fall inside a hole

Tomy Thomas the Tank Engine Engine Sheds & Turntable (2004)

First written October 24, 2024

In 2004 a turntable with sidings and engine sheds was released for the American Motorized Road and Rail and European Motor Road & Rail series of Thomas the Tank Engine Plarail exports. In Europe this was sold as the 7587 Engine Sheds and Turntable and in the US it was sold as the 7587 Sodor Roundhouse.

Set contents
Quantity Item Photo
2 Straight Rail
2 Half Straight Rail
1 pair Points Rail
1 Y Shaped Points Rail (R type)
1 Turntable
3 Straight Rail (single diamond connector)
3 Half Straight Rail (diamond connectors)
5 Buffers
5 (3 pieces each) Shed

The turntable is actually based on the old Plarail Turntable. The previous turntable had 12 exits at intervals which did not necessarily align with the Plarail track standard. The Thomas version 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.

The lever on the table itself raises and lowers the track stoppers, which will catch a train coming into the turntable and allow you to spin it around using the knob and release it when lined up with the desired track. Most trains with tender drive units or pulling additional cars will not fit on the turntable.

To try and cut down on frustrations arising from trying to connect regular track back around to these exits, Tomy instead supplied special sections of half straight and straight rail with diamond connectors. The full length straights have no concave connector on the end, so they form the end of sidings. In the long run, this has created some confusion around what these pieces are and why you cannot connect regular track to most of the turntable, as well as annoyance when one or the other goes missing (particularly the track, which will naturally get mixed in with regular track over time and is not immediately distinguishable). This set also includes five buffers, which were somewhat uncommon in the United States.

The accessory set also includes a "right" figure eight point rail and a pair of turnouts to make a wye. This makes it easy to incorporate the sheds into any set or layout where there is a double length section of straight track, letting a train enter from either direction and exit in either direction.

The sheds look nice with trains in them, although it is a little odd with the berths so disconnected like that... With a second set there is enough straight rail and sheds to connect to every position on the turntable and make a big roundhouse.