That’s right, the Thomas & Friends Talking Railway Series, introduced in 2008, features Sir Topham Hatt speaking to the engines that come through each destination and calling them by name!

The Thomas Talking Railway Series includes engines and destinations with special built-in engine recognition technology. Each destination features unique phrases by Sir Topham Hatt and recognizes which engine has passed through to allow for hundreds of combinations.

The Thomas Talking Railway Series includes Talking Thomas the Train, Rosie, James, Percy, Edward and Toby. Two of the four destinations are Talking Cranky the Crane which offers over 100 possible phrases from Sir Topham Hatt and the Talking Stop & Go Station which offers 50 possible phrases. As Thomas rolls into the Cranky the Crane destination, Sir Topham Hatt might say, “Thomas, Cranky is ready to load the cargo.” As Percy passes through the Stop & Go Station, Sir Topham Hatt might comment, “Percy, you must wait for the green signal”.

Check out the Thomas Talking Great Discovery Set, part of the Thomas Talking Railway Series, that includes the Talking Thomas the Train and Stanley engine. Two more destinations are offered in this set, Morgan's Mine & Great Waterton Station. These talking destinations both offer over 130 different phrase combinations when used with Talking Railway Engines. This train set is based on the Thomas & Friends movie The Great Discovery about Thomas finding an old town and making a new friend.

Collect the special Talking Railway Series versions of Thomas the Train and Friends and you're on your way to a unique railway experience! The more Talking Railway engines you add, the more interactive your child’s world becomes. The Thomas Talking Railway Series is compatible with the Thomas Wooden Railway line but keep in mind you need a Talking engine and a Talking destination for Sir Topham Hatt to speak!

In addition to the Thomas Talking Railway engines and destinations, All Aboard Toys carries a huge variety of wooden track, buildings and trains from the Thomas Wooden Railway line, recommended for ages 3 to 6 years old.

We thought we'd surprise a group of preschoolers from a local Denver Elementary School by taking a large display of Thomas the Tank Engine ride-ons to their school. We set up all sorts of track pieces in their gym, and got the Thomas Track Riders charged and ready to ride. We used 132 pieces of track, both curved and straight; 6 Thomas Ride On Trains; 2 tunnels; 1 railroad crossing expansion set; and 3 Annie and Clarabel add-on cars. In all, we estimate the kids had 330 feet of track to navigate.

Set Up

Setting up everything with my coworkers was fun and entertaining; trying to figure out how to build a huge train track that looped around and crossed over itself. As a child, it's easy to let your imagination build a perfect layout, but as adults we found ourselves over-analyzing and making it much harder than it really was. We were crawling all over the floor and tripping over pieces, but in the end, it turned out really cool. The track pieces just snap together, easier than I had imagined ... the hard part was connecting it all and getting pieces to lay flat at intersections.

Enter the Kids

Right outside the gym doors were groups of children, anxious to ride the rails. Once we were ready inside, we opened up the doors and the kids ran with all their might to the trains. The surprised and excited looks on all their faces made all the hard work of setting up worth it! They were pretty impressed by the kid-size railroad we created in their school. Before long you could hear the train and depot sounds from the ride-ons and the room was filled with giggles and laughter.

It was interesting and exciting to play with the Track Riders first hand, as I had never before seen them in action. The Thomas Track Riders move when you hold down a button on the handle. With all the sounds and new people in their school, some of the kids were having a hard time remembering that they needed to keep the button down in order for the Thomas Track Rider to move. After a few friendly reminders and demonstrations the kids soon understood how it worked and kept going. The kids took turns driving Thomas and riding as a passenger, while we acted as traffic cops, running around and making sure no one had a major collision, got stuck in a tunnel, or derailed.

For the children, it was a fun way to start the day playing and interacting with friends and Thomas the Train. For us, it was rewarding to see the children so surprised and having fun on the Thomas ride-ons. All in all, it was a fun way to spend the day out with Thomas.

 

 

The 2008 Thomas Wooden Railway items are on the way including the much anticipated Billy Wooden Engine, Hector Wooden Hopper Truck and the revived Harold the Helicopter with a retractable magnet. This year Thomas fans will also be able to add some great features to their layouts including the Thomas Haunted Mine Tunnel and Thomas Wooden Railway Oil Derrick. If you are just beginning your collection with a new set, 2008 is a good year to start. Thomas Wooden Railway Pirates Cove Train Set features a pirate ship and tunnel.  Also, this year’s Thomas Start Your Engine Set will settle any questions on who is the fastest engine in Sodor.

 
New Thomas Layouts & Track Expansions

Thomas Wooden Railway 5 in 1 Track Layout Pack

	Thomas Haunted Mine Tunnel
	Thomas Sights & Sounds Water Tower
	Thomas Boulder Mountain Adventure Expansion Pack
	Thomas Wooden Railway Oil Derrick
	Thomas Wooden Rumblin' Bridge

 
New Thomas Train Sets for 2008

	Start Your Engine Train Race Set
	Thomas Pirates Cove Train Set

All Aboard Toys assembled some of its best train set builders and went out on a mission to build a larger than life Thomas train set to kick off the holiday season. The train set was expanded from the already giant Thomas the Train Lights and Sounds Deluxe Set to include a custom layout that took four builders an hour to finish. In all, the giant Thomas train set included over 5 bridges, two Cranky the Cranes, about 20 engines and cars and countless turns and corners. Inspired by all of the Thomas fans on the web sharing pictures and videos of their personal train sets, the engineers at All Aboard Toys had to get in on the action and build our own.

Our Version of The Island of Sodor

The fictional North Western Railway was featured in The Railway Series books by W.V. Awdry starting in 1943. In his books, each branch has its own distinctive features and characters associated with them. Our Thomas train set included many of the Sodor landmarks found in the Thomas the Tank Engine books and episodes including the roundhouse, arch viaduct, draw bridge, Knapford covered bridge, fire station, Cranky the Crane, and of course the controller of it all, Sir Topham Hatt. Each quadrant of our set had its own distinctive characteristics. The final touch was to connect each of the builders own unique railway by finding just the right piece to make it a seamless track. The finish product was quite impressive (at least to us).

Let the Kids Play

Watching the kids interact with the trains set was the best part of the project. Much like the adult builders, the kids gravitated to the elevated bridges and landmarks throughout the set. The real attention getter was the movement and sounds of the Thomas deluxe roundhouse and turntable. Each of the kids took turns placing their favorite engines in the proper spot to turn them loose on the set. If there was a star engine, it would be the battery operated Thomas train that crossed every bridge and made every turn.

Is it the Biggest Thomas the Train Set of All Time?

Although we would like to think it is, it is not even close! The real Thomas the Tank Engine train set that is used for the hit television show and DVD's is in the 2004 Guinness world records for the largest train set. The popular engine James, also has a piece of Guinness world record history as the largest model engine for his appearance in "Thomas and Friends Live." Why not try building your own giant Thomas train set? With all the track pieces, buildings, tunnels and bridges, and trains, the possibilities really are endless.