I was looking at the new Lionel Thomas on e-bay. One seller suggested that the loco may only run on Fasttrack. Is this true?
I don’t see how it would only run on fast track. It should run on all types of O guage track unless it is glued to the fast track[%-)]
Thomas needs to have a lighted Fastrack terminal track to run correctly. The light causes the needed impedance for the loco to run as intended when the reverse unit switch is in the on position. Without the light, Thomas will sometimes stop and change direction. I’d bet that a lighted lockon would work on regular track, or you could just lock his e-unit in the forward position.
We have a Thomas set and the kids love it. We are planning on purchasing the Thomas add-on set when it becomes available.
Jim
Thomas runs fine on any O track type. The lighted track lionel supplies with the Thomas the Tank sets are because of the CW80 transformer. The light is needed only when using the CW80 transformer. If you run on different track, or different transformer it will work fine.
Jim
The only problem with Thomas is sometimes it would stall on the switches at the club layout. When Thomas is run it is hilarious to just watch the younger kids follow it around the layout.
my grandson is nuts about thomas…where can i find one?
There was an article in one of the the 0 train magazines a few months ago about taking a toy Thomas loco and adding a Lionel motor with wheels to sort of kitbash a 0 gauge Thomas on the cheap.
Maybe someone can come up with the magazine title and issue that has the article.
Charlie
CTT December 2004 issue.
Jim
jlrepass, almost every brick-and-mortar or online store that carries toy trains has a way to get the Lionel Thomas train set. I would recommend trying a local hobby store or searching http://froogle.google.com
wholesaletrains.com by far has the best price $118.00 + ship for an O gauge starter set. Add on kits are $89.00
Any lamp conected to the track or any lighted lighted car on the track will fix the Thomas / CW-80 reversing problem. You just need a light on the track. My Thomas never runs fasttrack as I always run on 0-27 track or MTH realtrax.
Jim H
I have stumbled right into this problem. I purchased a Lionel Thomas O scale set for my son for his 5th Bday…then we traded his Fastrack for O31 because of a space issue. The Fastrack is just to bulky and takes up tooo much room. My local shop was cool enough to trade me with some O31.
Now the reversing mechanism doesnt work…I have to physically disconnect one wire to change direction. What kind of light do I need to install on the lock-on to activate the direction ? Where in the line would the light go ? Voltage ?
Thanks in advance
I spoke with my Lionel dealer about the same issue a little over a week ago. I’m switching to O27 tubular. He told me a lighted lockon would solve the problem with the reversing unit.
I hope Percy isn’t going to have the same issues.
Jim
The CW-80 is a very tricky transformer. The only way for me to reverse my beep is to have it pull a lighted car
Same here. [#ditto]