fall inside a hole

Bandai Thomas Town 5

First written February 27, 2025

The fifth Bandai Thomas Town series was released in April 2001 and included the first road character, Bertie, and the first narrow gauge engine in the series, Rusty. An archived copy of an old Japanese fansite that shows the series with its track can be found here.

(1) Friendly Bertie Set

Bertie originally came with a station with a mechanism that lets him roll out as if departing. His front wheel rollers are smaller than the rear.

(2) Friendly Donald Set

Donald includes a turnaround section with a tree that can be turned to make a horse run around. I am pretty sure the main reason the licensing stickers for this series are white instead of black is so they stand out on the twins.

(3) Friendly Douglas Set

Douglas includes a turnaround and a junction with a set of signals.

(4) Friendly Rusty Set

Rusty includes a railroad crossing which fits nicely with Bertie in the set.

(5) Friendly Thomas Set

Thomas included a straight section with a pedestrian overbridge and another railroad crossing with operating gates. Like the rest of the series, the Thomas in this set has a white licensing sticker.