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Toy Town Aerial Tank Engine/Flying Stunt Loco (1976)

First written July 2024

Toy Town's Aerial Tank Engine (びっくりレール空中きかんしゃ) is a classic looping toy that features a fast little locomotive climbing, flipping, spinning, and racing its way up and down a repeating course. First released in 1976 in association with Tomy, many variations in vehicle, theming, and even track layouts were produced in the years following. The US design patent was filed for in late November 1976. This toy became a popular eye-catcher with its mesmerizing action and toolings to produce it eventually ended up passing through various "unlicensed" manufacturers producing knock-off versions for decades to come, with cheap versions appearing in shop windows and displays (I remember seeing versions in malls and in videos about knock-off toys years ago).

Surprise Rail Aerial Tank Engine (1976)

In 1976 the original Surprise Rail Aerial Tank Engine (びっくりレール空中きかんしゃ) was released in Japan in a nice red and blue color scheme. The contents of the set are identical in production to the export version shown below, but would have had different stickers. This release is marked as Tomy Town Tomy in several places. An original Japanese release can be seen on this webpage.

Flying Stunt Loco (1976)

Likely at the same time as the international release, as Toy Town in part was founded to focus on exporting Japanese toys, a Toy Town branded export version of the original Aerial Tank Engine toy was sold as the Flying Stunt Loco with some localized graphics. The box is very similar to the original Japanese release.

This particular example is a Canadian import by Borgfeldt Toys.

Set contents

Quantity	Item	Photo
1	Stunt Loco
1	Bridge base
1 pair	Sky rails
1	Turn rail
1	A rail
1	B rail
1	C rail
1	D rail
1	Flying Stunt Loco sign
1	Signal
2	Supports

The titular stunt loco has unpowered wheels but two spinning cogs sticking out the side, with a static cog on one side to make the engine flip as it lifts itself up the sky rail. Unlike most later variations, a screwdriver is required to get into the train's battery compartment.

The gear on one side of my locomotive split as I ran the toy for a few minutes. The large gear on the output shaft was also slipping, so I opened the gearbox and glued the large gear in place and replaced the outer gear with a 3D printed replacement. The plastic arm sticking up from the bottom of the chassis hits against the clicker to the left of the free-spinning contrate gear which picks up power from the motor and transmits it to the other double gear that can slide on the forward shaft. This sliding gear is moved with the power switch, disengaging the geartrain when the engine is switched off. When on (as shown), the gear is slid over to reduce further with the large gear on the output shaft and run the outer cogs. The larger cog on the right side is static and causes the train to flip when climbing as it runs against a rack in the sky rail.

The base section with spring-loaded bridge is the main support for the set. The two "sky rails" clip into the base and form the lift section of the track. The "D" track clips into the base to connect around to the sky rail. In addition to being marked with their letter, each side of the track connections have a number that helps you connect them properly.

A swinging track section catches on part of the train's chassis, using its momentum to swing around and continue along the track before the short floating track section springs back.

The signal is similar to the classic Tomy Plarail signal and fits into part of the swinging section such that it also rotates around with the platform. The Flying Stunt Loco sticker on the sign appears to be applied right on top of one of the original Japanese Aerial Tank Engine stickers, which is a little funny. The A rail connects the top of the lift to the swinging section.

Around the rear, the B and C rail connect and are supported by the two keyed risers.

I don't have the original instructions for this set unfortunately, but it did include a little booklet with a single sheet of silicon paper that can be used to clean and lubricate the train and tracks.

Click for video version with sound!

The action of the little toys is, of course, mesmerizing. The little clicker in the gearbox gives a pleasing little twang and the engine will cycle over and over, assuming it is level and running well.

Adventure Boy Surprise Car (1978)

In 1978 a new expanded course was developed using several new track sections to make a longer stunt course. This was released as Adventure Boy Surprise Car (冒険小僧どっきり号) by Toy Town in late 1978. This release was still produced in Japan with the Toy Town Tomy mark present in the toolings. This set was also released at Sears as Crazy Stunt Machine for Christmas 1978 and 1979.

Set contents

Quantity	Item	Photo
1	Car
1	Bridge base
1 pair	Flipping tower rails
1	Turn rail
1	Spin tower
1	A rail
1	B rail
1	C rail
1	D rail
1	E rail
1	F rail
1	Adventure Boy Surprise Car signboard
1	Spin tower sign
1	Turn rail sign
2	Guard rail
2	Supports

The vehicle in this set is a little truck with "Adventure Boy" at the wheel. Like the original tank engine, the car takes two AA batteries and a similar internal gearbox with clicker and protruding gears.

I think the jeep-like vehicle is a neat design and the color choices for this set are very eye-catching.

Many of the track pieces are similar to the Aerial Tank Engine version of the toy but there are several new ones that have molding in the track surface to make the little jeep rock back and forth on its wheels.

The track pieces are also marked with letters to help put them in order, with numbers on either side of the track joint.

Many pieces are marked Japan on the underside. The tower rails are marked Toy Town Tomy and made in Japan. It seems like this was probably one of the earlier variations to use the guard rails around the most precarious curve.

The set also has a few different signs. The sign with the bird reads "Caution - Sharp Turn". The sign in the shape of the signal says "Danger".

Here are scans of the original instructions for this version of the set. The back is dated August 1978. The other sheet is a troubleshooting sheet saying to make sure the set is on a level surface and wipe down the wheels and rails if the toy starts underperforming.

I quite like this longer course - the two larger new pieces both take a little while to traverse but I really like the way the blue section makes the truck rock back and forth and the spiral drop tower is neat. The additional racked sections split the action up a little and its a little bit like the truck is switching back and forth between a low and high gear or winching itself forward. This is a pretty cool evolution of the basic track design, and its a bit of a pity that this variation did not appear more.

Crazy Loco (Sears) (~1978)

From 1978 to 1980 or so Sears sold the larger Crazy Stunt Machine set as well as an updated version of the Flying Stunt Loco with guard rails as Crazy Loco. This was apparently the version purchased and copied by Illco for the Mickey Mouse Loop the Loop.

Space Flight Space Ranger (1982)

Seemingly one of the earlier releases after Toy Town became known as Toybox in the early 1980s is 1982's Space Flight Space Ranger (宇宙飛行スペースレンジャー). This version of the original track was produced in dark blue and features a flipping, flying space shuttle.