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Diesel Review

  And here he is: The Sodor Troublemaker.  Diesel is a model that was released in 2007/2008 and was discontinued sometime around the 2010's. Diesel was then reintroduced in 2014 with Lionchief controls and stayed in Lionel's catalogue for a few years before being silently discontinued again in 2016-2017. Luckily, in 2019, Diesel along with Thomas, Percy, and James were re-released (again) with Bluetooth Lionchief controls! What a wild ride! So why don't we get started? Diesel is perhaps one of the best models in Lionel’s “Thomas & Friends” range. This may not be saying much, but there is more to Diesel then meets the eye. Much like the other models, do not go on Google and look up a picture of this model, photo-shops and poor quality photos do not do these models any justice. When you physically see the Diesel model you notice a lot of unique details. For one, unlike many of the models in this range, Diesel cosmetically is near perfect. Proportionally, he looks great
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Thomas Review

   Thomas the Tank Engine He is an engine who needs no introduction. Meet Lionel's O Scale representation of Thomas the Tank Engine. This model was originally produced back in 1996 and has been around in Lionel's catalogue ever since. Over the course of nearly two decades, Lionel has changed very little with this particular tooling. If anything, they have only ever updated the mechanism inside! But let's take a look at this infamous little engine. When it comes to colors, Thomas looks just as he should. With a bright blue paint job, red lining, and a bright number one on both sides, Thomas looks just as he appears in all official media. Over the course of this model's history, paint application has gone from good, to great, to poor, to simply okay. The images you are looking at here are from the 2017 release. The 2019 (Bluetooth) release is a bit of a brighter blue than seen here with but cosmetically all is the same.  Details are where we begin to start nit picking. On
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Back to the Roots - "The Railway Series"

  Certainly a vintage face... perhaps even a little scary. But if we just all got off our high horses for a moment, we could actually see just how charming these Thomas' are. "The Railway Series" was a series of children's books released in the 1940's which served as the basis for the eventual "Thomas & Friends" franchise we know today. Thomas, while not a main character in the books, usually appearing periodically, was quite famous so naturally a show was made about him. The rest is history. But take a look at these pieces of Thomas merchandise all from the early 80's. These have been modified in some way, so I hope will enjoy the descriptions. Up first is the first Thomas toy to ever grace the world - a small die cast train by ERTL. Notice his glued on paper face. Back then, the Thomas television show was so new there were not many sculpts that were offered to toy manufacturers. Instead, the ERTL company used "The Railway Series" book
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Full Steam Ahead!

I think what makes modeling Thomas so fun is the challenge. The challenge of trying to replicate what is seen on television with the very limited resources Lionel have created. Their models are not perfect - not by a long shot. But, when the odds are stacked against you it is only more motivation to push the envelope of what can be created. Modeling truly is so much fun.  
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Narrow Gauge - not Narrow Minded!

  Let me tell you about one of the most confusing scales in the world. Every time I explain it to someone they just cannot wrap their heads around it! Let me introduce you to a scale called "O-16.5" scale." This scale was designed specifically for narrow gauge track and locos/rolling stock to fit in scale with O gauge locos/track/rolling stock. Take a look at this picture here. If you work in O Gauge and have a Lionel Thomas but wanted to make a custom narrow gauge engine that was in scale with Thomas, you would have to use O-16.5.  What you see here is a custom Skarloey model in O-16.5. Notice how he sits and runs on HO/OO track... yet his is significantly taller and wider than literally any HO/OO model train on the market. O GAUGE NARROW GAUGE MODELING IS NOT HO SCALE. It just so happens the rail width between O-16.5 and HO/OO scale is exactly the same. But if I wanted this picture to look more accurate and realistic, I would have to swap out Bachmann's black EZ Tr
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Building Sets

  When filming model train videos, one must always consider scale. In real life, locomotives are these almost "larger than life" vehicles that carry just as much power as they do weight. When building a set, I usually try and make a physical example of a "picture painted" in my head. Think of trying to bring an illustration to life. In a way, whatever space you are working with is your canvas - so you must fill your canvas with every detail the illustration introduced. There is a difference between making a "set" and making a "layout." A layout is like a miniature world - specifically honing in on a very small part of this world and highlighting all of it's features. A set however, is just placing the details necessary to convey visually what you are trying to get across. Building sets and layouts in O gauge is massive. People think they could never imagine to make a set in G scale, but to be honest, the jump from HO to O feels like G scale.
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  Enjoy the Website! Feel free to explore! The About section is where you can find inspiration for modeling. The news section is where updates to Lionel's Thomas catalogue will be added. The Model Reviews section is where you can find in depth reviews of each model. The Custom page is where you can find my personal custom O gauge Thomas models. And the catalogue is where you can view and purchase Lionel Thomas products today! 
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