Thomas The Tank Engine Model Railway Advice

Thomas the tank engine models are produced by Hornby for 00 gauge railways. The models are a bit lacking in detail but this also makes them resistant to abuse from children. Hornby also produce a wide range of rolling stock and buildings and has recently expanded the range (2005).

Hornby have also produced a set of its track packs for a specific Thomas the tank engine layout. Personally if I was to build a train set for my children I would build the normal track mat layout and run Thomas locomotives, wagons and coaches as the specific Thomas layout is shorter in length and has more sidings and variety.

"Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends" is situated on the Island of Sodor where an extensive Island railway is worked by a group of engines each with there own personality. The Locomotives on the Island of Sodor are mainly Steam trains, with the Island being untouched by the modernisation of most Railway systems.

Thomas the Tank Engine is based on a series of books by W.V. Awdry which were based on stories that Awdry told his Son Christopher when he was suffering from the measles.

Britt Allcroft bought the television rights to the stories in 1980 and began making the first series. The first series was narrated by Ringo star better known for being the drummer for the beatles.

Before you start laying the track you will have to build a baseboard. To get advice on building you baseboard click here

To get advice about model railway track click here. To get advice on building and designing a layout click here

On the TV show the island of Sodor has three tracks on its main line suggesting the use of three ovals. This is probably two much for young children so I would stick to just two which is depicted on the Sodor branch lines. This will also make more space for sidings to store your troublesome trucks.

You will require lots of sidings for your trucks and coaches for Thomas and his friends to move around the layout. you should electrify all the points which are difficult to reach. This will add and extra level of play into your layout. By including an electronic turntable like the Hornby one pictured below you can effectively create Tidmouth Engine sheds. It will also allow you to easily store all your locos.

Tidmouth Engine shed - Probably the most famous location on the island of Sodor is the Tidmouth engine sheds and turntable. Electronic turntables are available from Hornby (R070 see below) and by positioning a couple of double track engine sheds around it you should be able to recreate the whole scene. (picture shows two Hornby Engine sheds R8004 end to end)

Station - Sodor has many stations but the most famous is Natford Station which has more than 5 platforms and is covered by a canopy. I don't think this would be easy to model for people with restricted space so I would advise that you build the smaller station that is depicted at the beginning of Thomas the tank engine TV show. It is a small single platform station and could be positioned in many places on your layout. Below are two possible Hornby stations that you could use. The first is the Thomas Building Pack A (R9081) RRP £19.99

Both can be extended by buying extra sections of platform although you will have to buy a pack of fencing (R513) if you don't want gaps.

Gordon's Hill - Gordon's Hill is a three track section of the line which goes up a steep hill. It has featured in story lines where one of Thomas's friends does not have enough strength to pull a heavy train up it. The read how to create inclines click here

Running Passenger Services - A lot of the work on the island of Sodor involves the movement of people from one side to the other, from station to station. The larger engines (Gordon, Henry) Pull the express trains where as the smaller engines pull the slower branch lines. The Island has two airports and a bus station to take passengers too.

Moving Freight - Whether it be delivering coal in troublesome trucks or Delivering the mail with the mail train, there is always something that needs to be moved to and from a part of the island. The island has the places where freight comes form and goes to.

Train crash - It seems Like most of the episodes that I have seen involve a crash or natural disaster, and I would not be surprised if children playing with a set will also want to do this, whether it be running a locomotive into coaches, wagons, or something on the track (eg a fallen tree) or a pretend storm that destroys buildings and blocks the track.

Breakdown crane - With crashing comes recovery and what better than having an excuse to use a breakdown crane to pick the train up and put it back on the rails, or to help rebuild the signal box that was destroyed in the storm and to clear the track of fallen trees. Hornby Produce a hand operated Breakdown crane (R9216) which is great for little kids (and us big kids) to play out crash scenes.

Steam	Name	Wheel configuration	Hornby Code	Prototype (The Real Life Loco)
	Thomas The Tank Engine	0-6-0	R351	London, Brighton and South Coats (LBSC) Railway E2 Steam Tank Engine
	Edward The Blue Engine	4-4-0	R9232	Modified Furness Railway with Larger Seagull
	Henry The Green Engine	4-6-0	R9049	LNER A3 Steam Tender Engine, Later LMS Railway 5MT "Black Five" Steam Tender Engine
	Gordon The Big Blue Engine	4-6-2	R383	LNER A1 Steam Tender Engine, rebuilt with LMS running gear and tender.
	James The Red Engine	2-6-0	R852	LMS Pre-group Steam Tender Engine such as a Hughes 2-6-0 of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
	Percy Saddle Tank	0-4-0	R350	Avonside Steam Saddle Tank Engine Heavily Modified W.Awdry seemed uncertain as to Percy's Prototype
	Toby The Tram	0-6-0	R9046	Wisbech Steam Tram J70 0-6-0T
	Duck GWR Pannier Tank	0-6-0	R382	GWR 57xx Steam Pannier Tank Engine
N/A - No.9	Donald	0-6-0
N/A - No.10	Douglas	0-6-0
	Oliver	0-4-2	R9070	GWR 1400 Class Steam Tank Engine
	Stepney Bluebell Engine	0-6-0	R9069	LBSC 0-6-0 Class A1X Terrier

	Emily	4-2-2	R9231	GNR Stirling Single Steam Tender Engine
	Bill	0-4-0	R9047	Bagnall Steam Saddle Tank Engine
	Ben	0-4-0	R9048	Bagnall Steam Saddle Tank Engine

	Spencer	4-6-2	R9257	LNER A4
	Flying Scotsman	4-6-2	R9098	LNER A3

Diesel	Name	Wheel configuration	Hornby Code	Prototype (The Real Life Loco)
	Devious Diesel	0-6-0	R9050	British Railways Class 08 Diesel Shunter
	Arry The Iron Works Diesel	0-6-0	R9067	British Railways Class 08 Diesel Shunter
	Bert The Iron Works Diesel	0-6-0	R9066	British Railways Class 08 Diesel Shunter
	D7101	Bo-Bo	R9097
	Diesel Loco	Co-Co	R9064	British Railways Class 37

Coaches	Name	Wheel configuration	Hornby Code	Prototype (The Real Life Loco)
	Annie 4 Wheel Coach		R110
	Clarabel 4 Wheel Coach		R112
	James Composite Coach		R9051
	James Brake Coach		R9052
	Gordon's Composite Coach		R120
	Gordon's Brake Coach		R121

Wagons	Name	Wheel configuration	Hornby Code	Prototype (The Real Life Loco)
	Large Breakdown Crane		R9216
	Sodor Fuel Tanker		R9055
	Milk Wagon		R105
	Tar Tanker		R9006
	Brake Van		R109
	Troublesome Truck 2		R9054
	Troublesome Truck 1		R9053
	Sodor Scrap Co Wagon		R9056
	Open Wagon		R107
	S C Ruffy Wagon		R9068

Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends Reviews