Definitely some good photos on the site. Thanks.

Agreed on the aiming at kids but there are a lot of parents and grandparents that are using these products and I think they should be offering a motorized version for those who want it. That would be an easy thing to offer since their motorized table will interchange with the manual one. The only issue is you have to buy both and that is a lot of extra expense that shouldn't be required. I got into this for my grandson and I plan to build a very nice Sodor Island layout. Still working on the details but I have everything that Bachmann has offered so far and preordered the new ones for this year. I just received my Tidmouth Sheds and an Expansion pack. I plan to add a couple more Expansions so I have a home for all of the appropriate locomotives. Now they need to come out with a Diesel Works so all the diesels have a place to rest as well as a shed for Toby. I can see this project growing leaps and bounds before it is all over. Anyone know of a good website or book that has pictures or diagrams of the buildings on Sodor? Scratch building of the buildings that Bachmann doesn't produce would be a possibility if they don't bring out models.

Sorry I didn't go on to explain myself in the first post. I thought everyone understood about steel and NS and oxidation. As pointed out, this track is inside the sheds and away from easy access. The rails will oxidize over time requiring cleaning. For just a little more cost the track could have been provided with NS which would have made cleaning less frequent of a requirement. I will no doubt replace it myself before installation but that is just that much more cost that could have been avoided. That is why I am disappointed in Bachmann for the lack of foresight in what they provided in the first place. And especially if this is aimed at children (which I question with all the adults that are on the forum) this is that much more important to provide something that needs less maintenance. I'm hoping that Bachmann will take this to heart and think things through in the future to help improve their product offerings. And I still wish Bachmann had offered an option to provide a motorized turntable. I am going to have to buy one of those also and throw away the manual one. Again more cost to get a quality installation. 

I just received my Tidmouth Shed/turntable and an Expansion Pack. I was disappointed to learn that Bachmann would put their cheaper steel track in these kits. I had hoped they would at least use their Nickle Silver track considering the cost of the kits. A suggestion to Bachmann. Don't go cheap on us. Use your better track in the kits. It's worth it in the long run.

Nice work guys on the layouts. Has anyone tried to actually build Sodor Island true to the story? I am planning a layout and hoped to find some examples of modeled Sodor. Any help would be appreciated. I have found maps on the Thomas sites but trying to translate them to an HO layout is not the easiest. Any thoughts?  Thanks.

It is my understanding that they are the same. If you want to purchase two turntables, Tidmouth manual and the motorized one, you can combine them and come up with a motorized version of the Tidmouth Shed. Now if Bachmann would just sell a motorized version of Tidmouth or the parts for the shed that could be added to the motorized turntable I think they would make a lot of people happy. 

Does anyone know where I can find an HO Rickety or Fred the Orange Coal Car? I got into this series a little later and missed those two. I've been searching for a while but none have seemed to show up on eBay or other places that I have looked. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I know that repainting is always an option. The big issue here are the side video cameras.

  Has anyone tried to mount the Short CC Video Cameras on the new 380-Ton Schnabel Transformer car? In the instructions the mounting is attached to the side of the main beams and the camera is at a right angle so the camera can watch parallel to the track. The parts that came with the car have the cameras in line with the mounting which would have the camera looking out away from the car. Is this a bad casting or am I missing something? By the way, this car is AWESOME! And something that I have been waiting for decades to get. I used to work for a utility where I bought these transformers and had them delivered using these Schnabel cars. Always wanted one and now I have one. I only wish it had been a Westinghouse or ABB Schanbel Car but I'm not complaining. Nice Job!

I know. That's why the track type is crucial to my decision. If I am just buying the train then this is an expensive shelf item. If I get NS track with it then it becomes more plausible to buy and use the track for another layout. I have all of the other sets in this line so I am aware of the style. When I bought the Christmas Thomas and it came with Steel I was concerned about the other sets which didn't specify the track type. Wish they specified all the details of the sets.

Thanks. I need to get some NS track anyway and this would affect my decision to buy the set. I was disappointed when I bought the Thomas Christmas Set and it came with steel track. I don't use steel track so this just gets pitched or put out on eBay. The NS track adds to the overall value of the sets and sometimes makes the difference in purchasing or not.

Does the Pegasus Set #00690 come with Nickel Silver E-Z Track or the cheap steel strack? This should be in the item description. Thanks.

Hey Yardmaster! I think this is one for the product development team. You either need to sell a shed with the motorized turntable for Tidmouth or you need to make the shed parts available. It's senseless to buy the manual one just to get the shed. Thanks.

  Do I have to purchase a Manual Turntable to get the ends of the Tidmouth Shed? It looks like the expansion packs would only get me the interiors. How would I go about getting the complete shed?

  Yeah! I like that a lot better than the manual one. Time to order one and a few expansion sheds. Thanks.