My 4 year old nephew is into the Thomas and Friends series and the last time he came to visit, he was naming my Z scale engines for characters on the show. Unfortunately, I didn't have any blue tank engines. There is a video on YouTube from someone else who made a Z scale Thomas the tank engine, however there were no clues to how it was done. Well, I think I figured it out. The above was made by sticking a largely unmodified Marklin 0-6-0 chassis inside a Thomas PEZ dispenser body. All I had to do to the Marklin chassis is pull off the side rods and cut down the steam chests to fit inside the shell. The PEZ dispenser body had to be ground down on the inside to accept the Marklin chassis. This isn't all that hard to do with a rotary tool and files. If you mess up, you're only out about $2. There are several PEZ engines to choose from. I happened to have an extra 0-6-0 chassis sitting around. I'm sure most of the people on here also have one sitting around from a forgotten Nn3 project. The SeaRails or L.G.Thek chassis could also be used to power these. The wheels are hidden so it really doesn't matter whats powering them. This would be a fun project for anyone with young kids or for display at train shows to increase interest in the hobby. The new shell is much larger than most Z scale equipment, so expect to have some clearance issues, especially under bridges and inside tunnels. I'm going to add some weight to the cab to help with power pickup and pulling power, but hes running fine as is.
I had made a Thomas Tank Engine loco using Lajos' chassis that was run at NTS in Sacramento and ended up on someone's YouTube somewhere. I have these available for anyone interested. If you want any or all contact me by PM or use my email if you know me. They made a big hit for sure. Modifications would have to be made for all of these to fit on a 0-6-0 but most will fit.
Hi Ron, sorry for the confusion. I have the shells for sale and when I mentioned they would need modification for 0-6-0's I wasn't offering the service myself. Although I do have some very well running little 0-6-0 engines for sale too I simply don't have the time to devote to any more major projects like this. If you can find someone who will do it for you have them get ahold of me for the parts Sincerely, Karin