TrainsRawesome I came across this item a few days ago and was immediately intrigued. It appears to be a gold version of the JNR C11 steam locomotive. After doing enough digging, I discovered that it was a limited ‘Poketrain’ product made by Takara and given out in a sweepstakes in the RM Models magazine. Here’s the kicker: ONLY 50 were given out! This rare beauty (with its original packaging) should arrive sometime in the next few weeks 😃
TheDiamondDalek You bought it? How much did that gem cost you? Are you still going for Golden Thomas after getting it?
TrainsRawesome Surprisingly, it was only $45 + shipping! There’s actually another one still there for an even lower price, though it doesn’t have the box. I can send you the link if you would like. The Gold Thomas became too pricey for me (it ended at around $1700!).
TheDiamondDalek @TrainsRAwesome What? $45+ shipping? I presume it came from a japanese website? and yeah $1700 is a crazy amount to spend on one engine, if you could send the link to the other C11 I would be quite grateful
MuddyPoppins This is AWESOME! Very cool. Does it run on blue track? Can I see a better picture of the couplings?
TrainsRawesome These are the best I could find of the couplings: It appears that the second car is permanently connected to the engine and has a power switch underneath. The third car looks to be detachable. I’m not entirely sure if it can run on blue track, but I don’t so because it seems a little smaller than Plarail. Keep in mind that the Poketrain range was made before Takara merged with TOMY, meaning it had no affiliation with Plarail / Tomica World. It used its own gray track system, shown below. Also, I found the cover of the RM Models magazine that held the sweepstakes (that being issue 89, released in January 2003). Interestingly, it also features a “silver“ version, but I haven’t been able to find any info on that.
