Thomas Arrives!

[calenelson]

 Some/most of you may have already read this...if not-

Well, if my kids are Excited on Christmas Morning as I am right now...it'll all be Hunky-Dory

The Man in the Brown Truck dropped the box off earlier ...I had to lock myself in the rec-room with my camera, some track, and a few parts....you may notice below that this Loco is HUGE!!!!  He dwarfs a LGB Box Car, and our HLW Mack...not sure where scale will come in to play here, but if it runs as nice as it looks-Bachmann has a winner.

This is a TOY TRAIN!  no back-head detail, no rivets, nada....just a beautiful little blue locomotive that looks just like the latest CG interpretation.

Annie and Clarabell are nice as well...NO detail there either, again folks, this is first and foremost a TOY!  the roofs are held on by gravity, and there are no seats.  

Packaging is nice too, looks "Just like" any other Thomas box you'd see at toy retailers!  

I did my best to get a few shots and upload without spoiling the surprise for my kids...did not run it...may try that after they go to bed tonight.

looks like a RC/Battery conversion will be a snap as well...without looking inside, it all seems hollow-and very lightweight, still may consider a trail install in Annie?  Side-rods are plastic.  The roof is removable!



















Merry Christmas!

Cale

 

[Rex in Pinetop]

This is definately on my Christmas wish list.  Thanks for sharing.

Rex

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Looks like the old Lionel Thomas, but is it the same power train with the plastic gears that would warp with use?    If they have improved the drive I'm in the market for 3 of them.

[vsmith]

Bob I highly suspect the drive brick is a varient of the Big Hauler, right down to the blind center driver If so it should be a huge improvement over the craptacular Lionel version in reliability and performance. I think Percy will be a version of the Porter Chassis, makes sense, use what already works. It will be interesting to see how these work long term, i expect more to come, as these drives can be the base of several engines from the series.

[ttrigg]

Vic:  Just promise me that you won't turn Thomas into Elmo!  Please!

[vsmith]

Tom, it will just be a simple face-ectomy.

[calenelson]

 the only similarities between this unit and what I have seen and know about the Lionel version are the fact that both are Blue and have 6 wheels.  This unit is Huge compared to the Lionel in my minds eye.

 Thomas is a Christmas surprise for my 4 kids as mentioned in my initial post, so having it on the bench for the world to see is outta the question right now...of course getting to the top of my bench is kinda outta the question too! 

 Vic, I agree, it does favor some sort of Ten Wheeler chassis, that was my hope and my initial impression. Llike you I believe if you have something that works-use it!   When I get around to opening it up-maybe today?  I'll toss some pics for those who can identify or want to know what's making this toy tick.

cale

[MTCarpenter]

Great pictures.  It looks great.  My son is too "big" for Thomas now (altho when Thomas is on TV, he'll watch it... :) ) but I think this would be a huge hit with any kids.

Let us know how it runs.

[calenelson]

got into it, really easy!

Here are some photos....Stealthily I rushed up the stairs, un boxed, removed some screws and took a couple of pics

Yeah, this is all the ele involved!



side view from right rear corner, Motor, Heat-sink, gear/eye mech



looking down under the motor into the bottom end



From front right corner looking back, eye/gear mech



Room for stuff, oh joy!



side view with body removed...



birds eye of guts....top end



Drive Gear on Center, Blind Driver...



Complete Drive Shot...



All 3 axles have at least 1/4" to 3/8" side-play..1100 compatible!



there you go, gotta get back to the kids!  the pics can speak for themselves.

Nice and Simple, Thanks Bachmann!

Cale








cale

[vsmith]

Definetly not a Bug Mauler chassis but oooh that seperate chassis platform has me thinking

[ttrigg]

vsmith

Definetly not a Bug Mauler chassis but oooh that seperate chassis platform has me thinking

ELMO!   Run Elmo run for your life!