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Child Guidance Railroad

Originally started in the Bronx, New York in 1953 as the toy division of New York Archer Plastics, Child Guidance Toys released the first Child Guidance Railroad sets in the early 1960s. Child Guidance Railroad proved popular, with companion highway and building systems being released in 1963 and the range surviving Child Guidance being bought by Dunhill-Questor in 1967 and CBS Toys in 1978. CBS sold Child Guidance Railroad under the Gabriel name before the Child Guidance name was phased out after 1985 when Hasbro bought CBS Toys, and the range disappeared. Most sets used plastic push-trains with some having battery-powered trains manufactured by Tomy in Japan. The Child Guidance Railroad standard was popular in America and was also used by Mettoy-Playcraft in the U.K., Toltoy in Australia, HEROS in Germany, imported to Canada by Irwin Toys and even into Japan where Plarail had also evolved out of the Tot Railroad system.

I remember years ago when I was in middle school going to an estate sale and finding a few pieces of this odd grey rail on the floor in the family room. I didn't know what it was for, and I wasn't sure what to search to find more of it, so I left it. A few years later I was at a flea market with my friends and I saw a circa 1962 set with the colorful train on the cover and opened it to look at the trains and geared turntable and saw that the track was the same grey with rounded connectors... I did not buy it at the time, but since then I have learned more than I ever really wanted to know about Child Guidance Railroad, mostly as an aside to my Plarail collection.

Trains

Child Guidance trains are fairly small plastic trains similar to other period wooden and plastic trains. They are produced out of a few different colors and toolings which are combined together in different ways to get different color combinations and styles of rolling stock. All of the locomotives should have smiling face stickers - these are often lost. Roofs clip in around the axles but can be pulled off by rough play.

The coupling system is somewhat rough and involves a protruding bulb which can be fit and twisted into a molded slot in the rear of the next car along. The plastic these trains is made from is relatively soft and warps fairly easily, making the couplings somewhat inconsistent and sometimes broken (although not necessarily really any more than any other toy train coupling system - sometimes kids just play rough).

The trains are similar to the Holgate "New" Tot Railroad trains (seen to the left with yellow wheels). The Child Guidance Railroad was based heavily on and borrowed from this system, so this is not necessarily that surprising.

There is another engine variant sold as a "diesel" train - as I must admit my interest in Child Guidance Railroad is primarily as a side effect of my interest in Plarail and I am generally more interested in the powered Child Guidance trains than the push trains, I do not have that much of a drive to seek out some of the harder to find trains. If I come across more trains with intact face stickers or of otherwise interesting variety I will update this page.

Track

The Child Guidance Railroad track standard is roughly based on the prior Tot Railroad track system as well as similarly-sized wooden train sets. Most regular sets come with grey track while sets with motorized engines often had red track, but track was also produced in yellow and blue at different points in time. Archer Plastics produced the Child Guidance Railroad track in the United States for their sets with Mettoy-Playcraft, Toltoy, and others who used the system producing their track locally - seemingly the toolings and designs were shared fairly freely (or under some kind of license or agreement) and this allowed a range of different toys to eventually use this track system up into the 1980s.

Here are two Child Guidance Railroad order forms I have come across, one from around 1964 in the United States and the other around 1968 from the U.K. In both the States and the U.K. parts could be ordered directly from the manufacturer and in the U.K. some track and accessories were sold in hanging polybags similar to Plarail in Japan.

Straight Track (1961)

Child Guidance straight rail measures in around 196mm long. This is similar to Tot Railroad's 201mm standard, which may have been their target length. It is also possible both have shrunken or expanded unevenly over time.

Curved Track (1961)

Older silver-grey track has a more basic sleeper pattern while the later red track has ballast in between the sleepers. Later sets that used grey track used the ballasted tooling.

Early track has tooling marks a few sleepers way from the convex connector. Later the track was marked in the connector and, at times, the region of manufacture.

Yoke (1961)

Being based off of Tot Railroad, the somewhat odd "yoke" rail way brought forward for Child Guidance Railroad as well as Child Guidance Highway.

Switch (1961)

The tight parallel switch that appeared in Tot Railroad was also produced for Child Guidance Railroad.

Bridge Rail (1961)

Also inherited from Tot Railroad, in this case the later Playskool/Holgate version, is a rather steep ascending bridge rail. Because of the integrated support and handedness of the track connectors, there are separate "up" and "down" pieces. A patent for the design of the sleepers on these rails was filed for in 1961.

These were also produced in red.

A longer, less steep bridge rail was produced and used in some sets like the Sears Coast to Coast set around 1968. A version of this rail - I'm not sure if it was exactly the same tooling - was used in some European Playcraft sets. Plarail also had a style of self-supporting bridge rail around this time, but it was probably more of a coincidence of both systems having battery-powered trains added later.

Risers (1961)

Much more common in Child Guidance Railroad than the earlier Tot Railroad are track supports. These were occasionally called "trusses" in the British releases.

Later on a more advanced riser with raised pegs to hold the track in place was developed. These pegs are often broken off.

Ramps and bumpers (1961)

The Tot Railroad ramps and bumper buffers were also produced for Child Guidance Railroad. Later red types were redesigned slightly with thicker round bumpers and ballast.

Crossing (1961)

Like the late Holgate "New" Tot Railroad, Child Guidance had a short crossover track piece.

Crossover switch (1963)

New around 1963 was this curved crossover switch which is handy in making figure-eight type arrangements.

Geared Switch (1964)

These geared turnouts were developed in 1964 to go along with the first Child Guidance Railroad sets to use powered locomotives. This style of standard-straight-over-standard-curve switch was used on model railroads but toy railroads up to this point used the tight parallel and yoke switches of Tot Railroad (as was the case with the Playskool, Holgate, and the early Child Guidance sets as well as Plarail) or other parallel switches in the case of wooden trains of the era like Brio, Jack-Built's Snap-Trains, and Skaneateles.

In the U.K. Playcraft produced an all-concave version of the switch for some sets like the Runaway Loco set circa 1968.

Ungeared switches were sold in some sets that did not have powered trains after this point.

"Double-O-Eight" (1964)

This rather neat "double-o-eight" figure eight reversing piece was included in a few sets with battery-powered locomotives to run around the figure-eight bowl. The triangular portion can be lifted out so the train exits the bowl.

A later U.K. version circa 1968 changes the design to use a sliding handle with some Child Guidance Railroad stickers and a white mountain molded onto the triangular directional decider.

Half Track/Short Straight (1960s)

Like some other track pieces, Playcraft produced this piece with two concave connectors and included a dogbone if bought as an accessory set.

"Dogbone" (1960s)

At some stage a "dogbone" double-convex piece that adds no track length was released. These were used more in the U.K. where Playcraft had some pieces with all-concave connectors like their version of the geared switch.

Accessories

Child Guidance Railroad accessories included smaller trackside accessories as well as buildings, bridges, and sheds.

Patents for a geared turntable and shed were patented in Spring 1961. The turntable would later have versions with integrated stoppers and switches.

In 1962 patents for a station, water tower, signal box, and geared swing bridge were filed.

These buildings are constructed similarly to other Child Guidance toy buildings like the Child Guidance Highway service station. These were produced in several color combinations and included in some sets.

These smaller trackside accessories were included in larger and Sears-sold sets. They are similar to and seemingly based on the Holgate Tot Railroad style but have square bases instead of circular. Some of the toolings seem to have been changed or renewed at some stage.

In 1963 the compatible and in-scale Child Guidance Highway and Guidancetown U.S.A. road and building systems were introduced. Some larger sets contained elements from multiple systems.

Sets

Most Child Guidance sets were traditional push train sets with plastic unpowered trains. The initial box style was somewhat similar to the Holgate "New" Tot Railroad boxes, which was the last style of Tot Railroad sold (throughout 1960 and into 1961, before Playskool began selling wooden Skaneateles trains for the rest of the 60s). A few of the early accessories were also sold individually in this style of box.

Year	Set name	Description
1961	350 Child Guidance Railroad	Small set with loop of track, bridge, and four-piece train
		I have not seen the 351 set of this generation, but it probably exists
1961	352 Super Child Guidance Railroad	Large set with two trains, three bridges, two of each switch, a variety of straight and curved track, track piers, and small standing accessories as well as two trains

350 Child Guidance Railroad (1961)

This basic set served as the small introductory-type set for the system. It includes a four-car train and enough track for an oval with siding and bridge or other layouts shown around the sides of the box. A plastic layer should cover the trains but is missing from this example.

The box also mentions the connection to Archer Plastics and the side mentions a commendation from Parent's magazine.

These sets all use the earlier grey rails which have a nice silvery sort of look to them.

In 1962 new boxes were designed that showed a solid-color cartoon drawing of the side of a Child Guidance train with a photo of a child playing with the set in the lower right corner. The sides of these boxes still uses the older "red line" logo. A more advanced geared turntable and station and signalbox buildings appeared around this time, eclipsing the accessory availability of New Tot Railroad. In 1962 Sears also began carrying several larger Child Guidance Railroad sets.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
1962	350 Child Guidance Railroad Starter Set	Small oval set with parallel switch and bridge with station building and four-car train	Can be seen here
1962	351 Child Guidance Railroad Intermediate Set	Medium set with one straight, 17 curves, one switch, one yoke, four bridges and eight supports, two bumpers and two ramps, and a geared turntable	Can be seen here
1962	4575 Child Guidance Railroad 36 Piece Set	Sears set with decently-sized figure eight layout with elevated crossing, station, and other accessories	Can be seen here
1962	4576 Child Guidance Railroad 71 Piece Set	Medium 1962 Sears set with turntable, swing bridge, station, and many trackside accessories as well as a large layout	Can be seen here
1962	4577 Child Guidance Railroad 114 Piece Set	Huge Sears set with turntable, swing bridges, sheds, a variety of switches, station, and three complete trains	Can be seen here
1962	??? Child Guidance Railroad	Scenic set with medium track layout of 11 curves, one each straight, yoke, bumper, and lead-in, two bridge sections and five supports as well as station, water tower, signal tower, and ten trackside accessories	Can be seen here
1962	??? Child Guidance Railroad	Larger trackset with four bridge sections, yoke and parallel switch, crossing, several risers, and selection of straights and curves	Can be seen here

In 1963 when the accompanying Child Guidance Highway and Guidancetown U.S.A. were released the packaging was updated to be more similar. New track pieces like the curved crossover switch were also released. By 1964 a new series of Sears sets that included more accessories and Guidancetown crossover pieces were released.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
1963	350 Child Guidance 24 piece set	Small oval set with parallel switch and bridge with station building and four-car train
1963	351 Child Guidance Railroad 38 piece set	Medium set with crossover switch and four bridges with six risers to make a neat figure-eight with interwoven additional loop
1964	4690 Child Guidance Railroad 37 Piece Set	Sears exclusive version of the 350 set with added station, signal box, and other trackside accessories	Can be seen in the 1964 Sears Wishbook
1964	4691 Child Guidance Railroad 72 Piece Set	Big set with 28 pieces of track turntable, six bridge pieces plus rotating swing bridge and girder bridge, station, signal box, and train	Can be seen in the 1964 Sears Wishbook
1964	4692 Child Guidance Railroad 163 Piece Set	Massive set with 45 pieces of track, three trains, turntable with sheds, station and signal box, girder and swing bridges as well as girders and trackside accessories plus three Guidancetown buildings	Can be seen in the 1964 Sears Wishbook
1964	4698 Child Guidance Railroad 314 Piece Set	Gigantic set with 54 pieces of track, three trains, sheds and turntable, swing and girder bridges, station, and an entire town full of buildings, accessories, cars, and people	Can be seen in the 1964 Sears Wishbook

Starting in 1964, a few sets with motorized trains were released that used the same rail standard but were not all advertised by Child Guidance as Child Guidance Railway sets.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
1964	4030 Double-O-Eight Runaway Train	Early Child Guidance set with motorized train, in this case a version of the early Plarail 0 series Shinkansen manufactured by Tomy for Child Guidance, this set also features a reversing figure eight section and operating turnouts
1964	4050 Giant Double-O-Eight Runaway Train	Large "double o eight" set with figure-eight reverser, geared turntable with stopper, four straights, two half straights, 17 curves, three pairs of geared switches, and Shinkansen-style locomotive	Box can be seen here
Late 1967	8000 Child Guidance Kiddie Land	American release of the Joy Ride amusement park train and three operational accessories with figures to ride the train and park rides
Late 1967	8010 Joy Ride	Individual release of the four-piece amusement park train used in Child Guidance Kiddie Land
1968	4685 Coast to Coast Motorized Railroad	Giant Sears-exclusive set featuring over 30 feet of track, motorized amusement park train, and lots of buildings and accessories

In the mid 60s the traditional sets started being sold in square boxes with the Child Guidance circle-square-triangle logo on the top. Colored square portions of the box surround the set number, age range, and piece count. Two of the box side panels usually contain a suggested layout while another shows children playing with the set. In 1966 three more Sears sets were sold. This style of box was also imported and sold by Irwin Toys to Canada.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
mid 60s	350 Child Guidance 24 piece set	Small set with crossover switch, two bridges and piers, track to make a figure-eight, and a four-car train
mid 60s	351 Child Guidance Railroad 38 piece set	Medium set with crossover switch and four bridges with six risers to make a neat figure-eight with interwoven additional loop
mid 60s	359 Child Guidance Railroad 60 piece set	Large set with geared turntable, two bridges, four risers, a good amount of straight and curved track as well as several small trackside accessories
1966	4790 Child Guidance 50 Piece Set	Upgraded Sears version of the 350 set with girder bridge and pack of trackside accessories to go with the figure eight and bridge rails	Can be seen in the 1966 Sears Wishbook
1966	4797 Child Guidance 85 Piece Set	Medium Sears set with figure-eight with interlocked loop, turntable, station, and other accessories	Can be seen in the 1966 Sears Wishbook
1966	4798 Child Guidance 145 Piece Set	Big Sears set with two trains, station, turntable with sheds, swing bridge, and Guidancetown buildings	Can be seen in the 1966 Sears Wishbook

In 1967 after Questor bought Child Guidance Toys the Child Guidance Railroad boxes were updated slightly with the circle-square-triangle in the upper left of all of the boxes and a more rounded appearance, with the piece count and age range moving and being outlines in a thick round border. These sets remained on sale into 1968.

Year	Set name	Description
1967	350 Child Guidance Railroad Starter Set	24 piece set with figure-eight and bridge layout
1967	351 Child Guidance Railroad Intermediate Set	Medium set with 18 curves, one crossover, two switches, two bridges, six bridge supports
1967	359 Giant Child Guidance Railroad	Large 43 piece set with turntable, two sheds, four bridge pieces, four risers, and the uncommon diesel locomotive

In 1978 CBS Toys bought Questor and the Child Guidance brand. Around 1979 slightly redesigned boxes that used the Gabriel logo, who CBS had bought in 1978, were released. It appears that only the two smaller sets stayed in regular production with a 5 suffix.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
1979	5350 Child Guidance Railroad Starter Set	24 piece set with figure-eight and bridge layout
1979	5351 Child Guidance Railroad Intermediate Set	Medium set with 18 curves, one crossover, two switches, two bridges, six bridge supports,

In later 1979 the Gabriel boxes were redesigned as "Busy Railroad" in more colorful packaging. Child Guidance Railroad disappeared from regular American production at some point in the early 1980s, with the Child Guidance and Gabriel brands both fading from regular use around 1985, with CBS Toys itself selling to Hasbro in 1985 who dissolved the brand completely, integrating any remnants into the Playskool brand.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
1979	24-Piece Busy Railroad	24 piece figure-eight and bridge set in updated box
1979	38-Piece Busy Railroad	Updated 351-style 38 piece medium set

Mettoy-Playcraft (U.K.)

In the U.K. and EFTA free trade territories the Child Guidance standard was distributed by Mettoy Playcraft. Mettoy Playcraft had their own set of U.K. toolings for track and produced different trains. Playcraft continued to produce some of their own advancements like slight track variations, different slope rails, and later even their own series of motorized trains and sets.

Without getting my hands on some of the traditional British sets, I do not think I will ever fully know all of their tiny secrets and details.

Circa 1963 a version of the American "cartoon" packaging was used with a blue Playcraft logo in a blue oval above the red and black CHILDGUIDANCERAILROAD text.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
1963	Child Guidance Railway Set 1	Small basic set with curves and crossover switch for making figure-eights
1963	Child Guidance Railway Set 2	Small set with oval of track, switch, bridge, and siding with four-piece train
1963	Child Guidance Railway Set 3	Medium set with loop of track, bridge with four piers, two switches, and decent amount of track	Can be seen here

The next earliest series of boxes have pictures of a child playing with the set on a plane pale blue background with a green box in the upper left hand corner with the round Playcraft logo and Child Guidance Toys Railway name. The range was expanded slightly, with the old 3 set becoming the new 4 set.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
~1964	Child Guidance Railway Set 1	Small basic set with curves and crossover switch for making figure-eights
~1964	Child Guidance Railway Set 2	Small set with oval of track, switch, bridge, and siding with four-piece train
~1964	Child Guidance Railway Set 3	Medium set with loop of track, bridge with four piers, two switches, and decent amount of track
~1964	Child Guidance Railway Set 4	Large set with two two-part bridges and five trusses, crossing switch, turnouts, sidings, buffers, and ramps	Can be seen here
~1964	Child Guidance Railway Set 5	Large advanced set with five straights, one half straight, 16 curves, a crossover, two points, two bridges with supports and a turntable with two sheds as well as two trains and accessories

In the mid 60s Playcraft seems to have adopted the Child Guidance packaging style, using a photo of children playing with the set on a blue background with a large green-backed CHILD GUIDANCE TOYS mark in the upper left.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
mid 60s	Child Guidance Railway Set A	Figure-eight set with crossover points and four-car train
mid 60s	Child Guidance Railway Set B	Medium set with figure-eight with bridge crossing and siding with four-piece train	Can be seen here
mid 60s	Child Guidance Railway Set C	Same as the original set 3 or the later set 4, larger looping layout with two bridge sections
mid 60s	Child Guidance Toys Railway Set D	Rerelease of the large Set 5 with bridges, sidings, a turntable and sheds as well as two trains	Can be seen here

Around 1968 Mettoy-Playcraft released some of the American Child Guidance sets that used powered trains. These sets used boxes that were fairly similar to their American counterparts.

Year	Set name	Description
1968	88000 Child Guidance Kiddie Land	U.K. release of the Kiddie Land set with Joy Ride train and three operational accessories that the train can power in turn
1968	9520 Double-O-Eight Runaway Loco	U.K. set distributed by Mettoy Playcraft with double-o-eight turnaround and amusement park locomotive and small layout of track
1968	Giant Double-O-Eight Runaway Loco	Large U.K. set with amusement park locomotive, geared turntable with stopper, double-o-eight turnaround, and operating points

At some stage - the later 60s? - the Child Guidance name was dropped from most sets and the green logo area was replaced with an orange "play craft toys" mark.

Year	Set name	Photo
Late 1960s?	Play Craft Toys Railway Set A
Late 1960s?	Play Craft Toys Railway Set B
Late 1960s?	Play Craft Toys Railway Set C	Can be seen here

In 1973 the packaging was redesigned to show the set being played with on carpet in a circle with similar "play craft toys" branding. Playcraft also developed their own battery-powered train system around this time.

Year	Set name	Description	Photo
1973	9520 Junior Railway Set A	Small set with curves and a crossover double-slip to make a figure eight
1973	9521 Junior Railway Set B	Medium set with two-car train, later Mettoy-Playcraft slopes, and figure-eight layout with bridge in 1970s looking "play craft toys" packaging	Can be seen here
1973	9522 Junior Railway Set C
1973	9523 Junior Railway Set D
1973	9524 Junior Railway Set E	Large set with four long slopes, crossover switch, geared points, and Playcraft's battery-powered train with 'pop-in' people.	Can be seen here
1973	9580 Electric Loco with Two Trucks	Playcraft's own design of battery-powered locomotive, sold individually in yellow with red boiler and 9580 sticker with two coaches with a single interchangeable roof and passengers and driver figures

By 1977 the packaging had been updated to a PLAYCRAFT style of boxes that showed the sets being played with on carpet. The sets were given actual names as well.

Year	Set name	Description
1977	Playcraft Starter Set	Rereleased "A" set, small starter set with 14 curves and crossover switch and four-car train
1977	Playcraft Sunnytown Express

Pop Train (Japan) (mid 1960s)

Seemingly first around January 1964 a series of "Pop Train Sets" (ポップトレーンセット) were released in Japan with both the Tomy (then Tomiyama) and Bandai marks. I'm not sure exactly where the components were produced for these sets, but for a portion of 1964 it seems that Bandai and Tomy sold some imported Child Guidance sets as Pop Train. Some advertisements showed the system interacting with regular Plarail trains. The classic Plarail collector's book All About Plarail includes a single page mentioning this system, which is one of the prevailing places that Japanese collectors run into this system. Some more information about Pop Train is shown here.

Toltoys (Australia) (1970s)

In the 1970s Toltoys of Australia also released a series of Toltoys Development Railways, later also called Child Development and Discovery Time, in Australia as well as New Zealand. After the American Child Guidance Highway series had already been discontinued, Toltoys also produced their own version of that system in Australia alongside the Railroad and in some large crossover sets. Some more information about Toltoys Trains can be found here.

At least one Toltoys set used track that was either based off of the older Tot Railroad or for some reason ended up with a copy of the Plarail standard, with a "my first" style set with a circle of Plarail-connectored track in light blue being released.

Merit Toys

In the mid 1980s Merit produced a range of Thomas the Tank Engine licensed toys including pull-along shape-sorters and large battery-powered trains as well as a Thomas, Annie and Clarabel sold individually and in a set that used the red Child Guidance-style track and some cardboard punch-out accessories. Interestingly, this set features many of the odder Child Guidance rail pieces including the yoke, parallel switch, and crossover track in a rather neat layout. An example of this set and its appearance in a mid 1980s catalogue can be seen in this blog post. I would not mind getting a copy of this set one day.