fall inside a hole
Child Guidance Double-O-Eight Runaway Train (1964)
First written December 6, 2023
The Double-O-Eight Runaway Train is a fairly early Guild Guidance Railway set seemingly released around 1964. The set includes a fairly small track layout centered around the "double-o-eight" reversing figure eight piece with lift-out section. The train in the set is a blue and white 0 series Shinkansen manufactured in Japan by Tomy and is the same tooling as the early Plarail Electric Super Express Hikari. The lid of the box shows the prototype style of turnout rails with black directional levers. The top of the box also mentions the "new" Snap-Lok track connections, new style of turnout (which was legitimately a somewhat uncommon design for mid 1960s train sets, with Plarail, BRIO, and other systems not producing this style of turnout until the mid 1970s, and prior systems like the Tot Railroad that Child Guidance was an evolution on not having a turnout of this type at all), and the new reversing double-o-eight piece, also a relatively unseen track piece, although not as widely copied.
This is an American release Child Guidance set with the catalogue number 4030. A stamp on the right side of my box implies the original price may have been $2.29, or about 23 dollars today (2023). A larger set with a turntable and more track was released around the same time, and this smaller version of the set was also rereleased later with a different style of box. These were the first Child Guidance sets to use powered trains.
A U.S. patent for this set and in particular the figure-eight and operating point concept was filed in 1967, even though it appears to be the case that this set first appeared around 1964.
Set contents
| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Runaway
Train (early Plarail
0-series Shinkansen tooling) |
 |
| 1 | Straight Track (red) |
 |
| 2 | Half Track (red) |
 |
| 8 |
Curved Track (red) |
 |
| 2 |
Geared Switch Track (red) |
 |
| 1 |
"Double-O-Eight" figure eight |
 |
The blue and white train in this set is a Tomy-made 0 series Shinkansen with the original drive system. The white and red Hikari shown uses a second generation rim-drive gearbox, while this train uses the first generation "electric plastic train" gearbox and front power switch.
The train is made in Japan and is the same tooling as the original Plarail Electric Super Express Hikari. It uses an all-metal direct-drive gearbox with a power switch mounted at the front of the train, with a metal lever on the bottom of the train that engages with a metal tab in the nose of the train to keep the body shell attached. The engine has no rear coupler.
The track in this set is made in the USA and has molding slot marks similar to Plarail track. The switches, which actually predate the similar Plarail turnouts by about a decade, have operating handles to switch direction and molding marks underneath. The levers are fairly stiff and trains can not reset a point set against them, usually causing a derailment.
The "star" of the set is the "double-o-eight" track section. When an engine enters, it will follow the rim of the figure eight section around and around the figure eight until the triangular section is lifted out to let the train head straight across the back wall and head out one of the track connectors.
The liftout section has a small "handle" molded into it as well as two locating pegs that help you reinstall it in the correct position. Later "double-o-eight" sets like the Double-O-Eight Runaway Loco have a sliding mechanism that is a little easier to use. Unlike the smooth rails, the bowl of the figure eight has a roughtop tread.
The foldout leaflet included with this set also includes the layout diagram for the larger "Giant" 4050 version of this set. The inner right panel is an order form for additional parts, including additional locomotives. I would be interested in knowing what packaging these trains came in, but I suspect it was probably just a shipping box with no "retail" style packaging.
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The figure eight section is a fun piece and is not something I have really seen in another toy train system. It is limited to running a single vehicle around but that is all the set includes and although the engine is a little worn out with age the gimmick still works nicely. The operating points are also fun and the mechanism is interesting, with the caveat that trains will overrun a point set against them.
The battery compartment and gearboxes on early Plarails make it fairly easy to insert the battery backwards which will run the locomotive in reverse.
The manual suggests three different layouts. The straight rail in my set has a broken outboard connector, with the convex connector on one of the turnouts having been previously repaired. I borrowed a straight rail from another Child Guidance set for demonstration purposes.
This is certainly one of the more interesting Child Guidance Railroad sets in that it includes a powered train and the double-o-eight piece. After this set the only Child Guidance sets with powered trains are those that use the Joy Ride train. The Plarail connection elevates this set to me but I think the motorized train makes the set a lot more interesting than most other Child Guidance sets anyways, especially when combined together with other sets and accessories.