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Tomy Train Thomas the Tank Engine Set (1992)

Originally written May 7, 2024


In late 1992 the first Thomas the Tank Engine series Tomy Train set was released in Europe under the TOMY TRAIN range. It features the new-for-late-1992 Tomy Train Thomas the Tank Engine, Annie, Clarabel, Sir Topham Hatt, and Elsbridge Station. In the U.K. this was simply known as the Tomy Train Thomas the Tank Engine Set with number #1126.

This box follows the dark blue style used in Europe at the time. A sticker on the bottom has Tomy U.K. importing details, as I bought this copy from the U.K.


In 1994 this set and the 1134 Thomas the Tank Engine Starter Set were released in the United States as the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Battery Operated Railway system, with the boxes borrowing a lot of the layout elements of the European boxes. I have a little bit more of the internal cardboard structure left in this box, which was apparently bought at an FAO Schwarz.

Although there had been new regular Tomy Train sets released in America in 1993, the Thomas-series boxes make no mention of working with Tomy Trains or Tomyville Trains, only stating that they work with other Thomas the Tank Engine Battery Operated Railway sets. This set is considered in full the "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Battery Operated Railway Deluxe Edition".


Set contents
Quantity
Item
Photo
5 pieces
Thomas with Annie and Clarabel

2 pieces Sir Topham Hatt and driver
10 Straight Rail
1 Half Straight Rail
5 Curve Rail
1 Stop Rail
1 Reverse Rail
1 Turnout Rail (Left only)
1 Automatic Reverse Rail
4 pieces Sloping Curve Rail (two each A and B)
4 Red Block Piers
1 Buffer
4 pieces Engine Shed
5 pieces Elsbridge Station platform
4 Suspension Bridge sides

The train in this set is, of course, the cheeky tank engine Thomas himself with his two coaches Annie and Clarabel. The chunky Thomas has a nice mix of plastic colors and paint and sticker details and has an open cab where a driver can sit or stand.

The track layout in this set is nice and large with a lot of long straight rails as well as a regular stop rail, reverser rail, automatic reverser, and the combination stop/reverser in the shed.

The accessories in the set are also nice, Thomas looks good crossing the suspension bridge and the shed with the little mechanic is cute even if it does not really look like the Thomas the Tank Engine books or television show. The station platform has an Elsbridge station sign with licensing information but it is not really any different from the standard Tomy Train Station.

Here is a scan of the somewhat tattered 1994 American instructions. For whatever reason, the battery installation instructions show Percy. There are some other oddities like calling the half-straight reverser track a stop/reverse track even though it cannot stop a train and some odd diagramming of the slope curves for the suspension bridge. These American Thomas sets from 1994 to 1996 made no mention of the prior Tomy Train releases in the United States.

The set makes a very nice large oval layout that takes a while for Thomas to traverse. The engine shed and siding make it perfect to pretend Thomas has just woken up for the day and can reverse out of his shed to pick up Annie and Clarabel, reverse, and head out to run his branch line.

This set remained on sale in the U.S. into early 1997 before being supplanted by the Plarail-based Battery Operated Rail System. In Europe and the U.K. it was rereleased in Tomy Trains packaging in 1996 as simply Thomas the Tank Engine. This version can be seen on the TrackMaster Wikia.