrict you to T-jet scale.


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## honda27

*track*

sry dan was trying to be help full didnt mean to step on any toes sry.


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## slotcardan

you didn't do anything wrong, you added to the information


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## Dslot

fhdavid52 said:


> Does someone make an adapter track to adapt the old Aurora track to Tyco, or the new Tomy track? I would like to pick up one of those Aurora Stone bridges to my newer track.


I love the Aurora bridge, too. 

Though most have Lock & Joiner ends, some of the Aurora bridges were made with Aurora AFX hook ends. 

If you can find an AFX-style bridge, you just need a pair of Tomy-to-Aurora-AFX adapters. 

If you have an L&J (Model Motoring) bridge, you'll need two pairs of adapters - Tomy-to-AuroraAFX + AuroraAFX-to-AuroraL&J.

I thought there was a Tyco-to-AuroraAFX adapter. A quick eBay search doesn't find any, but Honda says he can supply adapters, so ask.

For a scenic roadway on a train layout, the best solution would probably be to put a want-list of L&J track pieces on Hobbytalk's Swap & Sell forum. You should probably plan to use Aurora Thunderjet cars. Those and Aurora Vibrator cars are small enough to look good with HO trains, but Vibes are finicky and hard to keep running. Anything later will be visibly too large, and AFX-Magnatraction and anything after will probably high-center and stall out on the bridge from low ground clearance. Thunderjets with original small tires will look right for roadway vehicles.

You can run Tjets on a regular train power pack (DC only). If you get an Aurora pack make sure it's a DC pack, not the original AC transformer for the Vibrators. For display running, you'll need two or more of the old Aurora steering-wheel controllers. If you get several, you can have cars on different parts of the track moving at different speeds - fortunately, they're cheap.

One last hint: any voltage that will get a car up the bridge will send it shooting off into space at the crest, so put a small piece of electrical tape across one rail of each lane near the top of the uphill section to cut the speed just before cresting, and wherever you need to scrub off some speed before or in a turn, as I did on my Christmas layout for 2005. More tape, more slowdown. Here's the layout:










More pictures and details in several posts *here*, beginning at post #9, but the earlier posts are worth reading too. I also used the electrical tape speed control method on a display Snowmobile layout. Follow the links to the photo gallery; most of the commentary is in the picture captions. Note the use of the bridge tracks as downhill humps in this set. If you also want to race on the roadway, the tape is a bit of a pain - you have to take it off to race, then replace it for continuous display running.

Good luck, and send pictures. :wave:

-- D


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## ctsvowner

Both Model Motoring and AFX made a Y track. It separates the two lanes into a Y, both styles have pins that hold each halve together of the lock and joiner type. I have used them to adapt AFX to Model Motoriing.











Tomy to AFX to the Y track to Lock and Joiner to Maxx Track (albeit a bit of hacking)


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## swamibob

Hello Gents;

I've never seen an AFX bridge track. Does anyone have a picture? I might need to build a new track if I can find one.  Tee Hee!!!

Tom


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## Dslot

swamibob said:


> Hello Gents;
> 
> I've never seen an AFX bridge track. Does anyone have a picture? I might need to build a new track if I can find one.  Tee Hee!!!
> 
> Tom


Tom,

I've never seen one in the plastic either. 

I have a memory of seeing the bridge pictured in an Aurora catalog from the AFX pre-Magnatraction period. It looked just like the L&J one - same illustration in fact - just in the AFX track listing. 

My mind marked it as curious, so I remembered it, but I might well have been mistaken - it could have been leftover L&J stock, or a never-made catalog item, or just my faulty memory from several years back. 

Sorry for speaking without checking. 

If I ever run across one, you get first dibs. 

-- D


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## Ralphthe3rd

Yeah, and remember the Very FIRST A/FX sets did come with L&J track, eg-
my friend got one for X-mas in 1970...or was it '71, I forget. All I know was, be bought some of my extra L&J track and added to his, for a larger layout.



Dslot said:


> Tom,
> 
> I've never seen one in the plastic either.
> 
> I have a memory of seeing the bridge pictured in an Aurora catalog from the AFX pre-Magnatraction period. It looked just like the L&J one - same illustration in fact - just in the AFX track listing.
> 
> My mind marked it as curious, so I remembered it, but I might well have been mistaken - it could have been leftover L&J stock, or a never-made catalog item, or just my faulty memory from several years back.
> 
> Sorry for speaking without checking.
> 
> If I ever run across one, you get first dibs.
> 
> -- D


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## Alleycatzs2

honda27 said:


> *track*
> 
> hello yes there r tarck adaptors to use lock n jointer to afx to tomy to tyco pro to newer tyco to lifelike. so u can use all the tracks together this i know because i have all of the adaptoers tracks. ty hope this helped u out ty. and yes they r still made because i can get them.


I’m looking for adapters to go from tyco to aurora/afx


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## Tjet Fun

I have a whole bunch of older track that can(but no space)make a huge track. It consists of Tomy, AFX and MM I have MM to AFX adapters and AFX to Tomy adapters. So if I want to use MM and Tomy track only. I have to go MM track > MM/AFX adapter > AFX/Tomy adapter > Tomy Track. As I dont beleive they make a MM to Tomy adapter.....I also so see these adapters are stupid on ebay like $50 for 2 adapters used. If that helps at all........


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