awwww. hehe. its a collection spanning about 21 years, though ive really been focusing on it the last 2-3 years or so. my oldest set is from 1976 [9 years before i was born] and the most recent is from this year.

im open to suggestions to changes and/or improvements to the site.

hehe, thanks edward.

heres my site. i dont do the bachmann or any other models more designed for adults, so please forgive me. hehe.

http://sunsthomasandfriends.weebly.com/

your douglas shouldnt be too far away. a guy i know preordered two sets from two different places and both just arrived earlier this week. new zealand isnt far from aussie.

ive not seen hanks episode, but i have him as a trackmaster model and quite like his design, especially his nose since its much more prominent than anyone elses.

while i dont collect bachmann thomas, i do collect the fisher price trackmaster range.
FP, in all their wisdom, are releasing multiples of the same characters with slight differences such as color or decals. for james we have regular, busy bee with black and yellow stripes, james goes buzz buzz with a red nose and bee tampos, talking james, RC james and i bet theres a glow in the dark version on the way as well. its worse with thomas. in saying that, i love that i have a choice of which version to run.
it drives me batty trying to track them all down, and the majority of them i have to get them in from the uk or usa. i hope bachmann doesnt go down that route, for the wallets and sanity of those who collect these more expensive models.

youd be surprised at who kids recognise.
the model train club im a member of had a visit from a special needs preschool a month or so back. i took my tomy/trackmaster stuff along. about a week before the show, i got on a parenting forum and asked members which female train their kids would rather see/who they would recognise. the calls for lady and emily were about the same, with 1 or 2 for flora and i dont think molly or rosie got suggested at all. in the end i took emily cos i like her design, but lady would have been just as popular. 

on the flip side, the club president runs bachmann thomas and i watched some of the kids at the train show and so many called edward and gordon, thomas.

thanks for the history, ray. i will check out the mantua offerings. i dont plan on stressing the loco. it will be used on the massive club layout every now and then, but will mainly be used on the small layout i plan to build. im thinking the layout will be set around a big top or some sort of fair ground, but that will wait until ive decided on rolling stock. while the excursion cars would be ideal, im open to other types.

terry, that photo is amazing! i never imagined the jupiter could pull that many.

i would keep your own money from your own items. would suck if you decided to split the profits and you sold $100 worth and each of your friends only made $10 each.

good advice, jward. thanks

thanks for that, d. its neat learning new things.

thanks, balto. they should look fine then.

thats another good idea, jim. something to work on in the future when im feeling more confident.

d, does rolling stock usually need weight added before use? im quite happy with how the loco is running, though the front wheels seem to skim when its going too fast. at a sensible pace it goes nicely. what do you mean by "stall draw"?

what a neat idea, balto. i found measurements on google and the height of the car is about the same as the smoke stack on the jupiter, which seems massive. how do your cars look behind your jupe?

thanks, doneldon. spent the entire day almost on ebay and google looking at ideas for stock. i love the roundhouse passenger wagons but seems im set on the open excursion cars.  figure 1 or 2 of those, with passengers, should be more than enough. it struggled to pull more than 2 wagons from the other set so dont want to overload it.

im going to plan and build a layout for it, so will post photos once i get that organised. found a station with foot bridge that i like so thats a start.

balto, your train looks great! might have to review my excursion car idea, though i like the idea of having a few people actually in the cars.

jward, thanks for that. i read that a few mins ago on the main board. its a good guideline/rule to have.