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Tomy James at Wellsworth Station/A Day Out with James Set

First written September 19, 2025

In 2002 the A Day Out with James Set was released in the later red European Tomica World Thomas boxes featuring James and Lorry 1 as well as the localized Caroline station destination. In the United States the set was sold as the James at Wellsworth Station set - it was not widely released in the United States, appearing in mail-order catalogues and specialty stores.

James at Wellsworth Station (2002)

The North American release of this set is rather hard to find - this example was the second one I have seen for sale with the box. This was the only North American release of Lorry 1.

The distribution of this set was handled by International Playthings in North America. On the European Tomica World box the layout is primarily shown with the two loops on opposite sides of the station instead of the rail encircling the road. The expansion ideas on the rear of the box are also different - the European box uses the Sloping Curve Rail Accessory Kit that I don't think was ever separately sold in the U.S..

Set contents

Quantity	Item	Photo
3 pieces	James with cattle van and brakevan
1	Lorry 1
2	Straight Rail
2	Half Straight Rail
8	Curve Rail
3 pieces	Caroline at Wellsworth Station
1	Straight Road
4	Curve Road
1	Tree
1	Signal
1	Sir Topham Hatt Tomica Town figure (Tomica World release only)

This set includes James with his original cattle van and brakevan, a very nice departure from Thomas and his coaches like nearly every Tomy Thomas set seems to.

The James in this set is an April 2002 example of the painted-face release. The gold paint around his dome is applied more precisely around the base like the more highly-detailed 2003+ Japanese market James. he production sticker in the tender is layered on top of another, so probably this James was originally produced in March 2002 and got an updated sticker when the set was packaged together in April or something along those lines.

Lorry 1 is also included, the only American market release of the horrid lorry.

The one that came in this set is new in its bag, so I borrowed another.

The main focus of the set is Wellsworth Station, which has both road and rail connections. Caroline can be taken off the base and is free rolling.

The one that came in this set was still in its plastic bag, so I borrowed another. It is the 2001+ version with the licensing information on the chassis - only the original release in the original Talking Caroline and Station release. The station building, using the same tooling as the Elsbridge Station Crossing, is removable and uses the same stickers as the Japanese Talking Thomas series-version.

Although the talking electronics have all been removed, the road stopper has been adapted to be actuated by a lever on the outside and, very neatly, the stopper section on the rail side has the train's wheels drive Caroline's platform back and forth. Caroline's platform also includes a slot for Tomica Town figures - the Sir Topham Hatt Tomica-style figure was included in the European release.

The track is early squared-off-logo tooling track, and the road is the marked-out 1993 tooling. A tree and a signal, both with the wider style of base used in many export sets, are included as well.

The instructions in the copy I bought are photocopies - actually, weirdly, the James battery installation information appears to have had an additional generation of copying done to it.

Click for longer video with sound!

The road and rail only make up endless loops, but they can be set up concentrically or on opposite sides of the station and the vehicles can be run around either way. It is very neat to see a smaller set that includes Motor Tomica elements as well as some lesser-seen characters.

Set name	7412 James at Wellsworth Station 7412 A Day Out with James Set	Release period	2002, United States and Europe
Vehicle rating		Track rating
Accessory rating		Overall
Notes:

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