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Tomy Train

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Tomy Train Accessories

Reformatted Spring 2026

Tomy Train's accessories were a mix of Plarail accessories adapted for the system and original accessories that took advantage of the Tomy Train system's features. Initial accessories were a mix of staples like bridges and railroad crossings, Plarail adaptations, and cool new cranes and vehicles that played into the freight and train standards. Many accessories had additional studded surfaces which were removed over time.

1305 Bridge and Six Girders (1988)

Because the Tomy Train engines are taller than Plarail trains the existing block bridge girder standard could not be used and a new taller red system was created. The top of these girders have two by four patches of studs that can be used to attach the bridge side pieces (also studded on top) or any other LEGO or similar brick-built creation.

Included in several sets alongside the girders as well as this individual release is a yellow iron bridge similar in concept to the classic Plarail red iron bridge. Earlier sets have a version with studs on top of the railings while later sets that toned down the brick compatibility removed these studs, also making the connection areas deeper and stronger. See below for more on bridge differences.

The girders also stack on top of each other like the Block Bridge Girder system. These girders raise track approximately 108mm as opposed to Plarail's 65mm and do not actually grip around the rail joint when stacked. The girders were originally made in Thailand and later Singapore.

Earlier Thailand girders have taller studs on top, presumably to ensure a more snug fit with an additional girder stacked on top. Earlier studded bridge sides, like many early pieces of Tomy Train, seem to shrink and warp, usually curving inwards (this also happens with old Plarail iron bridges). The anti-stud connection to attach it to the risers is not very deep and has no "tube" like a LEGO brick. Funnily enough, the deeper connection sockets on the newer bridges work well on the old taller girders, and the older bridges work better on the newer girders with less tall studs. Perhaps at first Tomy thought it was worth it to have taller studs so people could stack tracks but with time realized the adoption rate of the bridges was far greater than anyone having enough track and girders to make multi-level tracks and decided to focus on bridge compatibility instead of stacking stability.

1306 Road Crossing (1988)

The Tomy Train railroad crossing incorporates the automatic weighted boom gate system used on Plarail crossings since the mid 1980s. Racks in the activation rails slow the train down slightly as it passes.

The regular release, sold from 1988 to the mid 1990s first in TOMYTRAINS packaging and later the TOMY TRAINS style seen above, includes two road/track ramps and two railroad crossing signs.

Instead of having a generic flat "road" surface for their crossing like Plarail had at the time, the Tomy Trains road crossing uses the rail standard for the crossing line and has two ramp pieces to allow the Tomy Train vehicles, which also adhere to the regular rail standard, to cross. This opens up the crossing (and system in general) to lots of cross-play - remove the ramps and make a figure-eight crossing railroad, or use the ramps to run trains onto the floor or in sidings or yards.

The boom arm system on these crossings is often broken in some way, as the Plarail versions often are.

1308 Station (1988)

The initial Tomy Train station system used a wide plastic base piece with studs on top and a few small accessories like a hand railing and three-wide row of seats as well as a big sign with a few set variations. The "standard" type was also sold with a coach and figures in the 1333 Station Pack. More details can be seen on the Tomy Train Stations page.

1309 Crane (1988)

One of, in my opinion, the coolest Tomy Train accessories - a rolling, operating gantry crane. The individual European TOMYTRAIN and TOMY TRAIN box releases includes the three-piece crane, operator figure, and blue container.

The gantry can roll back and forth and the crane carriage can shift side to side. The crane spins on the carriage and the boom arm raises and lowers. Two buttons control a ratcheting winch that raises and lowers the crane's claw.

The crane's claw has two rounded jaws that fit around the log cargo pieces, which were a fresh tooling and different from the shorter Japan-made Plarail logs. Inside the claw is a recessed magnet that extends out to grab the magnetic container cargo when the two magnets are brought near enough. When the top of the claw is pinched, the jaws open and the magnet retracts back inside, dropping whatever cargo is in its grasp.

There are three variants of this crane - with and without studs, and the orange and yellow variant from the Busy Freight Train Set.

1310 Fork-lift Truck and Driver (1988)

This neat little forklift can be used to load and unload containers from flatbed cars and station platforms.

The fork itself is a separate clipped-in piece. Because it adheres to the Tomy Train/Plarail rail standard, it can run on the track or the sections of track-standard "road" on some Tomy Train accessories.

Later versions do not have studs. The tooling was reused with a different set of forks in a Plarail container loading and unloading set in the early 2000s.

1311 Signal and Stop Track (1988)

This pack includes the Tomy Trains adaptation of the Plarail operating signal and a stop rail.

The operating signal takes two AA batteries inside a studded compartment that power an incandescent bulb in a carrier inside the signal housing. When the lever is set to stop, the bulb is positioned in the lower red-lenses chamber, and when set to go the linkage moves the lamp to the lower green-lensed position.

A power switch resides on the outside of the battery compartment, with several studded surfaces that can be built on top of. A pass-through arm attaches to the regular stop rail lever to sync the signal up with the stop rail, stopping trains at red signals and allowing them to pass when they are switched to green. Later examples have a production period sticker on the underside of the battery cover.

1312 Electronic Crossing (1988)

Tomy Train version of the Plarail Electro Railroad Crossing. Sold into the early 1990s.

Switch has settings for OFF, AUTO, and ON. ON plays a crossing dinging and flashes the lights. AUTO makes it only do so when a leaf switch under the lifted rail is pressed down as a train passes. Very neat.

1314 Bus Link Accessory Set (1990)

Neat European TOMYTRAINS pack that includes a spring-loaded passenger bus, driver and two passengers, railroad crossing, and two each of straight, curve, and point rails.

I think this is a pretty good pack, with three different figures and the bus plus some track to expand with and the neat weighted railroad crossing with signs, which the rail can also connect to on the "road" sides. I quite like the little bus stop sign, which is also in Tomytrain 4.

The passengers are the new-for-1990 type with different outfits than the original 1988 figures. The other figure is a "standard" worker figure.

The little bus has a push-down driver's seat which winds a spring-loaded motor that sends the bus off when released, like other Tomy push 'n' go type toys. The bus body comes off the chassis and the window surround can also be removed.

The chassis has two studs in the driver seat and two more pairs are positioned in the rear section of the bus for passengers.

When the log tipper truck was introduced in 1991 the bus chassis tooling was updated to also work for the tipper truck, but in the process several studs that were necessary to properly hold and attach the bus body to the chassis were removed. This means busses from 1990 hold onto their chassis much better than busses made from 1991 and on. Why did they not just make the log tipper sit on the chassis studs like the bus... or screw the bus body in place after this point, I suppose. The chassis seems like it would be pretty nice to build a LEGO style car or bus on top of it too, especially with the push-down motor.

Without the window on, it looks a bit like an open-bed truck... Passengers can still ride in it like an even more open-air bus.

1315 Freight Depot Accessory Set (1990)

Very cool European TOMYTRAINS pack that includes a crane, forklift, driver figure, two logs, blue container, and two each of straight, curve, and point rails.

1316 Inter-City Station Accessory Set (1990)

The first magnet-base accessory and first major use of the studded block building system with a new large base with two integrated magnetic moving pathways for the included passenger figures with magnetic feet, which would become standard for most releases from the early to mid 90s. More details can be seen on the Tomy Train stations page.

I only have a partial set of this accessory - the entire yellow upper floor baseplate and the other upper components besides the bus & train station sign with clock are absent, as is the bus and some other components.

1317 Siding Accessory Set (1990)

TOMYTRAINS track pack with automatic 3-way point, single/double point rail, three straight tracks, stop rail, operating signal, and stop buffer.

1318 Station Announcer/Talking Station (1990)

European adaptation of the Plarail J-27 Talking Station with a small acoustic phonograph and multi-track disk that plays different station sounds and announcements. More details can be seen on the Tomy Train stations page.

1319 Automatic Stop/Start Station (1990)

Tomy Train release of the Plarail catch-and-release station with ringing bell and changing display board. Released in American white grid packaging and later in Europe in TOMYTRAIN packaging.

1330 Crossing Pack (1990)

American pack containing the 1306 Road Crossing, fir tree, and two-piece tunnel. Part of 1993 U.S. mail-in offer.

1331 Commuter Pack (1990)

1990 American white grid pattern packaging release with passenger bus, bus driver, and red open passenger car.

1332 Freight Pack (1990)

Early 90s American release with forklift, operator, two blue containers, and flatbed car.

1335 Bridge and Track (1990)

American bridge pack with with two yellow iron bridges, four Tomy Train girders, four straight rails, two curve rails, and a pair of slope rails. Part of 1993 U.S. mail-in offer.

1323 Freight Station and Depot Accessory Set (1991)

This nice accessory set was sold in European TOMYTRAIN and American Tomy Train packaging with the new-for-1991 log loading station, log unloading depot, log truck, log wagon, and two operators. This is certainly one of the coolest Tomy Train accessories and appeared in a few sets. More details can be seen on the Tomy Train stations page.

1325 Turntable and Engine Shed Accessory Set (1991)

European accessory pack featuring the small Plarail turntable refit for Tomy Train locomotives, an engine shed with integrated stop and return rail, straight rail, half straight rail, return rail, stop rail, and two buffers. The engine shed appeared in several sets including both European and American releases and a few Thomas-series sets.

The shed is made up of two walls, a roof, and a base piece with integrated stopper/reverser. The table of the Plarail J-08 New Turntable it is based on had to be adapted to properly catch a Tomy Train engine - the little bumps sticking up cause the first catch an engine encounters when entering the turntable backwards to drop out of the way so that its reverser pin properly locates in the second catch, correctly lining its wheels up with the rollers. Sold in Tomytrain, Tomy Train, and Tomy Trains packaging - do you see why this range is a little annoying to collect?

The shed base has two controls for START/STOP and PASS/RETURN. Using a combination of these levers you can reverse or stop any incoming train. You can stop a train and then decide whether to reverse it or let it pass.

The orange buttons on the roof drop down a service sign on one side and a worker figure on the other.

Circa 1993 there was a variant with no studs, but it seems most if not all European versions as well as the later Thomas-series sheds all seem to have studs. A version of the roof used in the Thomas and Percy's Big Adventure set do not have the worker or sign dropdowns, and the inside of later wall sections have molding remnants from the funhouse variant from the Euro Park set.

The turntable will stop any incoming train and has a crank to turn the table (the table moves in the opposite direction to the crank) and a lever that will drop the stoppers and release the train on its way. Together, they can be used to turn and release a train, let a train pass through, or other similar operations.

1326 Suspension Bridge (1991)

Pack that incorporated the mini block pier system into Tomy Train with eight red mini block piers, four yellow suspension bridge sides, four straight rails, two of each sloping curve rail, and one of each joint rail. More common in Tomy Train packaging than original Tomytrain.

Early types have a shorter connection peg support - this tooling was used for Plarail starting around 1988 and the tooling was updated during Tomy Train production. The newer type sits a little taller on the block piers anyways.

This bridge looks even cooler when its longer. These bridges were used in the Deluxe Thomas-series set, so it is fairly common. Unfortunately, the Plarail mini bridge pier system is in no way compatible with the full-height Tomy Train girder system and the suspension bridge can not be used on Tomy Train girders and the Tomy Train bridge cannot be used on the suspension bridge mini block piers.

1332 Sound Play Station (1991)

A TomyTrain version of the Plarail Sound Play Station was released with electronic sounds and an automatic mode. More details can be seen on the Tomy Train station page.

1334 Train Wash (1993)

The Tomy Train Engine wash was based on the existing Plarail Round-Trip engine wash but in a new color.

The reverser feature from its Round-Trip Plarail origins is of course still included and fits very well with the Tomy Train reversing system.

I actually have three or four Tomy Train train washes, but one has warped plastic on the roller housing and near one of the track connectors. I ended up taking this one apart and using some of its foam rollers to restore another used example that had intact plastic but missing or degraded foam rollers.

The original made-in-Japan Plarail engine washes had concave connectors on both ends and included "beans", but when this version was produced in the Thailand factory the tooling was changed to make the track straight-through. This change was present in later Thailand-made Plarail engine washes, and the reversing feature remained in the tooling until it was revised and rereleased in Japan with new colors in 2003.

Very early train washes predate the change from "THAILAND" to "MADE IN THAILAND". For whatever reason, a hole is present in the convex connector of the later "made in" type.

1339 Signal Station (1993)

A new station built on the original standard Tomy Trains station platform with new red roof, phone booth, and signal that changes as a train passes. More details can be seen on the station page.

1341 Long Tunnel (1994)

Despite the "normal" two-piece tunnel appearing in sets since 1988 as well as the 1330 Crossing Pack and later a Thomas-series pack, it was not given the "block tunnel" treatment with additional intermediate segments until this 1994 individual release. A pinky-purple version appears in the Euro Park set.

The components are marked Thailand and fit together using a series of alternating pegs and tubes that fit together when flipped around, which is a clever evolution on the earlier one-way Plarail block tunnel design. The intermediate sections (wedges? leafs?) do not engage with every tube, skipping the ones midway up the side walls.

1346 Autobridge Set (1994)

An automatically rotating bridge that is triggered by an oncoming train. The grey lever arm pieces are somewhat hard to find, I have three bridges and just one pair of triggers.

The bridge is normally open to let Fun Runs World (I'll get to covering them someday) vehicles pass. The Fun Runs World road connects to the two road pathways besides the open bridge.