We all want our Thomas & Friends trains to be powered HO / OO runners, this video details a method of making it so via the amazing and very tiny Bachmann Gandy Dancer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXHRpzq1wHo&feature=channel_video_title I was recently at a local model railway fair and it's surprising how few younger folk are enjoying model railways. I tend to look at what's popular in their minds and maybe this will have them consider the hobby more seriously.:thumbs_up:
Thomas is sort of the "gateway" for a lot of younger kids, at least in the U.S. My kids both loved Thomas stories and the TV show and such when they were younger, and they still enjoy that sort of thing, but now that they're older they've been looking around a little more. One of my daughters has gotten into early SP diesels, particularly the "tiger stripe" scheme, probably because it is black and orange, and has been learning more about Southern Pacific Railroad as a result. There are SP relics about here and there we can go see and she's having a lot of fun "discovering" them for herself.
I must admit that the PEZ Thomas has grown on me, but my first thoughts were "Why?". Then again, the Bachmann US Thomas is of a more accurate size than the Hornby models, so it may be a matter of availability for me. And I must say, that Gandy Dancer has a lot more oomph to it than I originally gave it credit for. I forsee a number of other possibilities for it in the future.
