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Plarail Thomas the Tank Engine-series accessories
First written July 2024
In 1992 Tomy began releasing a series of Thomas Plarail trains, sets, and accessories, with stations, tunnels, and other components being recolored from the existing Plarail range and others being new or borrowed toolings.
Wellsworth Station (1992)
First released in the initial Thomas the Tank Engine Set in 1992, the Tomy Wellsworth Station is a recolor of the Plarail Country Station. Its details and revisions are covered on the Plarail Thomas-series station page.
Wellsworth Pedestrian Crossing (1992)
Matching the color and style of the Wellsworth Station recolor is the Wellsworth pedestrian crossing bridge, also first included in the Thomas the Tank Engine Set. This is a recolor of the Plarail Pedestrian Overpass. More details can be seen here.
Thomas the Tank Engine Panorama Bag (1995)
In November 1995 the Knapford Station-themed "cleaning up box" Panorama Bag was released as an individual accessory.
This multi-lane station can have track placed through it like a traditional accessory or filled with trains as a storage container. More details can be seen on the Thomas the Tank Engine Panorama Bag page.
Ffarquhar Station (1996)
The first new station tooling for the Thomas series came with the introduction of Ffarquhar Station in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Freight Cars Set in June 1996. Being a fresh tooling, it fairly closely resembles the station building as seen in the television series. More details including several set variations can be seen on the Thomas stations page.
Tunnel (1996)
Also first used in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Freight Cars Set was a brown-portaled four-piece tunnel that was originally developed in the late 1970s for Tomy's Super Rail series.
Snowy Tunnel (set variants)
Two tunnels included with the Donald and Douglas Snowplow Train Set have a light snowy dusting of white paint applied.
The later export Thomas Holiday Set has two tunnels with a heavier layer of snow applied.
J-25 Thomas the Tank Engine Railroad Crossing Station (1996)
First released in July 1996, this neat Motor Tomica-compatible road and rail crossing features Elsbridge station, a signalbox, operating crossing gates, and nice fence details. More information is available on the Thomas Railroad Crossing Station page.
Big Thomas (1997)
In 1997 the Plarail Big Thomas was developed as a massive accessory that can act as a storage box and a tunnel for multiple trains. A separate track pack was also released and the two were combined with several trains into the Thomas Giant Set for export sale.
Flying Harold Station (1998)
First used in the Plarail Thomas the Tank Engine and Harold Flying in the Sky Set in late 1998, this motorized station includes a fence and light as well as Harold on a metal arm. The station takes a C battery and has two modes - mode "1" makes Harold spin around when the track stopper is set to off and a train is triggering the blue lever hanging out the front while mode "2" makes Harold spin continuously until switched off. More details and several variations can be seen here.
J-26 Thomas the Tank Engine Fun Scene Set (1998)
In October 1998 the regularly-numbered Thomas Fun Scene Set was released with three half-straight-long accessory stopper pieces. One section holds Terence the Tractor, another has Harold the Helicopter, and the third has a spinning windmill. In Europe a similar Motor Road & Rail pack was released without the Terence section, and some of the components have been used in Thomas-series sets as well.
Thomas the Tank Engine Go Out 3D Bag (1999)
Released in February 1999, the large Go Out 3D Bag serves as a storage box for trains and rail components to make a self-contained layout around the molded canyon inside the bag.
Cranky at the Docks (1999)
First included as part of the Thomas the Tank Engine Strongman Cranky Set in the summer of 1999, the very neat motorized Cranky at the Docks accessory includes a double-track docks base with shed, Cranky the Crane, track stoppers, and Bulstrode the barge. The track further from cranky has a traditional stopper while the closer stopper is actually a trigger to make Cranky rotate back and forth, "loading and unloading" the train before eventually releasing the train to let it cycle around again. This accessory and its variants are covered on the Cranky at the Docks page.
J-28 Thomas the Tank Engine Boulder and Thumper (1999)
Released individually as a regular numbered accessory in July 1999, the Boulder and Thumper accessory set includes a molded hill with Boulder on top and a small Thumper at the base. When a train is stopped at the track stopper, its wheels rotate Thumper back and forth and cause Boulder to rock around on top of the "mountain." More details can be seen on the J-18 Boulder and Thumper page.
Buffers (2001)
These small buffers can clip in over either connector type. They were first used in the Thomas and Busy Freight Cars Set in 2001 and several later sets. They appear in orange most commonly but also in red in multiple sets.
Turntable (2004)
In 2004 the old Plarail Turntable was reworked into a new Thomas version. The new turntable has has ten exits, with two pairs of opposing exits perpendicular to one another capable of connecting with standard Plarail track in a cross and the two exits between each cardinal direction (other than the area with the knob to turn in) have a diamond-style track connector that prevents regular track from connecting. This is because each of these exits is 30 degrees (or a multiple of 30 degrees) around the circle from the cardinal directions and Plarail curves all measure 45 degrees, meaning you would not easily be able to connect these exits to other sections of track. Special diamond-connector straight track is typically included with the turntable to connect to these branches.
In America and Europe the turntable was released with five sheds and track as the Engine Sheds and Turntable or Sodor Roundhouse in 2004. The turntable also appears in the 2004 Thomas Ultimate Set (sans special straight rails) which was also released in Europe in 2005. In 2007 the turntable and sidings were included in the Toys R Us exclusive Doki Doki Mountain and Large Turntable Set. In 2010 a green-tabled version of the turntable was released in the also Toys R Us exclusive Large Turntable and Engine Sheds set, which also includes yellow and green variants of the sheds shown below.
Shed (2004)
Alongside the turntable above, three-piece sheds were produced to resemble the roundhouse seen in the Thomas series, although they stand as individual berths. They fit nicely around the turntable but were also used in sets on regular stretches of track or on other sidings. They are made up of two identical wall sections and a roof section. They are open in the back so they can be used as tunnels.
After appearing in the Engine Sheds and Turntable export accessory and in the Thomas Ultimate Set in 2004 they also appeared in the Knapford Station Extension Rail Set and the 'Calling All Engines' - Thomas Airport Set in 2005. The tooling of the walls was changed from single-piece panels to individual windows, similar to the change made to the green windows and doors on Ffarquhar Station around this time. Later, a single shed was included in the Doki Doki Mountain and Large Turntable Set and five yellow-walled, green-roofed sheds appeared in the Large Turntable and Engine Sheds set.
Water Tower and Coal Loader (2004)
In September 2004 an interactive water tower and coal loader was released in Japan in the More Talkative Thomas Set. It was reformatted slightly to work with more trains and was released internationally in 2005. More info can be seen on the Water Tower and Coal Loader page.
PlaKids Town (2004)
As part of Tomy's range of PlaKid dolls that worked with different Plarail trains and accessories, a series of PlaKids Town sets and accessories were released starting in December 2004. These accessories are covered on the Thomas-series PlaKids page.
Maithwaite Station (2005)
First included with the export Steam Along Thomas Set in 2005, a less-detailed version of this station with a different sticker in the planter in front of the sign was released in Japan in 2010 in the Departing From the Station! Hiro and Thomas the Tank Engine Set. More details can be seen on the Tomy Thomas-series stations page.
Harold Cargo Delivery (2005)
In 2005 a motorized, magnetic Harold accessory that could "fly" around a hanger base building that housed the drive mechanism was released either individually or in sets in the three major Thomas Plarail markets. More details are available on the Harold Cargo Delivery page.
Knapford Station (2005)
In 2005 a version of Knapford Station was released as an individual accessory in Japan and Europe. A single station platform was later included in a few sets. More information can be found on the Knapford Station page.
Sodor Quarry Loader (2006)
In 2006 a neat automatic or manual quarry loader with tipper car was released individually and in sets around the world. More details about the releases and revisions of the quarry loader can be seen on the Sodor Quarry Loader page.
Jeremy's Airport (2007/2008)
In 2007 the main airport building previously used as a variation of the flying Harold station was released on a new road and rail base so that it could be used with Jeremy the jet, who was made to run on Motor Tomica-style road.
The European version of the airport released in 2007 has both road and rail stoppers built into the base, while the 2008 Plarail release has no road stopper and different stickers.
Brick Tunnel (2018)
In 2018 a new three-piece tunnel tooling was developed that acts as a curved brick tunnel that can be stacked with an integrated curved rail on top. Actually, the sections are each half the length of the standard curve rail and are pretty much the only "official" way to get a half curve rail.
In addition to the four brown sections included in the June 2018 Reassembly Action Rail Set, two grey and green sections with Hiro and Henry stickers were included in the September 2018 Thomas the Tank Engine Basic Set.