fall inside a hole
Plarail Thomas the Tank Engine-series coaches
First written June 2024
Thomas the Tank Engine is the titular character of the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends T.V. show as well as a main character in the Railway Series books it is based on. In 1992 Tomy began releasing a series of Thomas Plarail trains, sets, and accessories. Throughout the decades since, Tomy has produced a wide variety of new toolings and variations for trucks, carriages, and other rolling stock.
Annie and Clarabel (1992)
First released with Thomas in 1992, his coaches Annie and Clarabel share the same new tooling and have different stickers applied.
Early examples from 1992 to 1994 were made in Japan, with newer coaches manufactured in Thailand. These coaches followed the construction methods of the time and use the older single-split couplings.
When production of Thomas moved to Thailand in 1995 Annie and Clarabel also began being manufactured in Thailand. Around 2002 the chassis was updated with the new square Tomy logo.
This chassis was used for a few different variations of branchline and narrow gauge coaches. The later powered works van was adapted for the 2004 More Talkative Thomas' Annie, and a matching longer Clarabel was also produced to match and was also used for the Sound Steam Thomas the Tank Engine with a further-modified powered Annie.
4860 Annie (Motorized Road & Rail) (2004)
In 2004 new-chassis Annies were released individually in the United States in plastic hanging-box packaging.
4861 Clarabel (Motorized Road & Rail) (2004)
In 2004 new-chassis Clarabels were released individually in the United States in plastic hanging-box packaging.
Express coach (1995)
The second new rolling stock tooling specifically for the Thomas range came in 1995 when Gordon was released with a green express coach.
As production went on, the chassis was updated to use a more traditional screw around 2001. A brief version lacked the "Made in Thailand" text in the wheel holder insert and has darker yellow window surrounds that also appeared on the later type with the text added, which changed to having lighter window surrounds later on.
Later on the coach's roof was darkened, with some slight variations in the window surrounds. The earliest chassis with rimmed screw has lighter and darker variations as does the transitional no-logo chassis. The squared-off logo chassis has both lighter and darker roof variations with the darker roofs carrying forward to the updated 2006 licensing version.
Red Express Coach (2001)
In 2001 a red express coach resembling the other common style of express coach seen in the Thomas television series was released first produced from red plastic in early copies of the Plarail Thomas and Busy Freight Cars Set. Later copies of the original box type from later 2002 and 2003 already moved to using grey plastic.
In 2002 a version of the red coach was included with Powerful Gordon. It has the one-off reinforced rear coupling like the Powerful Gordon itself. It seems that these coaches were produced from grey plastic, and are probably when the production was first changed.
In 2004 the Thomas and Busy Freight Cars Set was rereleased with the grey-plastic version of the red express coach.
Here are four variations from various versions of the Freight Cars set, an early type made from red plastic circa 2001, a transitional chassis coach circa 2002 or so, a 2003 or so updated logo chassis version, and the later 2006 license info chassis from a later production copy of the set. A red coach with yellow stripe was released individually in 2006 as TF-04 Red Passenger Car.
The red coach included in the 2011 Thomas and Lots of Freight Cars Set and its 2018 rerelease is also similar, with the window surrounds being fairly tan on this circa 2017 example. By this time the tooling dropped the licensing date and information again...
"Season's Greetings" Coach (2003)
This express coach variant was included with the American and Australian Thomas Holiday Set. The coach is produced in green plastic with a red stripe and Season's Greetings sticker on the side.
TF-04 Red Passenger Car (2006)
As part of the 2006 Thomas and Friends fright car series a red express coach with yellow stripe was released as TF-04 あかい客車 Red Passenger Car.
These coaches are stamped with production date and have stickers with 2006 licensing information. Later on, this 2006 date was added to the coach chassis tooling, although I am not sure if the yellow-stripe coach was still produced by that time.
Henrietta (1997)
Released, of course, with the Plarail Toby; Henrietta shares the same chassis as Annie and Clarabel but with nice observation decks at either end.
Henrietta's chassis follows the same revisions as Annie and Clarabel, although she was never produced in Japan.
Branchline Coaches (1998)
First produced in dark red with Plarail Oliver in 1998, a branchline-style coach tooling with a slightly different roof but otherwise similar features to Annie and Clarabel was released that used the same chassis.
Like other Thomas-series trains and carriages from the later 1990s, there is a period of production where white roofs were darker grey than their 2000s counterparts. The old logo, transitional old logo, and new logo variations of the chassis were all used on this type of coach.
Emily's Branchline Coach (2005)
In 2005 for the American and European three-pack releases of Emily a recolored and nicely painted version of the tooling was used to represent her matching coaches seen in the television show. This coach was not sold in Japan, although the PlaKids brake coach version was.
Skarloey coaches (2006)
Included with Skarloey in 2006 were two repainted versions of this coach tooling resembling blue coaches seen in the Thomas TV show.
Sir Handel coaches (2007)
In 2007 Sir Handel went on sale in Europe and Japan with two red coaches with black roofs.
Spencer's Private Coach (2004)
Spencer, the private locomotive of a duke and duchess in the Thomas and Friends television series, comes with their private brake coach in three-pack releases.
This coach uses the same chassis as the express coach but has rounded ends that cause the couplings to be partially obscured. This causes them to couple slightly closer together, which gives a nice effect.
Emily's Brake Coach (2004)
In December 2004 the PlaKids Town Emily Set included an opening, Plakids-compatible version of Emily's brake coach. This coach is longer than the recolored branch line coaches used with Emily's international releases.
Old Slow Coach (2010)
In 2010 as part of the Thomas 65th Anniversary Birthday Parade Wagon Set a version of Old Slow Coach based on the brake coach tooling was released, also opening to seat PlaKids. This was the only release of Old Slow Coach in Plarail as well as any of the TrackMaster iterations.
Green narrow gauge coaches (2006)
Released first with Mighty Mac in 2006 and later with Freddie in 2007 and 2008 were these green narrow gauge coaches resembling a style seen in the Thomas the Tank Engine TV show. Mighty Mac included one powered car and one unpowered car, with Freddie including two regular coaches.