2008 Tomy Trains?

jamble

I recently got back into Plarail, and while I was looking on eBay for some affordable blue track to go with some new trains, I stumbled across a used playset with generic "Tomy Trains" branding that I had never seen before, and all I could find about it online was unavailable listings on Amazon. No word about it on Wikipedia or anything. I picked it up because it was pretty cheap considering how much track it had, and when it arrived at my house today, I noticed the bottom of the box was copyrighted 2008. Does anyone know the story behind this style of branding?

Also, as a side note, the contents of the box absolutely reek of tobacco, so I haven't taken anything out of it yet. Does anyone have any advice for getting rid of the smell?

Super

Hi Jamble

I am not sure of the origins of the 'Tomy Trains' Logo...it may have something to do with the USA Division of Tomy long since abandoned. The name may have been changed to the Tomica World Road and Rail System later on but I am not positive on that. Hopefully some of our experts can chime in with real history of it. I can say that that set is fantastic and has one of the sought after EMD F-Units that I call the Santa Fe Super Chief because that is what it looks like without having to share in the name rights. I think it is one of the biggest sets, if not the biggest, ever made that uses Tomy Blue Tracks.

That box looks to be in perfect condition which because of its size doesn't fair well for its age. Is it complete?

As far as the smoke smell, if you have a laundry tub you could almost soak everything, except the engines, in water and dish liquid soap. If you have a large plastic storage bin you could wash it all outside by filling up the bin with soapy water and rinsing the parts down with a hose. The box may have absorbed the odor too but all you could do with that is spraying a little windex on a soft towel and wipe the outside down making sure you don't get it too wet. Don't spray the windex directly on the card board. Then let it air dry outside or in a garage. Others members may have other suggestions. A search turned up this spray product from Zep that says it " Removes the smell of smoke caused by cigarettes, cigars, and fire " Don't know if it works good or if there other Smoke smell sprays out there. See picture below.

BTW...welcome to BluePlastic Tracks and glad you are back into these trains we love so much. 🙂

violater

Super wrote
The name may have been changed to the Tomica World Road and Rail System later

But Tomica World did exist in the 90s. I do have a Tomica World Eurostar box but the year was not written. The Eurostar is manufactured in 1998.

Biggest sets? Might be right, there is also a 7423 Super Deluxe Set. Also there is this Japanese set that was mentioned in the Phantom Gems of Plarail section of the museum: "The Big Layout"

Super

Wasn't the Eurostar released in the Tomica World UK but good point about this Tomy Trains coming after Tomica World US. Now I am wondering what year the Amtrak came out in as that was a Tomica World US release. Interesting subject.

violater

Super has a blue Amtrak so I'd like to see the year underneath the chassis. It's mold year should be the same year it was manufactured.

And yes, Eurostar is in Tomica World UK.

Super

Good idea...all 3 of the EMD F-Units, Amtrak, Red one and Blue one have Tomy 1997 on the chassis and I believe all 3 were only released in the US under the Tomica World Road and Rail System Logo

violater

So strange... Is it safe to assume that the red Amtrak was manufactured from 1997-2008? (the set was copyrighted in 2008 so it can't be the case). Or did TOMY reuse the mold of the blue and silver Amtrak to make the red Amtrak in 2008?

Super

I imagine they used the same mold for all 3 as they are exactly the same shells and chassis. Could it also be possible that the chassis were originally from another train or trains that fit these perfectly so they used them instead of re-tooling?

I am thinking that the THomas Ultimate Set a Toys R Us exclusive may be the biggest set with 161 pieces but a lot of those pieces were Road Track where the set Set Jamble has, 154 piece Super Deluxe City Railway has all Tomy Blue track and no road pieces.

violater

Very shocking, I don't have a Plarail with the exact same chassis as the Amtrak shown here. The closest chassis I have is the one that comes with the 205 series commuter, but the plastic battery contact protector is longer.

violater

Vio wrote
Biggest sets? Might be right, there is also a 7423 Super Deluxe Set. Also there is this Japanese set that was mentioned in the Phantom Gems of Plarail section of the museum: "The Big Layout"

I will also include the breakdown of The Big Layout Japanese set, taken from the museum:

車両：２スピード新幹線、ライト付Ｄ５１
レール：直線レール５セット、１／２直線レール１セット、曲線レール５セット、ストップレール１セット、ターンアウトレール４セット、単線複線ポイントレール１セット、自動ポイントレール１セット、坂曲線レール２セット
ストラクチャー：トンネル１セット、ブロックトンネル１セット、大鉄橋１セット、洗車場１セット、ブロックはしげた３セット、
複線踏切１セット、パネルステーション２セット、自動発車駅１セット、単架線１２コ、複架線３コ、信号２本、立木６本、吊り橋３セット

Translation:

Content breakdown:

Vehicle: 2-speed Shinkansen, D51 with light
Rails: 5 sets of straight rails, 1 set of 1/2 straight rail, 5 sets of curved rails, 1 set of stop rails, 4 sets of turnout rails,
1 set of single track to double track point rails, 1 set of automatic point rail, 2 sets of slope curve rail.
Scene Parts: 1 set of tunnels, 1 set of block tunnels, 1 set of big iron bridge, 1 set of car wash, 3 sets of block piers,
1 set of double-track crossing, 2 sets of panel station, 1 set of automatic departure station, 12 sets of single track overhead line, 3 sets of double track overhead line, 2 signals, 6 standing trees, 3 sets of white suspension bridge

These "sets" are relating to the products that entered commercialisation with their original single item packaging.

jamble

Super wrote
That box looks to be in perfect condition which because of its size doesn't fair well for its age. Is it complete?

As far as the smoke smell, if you have a laundry tub you could almost soak everything, except the engines, in water and dish liquid soap. If you have a large plastic storage bin you could wash it all outside by filling up the bin with soapy water and rinsing the parts down with a hose. The box may have absorbed the odor too but all you could do with that is spraying a little windex on a soft towel and wipe the outside down making sure you don't get it too wet. Don't spray the windex directly on the card board. Then let it air dry outside or in a garage. Others members may have other suggestions. A search turned up this spray product from Zep that says it " Removes the smell of smoke caused by cigarettes, cigars, and fire " Don't know if it works good or if there other Smoke smell sprays out there. See picture below.

BTW...welcome to BluePlastic Tracks and glad you are back into these trains we love so much. 🙂

The box has a few tears in spots, and the only missing pieces are some trees and a couple generic track pieces, but I think if I root around a bit I may be able to find substitutes for the latter pieces. Other than that and the smell, everything seems like it's in pretty good condition. I'll be sure to take some pictures once I've fixed the smell and put everything together. Thank you for the advice and the kind welcome!

Super

@Jamble
Looking forward to the pictures Jamble

@Vio
If my eyes and math serves me right, that Tomica World Super Deluxe set #7423 has around 137 pieces to it which comes up short the the amount of pieces in at least 3 sets.

violater

I'm counting 134, because there are 2 pieces of 1/8 rails (W) counted as x1, and the trains are 6 pieces counted as x2
The big bridge consists of 5 pieces together.

Is the motor Tomica counted as 2 parts? If yes, 135 pieces.
And is the leading train counted as 2 parts? If yes, 135 + 2 = 137 pieces.

jamble

Sorry for taking so long, but I finally took pictures of the set! (Now no longer smelling like smoke!)
https://imgur.com/a/Iu6y0rY

I think my favorite part of the Layout is the Plakids station. The Plakids Station already looked very nice in its original form, but the English signage gives it a whole different vibe. The locos are also very nice, too. The faux-Super Chief's coaches look like they'd work well as background coaching stock, and the E3 seems like it might be an older version? The version of it I see Takara Tomy selling right now has an entirely different livery, and given this one has the same service title as the current E6, I guess the E3s on that service got usurped by the E6 at some point IRL? Poor E3, lol. The spiraling section looks very impressive, but actually building it was a struggle since it had to work around the presence of those underground tunnels. I am very happy with this though, since the plethora of track and risers will give me a lot of freedom to experiment with new Layout ideas.

Super

I was always in awe of this set as it has so much in it. Would be a great starter set for someone moving away from the Thomas trains and into the real world trains. Thanks Jamble for the photo's 🙂

wonge15

Vio wrote
Super has a blue Amtrak so I'd like to see the year underneath the chassis. It's mold year should be the same year it was manufactured.

And yes, Eurostar is in Tomica World UK.

What about the Virgin Trains' Pendolino? I keep seeing it on the internet but am not sure if they are a part of Tomica World.

Tharazero1

wonge15 wrote
What about the Virgin Trains' Pendolino?

I keep seeing it on the internet but am not sure if they are a part of Tomica World.The train you're referring to isn't a Pendolino, I'm pretty sure it's a HST. And yes it is a part of Tomica World and was only ever released under the Tomica World banner

Super

Am I correct to say that this Virgin Train was only released in the UK market since it is a real train there?

Here is a pic of the underside...oops...better get rid of those dust bunnies :dodgy:

violater

Funny that it was imported from Thailand, and the black rubber is original?

Super

I added the black rubber and the black couplings. I am assuming that they used the same chassis that the similar looking Plarail trains they released in Japan but I don't have any more of those to compare it to..

Like these to name a few...I think there may be a couple more but not sure. A yellow one?

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ5MkQxQf2E&list=PL3F97A31A71DB65F2&index=45[/video]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AtifxQ2Yj8&list=PL3F97A31A71DB65F2&index=80[/video]

Here are two additional ones with the same body from page 93 of the Plarail Bible...the trains look a little distorted in the picture as the book is not flat but they are the same as the Virgin.