fall inside a hole

Livestock and Mail Cars (1979)

First written November 13, 2023

In the spring of 1979 two new freight car molds with opening door features were released. One car was a cattle van with doors that opened to reveal a cow and pig while the other was a blue mail car with packages and mail inside. Both cars were sold individually in different individual release "bag" packaging from 1979 up to 1992 when the cars became part of Fun Freight Car Set A and B alongside some other 1970s moldings. Both moldings were borrowed for the early Thomas the Tank Engine series and survived in different color variations into the 2000s, with several Thomas series recolors of the now-animalless cattle van.

Livestock Car (1979)

The livestock wagon is a nice woody brown color with sliding doors. The door on the left side opens to reveal a cow while the right side shows a pig. These figures are mounted to bases that slide out with the doors.

The original chassis are marked with 1979, the Tomy boy and girl logo, and made in Japan. When production moved to Thailand in the early 90s the stamp was updated to just say Tomy Thailand. Later, the axle holder insert piece was also updated to say made in Thailand.

The original Thomas series version of this car, in use from 1994 to 2003 in Japan and a few years after overseas, was only produced in Thailand. Circa 1999 the chassis was updated with molded axleboxes like some other older car moldings. The molding was also reused in the Thomas range in a variety of themed multipack releases in several garish colors. None of the Thomas versions included the animals inside.

Mail Car (1979)

The mail car is a Japanese-style mail van. The van is marked with four 〒 symbols, the official mark of Japan Post. The right door open to reveal a sack of letters and the left door slides a stack of boxes into view.

The original chassis are marked with 1979, the Tomy boy and girl logo, and made in Japan. When production moved to Thailand the stamp was updated to just say Tomy Thailand. Part of the way through Thailand production, the head of the screw used was changed. Later, another part of the chassis was updated to say made in Thailand and slightly remolded.

In 1982 a "chuffing" version of the mail van was released in the Shuppo D51 and Shuppo D51 Set. The modified upper body shell with additional mounting points would end up being the default molding from then on, as seen in the above normal mail car deconstructions. I do not believe I have any Japan-made mail cars from before the updated chuffing mold replaced the standard one.

Like the Thomas-series cattle van, the Thomas mail car does not feature the sliding mail details inside. Unlike the livestock car, however, the mail car was released in several other colors and liveries in sets and as promotional items outside of the Thomas series, and these versions usually do include the mail inside.