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Plarail Talking Thomas accessories

First written April 2025

In 2000 Tomy began releasing the Talking Thomas series of Thomas the Tank Engine trains for their Thomas Plarail and export toy ranges that featured sound and dialog as well as control over the train's motor as well as a sensor that read specialized activation rails to create a range of talking characters that could be programmatically triggered to say different lines and perform different actions. In Japan a few specific talking accessories were released for the system, although none of them were localized for the export Talk 'n' Action ranges.

Talking Harold and Station

Released in the Talking Thomas Talking Harold and Station Set on July 20, 2000, the same day as the other individual talking accessories, was the Talking Harold Station based on the Harold Station accessory. The usual train trigger flap and drive system that flies Harold around the station is hooked up to the talking circuitry and allows Harold to fly around when a train arrives.

The stop rail in the normal flying station is replaced by a lever that changes talking track patterns between the number 2 stop rail and number 4 speed up rail. Flaps like the Talking Caroline and Station accessory base let Harold respond when the train actually leaves, in the case of stopping trains.

TJ-01 Trevor and Garage

Released June 20, 2000 as the first in the small "TJ" numbered series was Talking Trevor and Garage, the simplest of the Talking Thomas accessories. Unlike the other destinations which have triggers in the rail bed so the character automatically respond to passing trains, Trevor is only activated by pressing down on the traction engine himself.

TJ-02 Talking Caroline and Station

At the same time in June 2000 the Talking Caroline and Station (おしゃべりキャロラインと駅) accessory was also released featuring a small free-wheeling version of Caroline and a talking station building with road and rail connections.

The box for the accessory reveals that the prototype station used a different style of trigger in the rail.

The station has a "two" bump pattern rail built in that will cause a Talk 'n Action train to stop and say their line about departing from a station before taking off again and hitting one of the two triggers that will make Caroline respond. On the road side, a stopper will stop any passing vehicle until the yellow button is pressed, prompting Caroline to say something. Pressing down on Caroline will also play one of her lines.

The small characters included in these accessories are the same type as later included in the Thomas and Busy Freight Cars Set and a few export sets, although by that time the tooling had gained licensing information on the bottom. This is the easiest way to tell one of these very early vehicle characters apart from their later set releases. The claw in the center of the car clips Caroline into position and remains on later releases.

The station building is the same tooling as the one used on the J-25 Thomas the Tank Engine Railroad Crossing Station in a different color with different stickers.

Although the talking features were entirely removed (and the road section adapted to have a rotating lever to control the stopper), this Caroline and station was reformatted for the export Motor Road and Rail range in sets like the Day Out with James set and the original 2004 Thomas Ultimate Set.