US-1 Trucks
Two types of trailing turnouts were made that allowed the vehicles to pass through unimpeded and then, if required, reverse back into a siding to access an Action Accessory.
Both types had four wheels and were made to pull Semi-trailers in box, tank, flatbed, auto transporter and hopper varieties, using their exposed metal rear chassis weight which was also the Fifth-wheel coupling.
Other vehicles included a Mack Fire Engine, Police car, taxi, Pickup truck, Dodge delivery van, ambulance, Jeep, and a Pontiac Firebird Coupé.
The radiator molding used on lighted trucks differed from the unlit ones as the rectangular headlights were left open, where normally they would be solid and in chrome finish like the rest of it.
Following the release of the initial painted versions, production switched to pre-colored plastic and a small ridge appeared lengthways in the middle of the rear of the dump bed, where the tailgate rested when shut.
This ridge did not last long and was removed by the time the tail gate gained a bottom lug and matching receptor in the bucket to aid more secure closing.
Finally, when the Dump Truck chassis was adapted with extra slots to take the troop-carrier body for the GI Joe set in 1984, the opening above the motor was changed from a square to a T shape.
So far none of the "common" green Dump Trucks have been found with the Peterbilt Logos, the final type of tailgate or the chassis modifications for the troop carrier attachment.
The set box shows the flag and pole mounted on the far inside corner of the platform but an unloading bay with a hole for fitting it in has yet to turn up.
However, an Internet vendor has recently advertised new old stock Tyco barrels in bright yellow and glow in the dark green on their web site.
Logs, pipes, barrels, tires and presumably boulders could all be deposited in the unloading yards but not gravel, simply because the rear of the tipper was too large to go under the elevated hopper.
This time the radar and cap were molded in butter yellow and the plane has simpler decoration to allow for the application of the Red Cross stickers and Forest Rescue markings.
The G. I. Joe Satellite Launcher consisted of a two-piece sculpted concrete effect launch pad area with a straight approach track at the center of one side.
The pivoting launching gantry folds down horizontally, in line with the roadway, in order to engage with a missile loaded on a flatbed trailer as it is reversed towards it.
It is a great shame that there was not more than one batch of this set produced for as we have seen earlier, Tyco never held back on making 'improvements' where they identified a design fault or weakness.
This billboard is extremely hard to find and rarely turns up, however the same molding in a similar color appeared carrying an advert for Pasta in a 1983 Tyco Model Railroad Chef Boyardee promotional set.
The newer design clips positively against the track and usually remains there whilst is high enough to allow a loaded car transporter to pass freely underneath.
Although sold for potential use with an HO-scale model railroad, the US-1 elevated track has a clearance of 57 mm provided by the high-level piers, which is insufficient to clear a train running below.
Joe set also came with soldiers, tanks, jeeps, a helicopter, a boat, a bridge, paratroopers, a die-cut Secret Cobra Command Headquarters, a full-color G.I.
Boulder Loading Bulldozer - Two reference numbers have come to light for this item: 3414 is shown on literature enclosed with the accessory, whilst 3470 appears in the 1984 and 1985 Tyco catalogs.
Most of the racing and slotless Truck Cab bodies can be easily adapted to fit a US-1 chassis by drilling out the hollow rivet and pegs that hold the chromed plastic fifth wheel in place.
Other US-1 vehicles that can be found with a racing chassis are the Jeep in civilian colors which was available from 1980 to 1983 and the Black and Gold Firebird which was sold from 1979 to 1983 but was to eventually reappear in 2005 and 2006 in two special sets.
For a short time these were sold with a revised fifth wheel coupling as part of the Big Ryder series, along with some special box and flat trailers with folding front legs.
However all these vehicles could reverse and are capable of being run on US-1 plain track, subject to action sometimes being needed to combat the deeper guide blades fitted.
These Dump Trucks have full-length pick-ups very similar to US-1, which are made wider by having 'spoon'-like protrusions at each point of contact and will operate on most HO slot car tracks, provided that the guide pins are modified as stated below.
Recently, batches of light bars for the wrecker and fire engine have been made, along with the unique tires for the Stomper and some US-1-type metal guide pins.
So far it is the often missing sign board for the ‘garage’ series of buildings, a petrol pump, tipper tailgates, pipes for the crane and bogies for the trailers.
Non US-1 vehicles can be run on Trucking layouts, but lighter types like Aurora TJets can sometimes get 'beached' on the sprung copper tongues at the Turnouts, whereas Magnetic slot cars will generally cope quite well as they usually have enough 'virtual' weight to pass through them.
Lightly oil the motor bearings and axles and put a little silicon or PTFE grease on the gears, replace the tires if they are hardened and the pickups too, if they are 'rutted'.
People throughout the world collect US-1 today, but the biggest market remains where the product was set - in the United States - and most of the items offered for sale on Internet auction sites are to be found there.
